Junho, 23 2005
Quinta-feira

Off to a different weekend

Hoje vão ser sardines à conta do S. João aqui no Porto. Amanhã já estamos mais a sul.
Keywords: Obidos, Praia D'El Rey, Marriot.

23 Junho 2005 - 18:11   Sem Comentário(s)   Technorati links   Linking posts

Making the shift... eventualy
Há uns dias tropecei num artigo about three key intangibles -- communicating, tinkering and passion for coding, isto dentro do contexto de uma entrevista de emprego. Nada de especial, apenas a justificação para três perguntas feitas a candidatos.
Hoje, no blog do Jeremy Zawodny, ele comenta esse post e aponta para um artigo, na minha opinião muito melhor, sobre como contratar um 'Gestor de Produto'.

Selected highlights...

Product management may be the one job that the organization would get along fine without (at least for a good while). Without engineers, nothing would get built. Without sales people, nothing is sold. Without designers, the product looks like crap. But in a world without PMs, everyone simply fills in the gap and goes on with their lives. It's important to remember that - as a PM, you're expendable. Now, in the long run great product management usually makes the difference between winning and losing, but you have to prove it.

For my part, I loved the technical challenges of engineering but despised the coding. I liked solving problems, but I hated having other people tell me what to do. I wanted to be a part of the strategic decisions, I wanted to own the product. Marketing appealed to my creativity, but I knew I'd dislike being too far away from the technology. Engineers respected me, but knew my heart was elsewhere and generally thought I was too "marketing-ish." People like me naturally gravitate to product management.

Aqui parei... my thoughts exactly!
Although i think i don't have all the desired skills, i will have to give it a shot in a near future, even if means doing it at my own expense... or something in line with what we had in my first job, where we were included in the decision making process.
I'm getting fed up with coding, but don't tell anyone. ;-)

Having a solid engineering background gives a PM two critical tools - the ability to relate to engineers and a grasp of the technical details driving the product.

This last characteristic may be the easiest to evaluate. Unless the position is very junior, I'll usually hire product managers who've actually shipped a product. I mean from start to finish, concept to launch. Nothing is a better indication of someone's ability to ship great products than having done it before.

23 Junho 2005 - 14:48   1 Comentário(s)   Technorati links   Linking posts

Minho Campus Party, mas qual party ?
Falta pouco mais de um mês para a data de abertura anunciada do Minho Campus Party 2005 e nem site, nem programa, nem inscrições, nem local... bem, local há quem diga que a acontecer será em Famalicão. :-)

Uma mensagem do coordenador no site diz...
Tudo indica que teremos fumo branco nos próximos dias e que poderemos abrir com segurança o processo de inscrições. Não mudes os teus planos: o MCP deve continuar na tua agenda! E avisa os teus amigos.

"Próximos dias"... a mensagem foi colocada há um mês atrás.
Sinceramente, por este caminho não estou a ver a acontecer nada. A não ser que levantem um evento destes em 30 dias... e já nem falo em promoção, processo de inscrições, etc.

23 Junho 2005 - 00:17   2 Comentário(s)   Technorati links   Linking posts