What boxing has taught me about Product Management

A couple of months ago I accidentally ended up in a boxing class at my local gym. And it blew my mind – despite causing some nasty bruises the first time 😉 Ever since I have been a regular at this class. It made me a better parent and a better person. And it happens to be the perfect analogy for product work, too.

Here are a few product lessons we can learn from boxing:

• Whatever you do, always put your weight behind it. Hit like you mean it. Don’t do any half-assed stuff. It will only drain your energy and never land a winning punch. Assess your opportunities, choose your strategy and then move with courage and determination.
• Never let your guard down. No matter how comfy you’re feeling about your current positioning, always be prepared for someone to swoop in and steal your market share. Don’t get lazy when it comes to checking your underlying assumptions wrong or determining the riskiest assumptions your business is based on.
• Move fast and stay fluid. Speed matters. Punch hard and retract fast to prepare for your next move. Stay light-weighed in your decision-making instead of dragging yourself down by implementing tons of processes (a little focus on processes can’t hurt, though…). Find ways for the organization to solve problems and release tension in a fast way – by clarifying roles and responsibilities, by constantly working on the system as opposed to just within.
• Movement and momentum are best built from the ground up. You can’t really throw a good punch just relying on your arms. All punches are initiated in the lower half of your body. Positioning the feet correctly, turning your hips… You cannot propel an organization forward just by relying on a couple of smart people at the top. You need to build momentum from the ground.
• Technique matters. So does experience. If you don’t learn how to place your punches and kicks correctly, you risk getting hurt. If you blindly copy and paste other people’s approaches and frameworks without really understanding the rationale behind them, you might end up weakening your organization. Learn from people who have done their fair share of fighting – not just from books or consultants.
• Embrace team learning. In a boxing class you are deliberately practicing the same moves together, observing and learning from another. Keeping each other motivated, witnessing and celebrating your improvements. By assembling people with the same role in guilds and gathering with other PMs across your organization (or even with other non-competing companies), you can learn a ton and release some stress by venting from time to time. I am always surprised by how many companies are not tapping into the potential of building internal communities of practice.
• Fight for the right reasons. Spiderman taught us well: with great power comes great responsibility. Let’s use our newly gained strength and experience for good. A new version of the traditional venn diagram now contains product ethics as additional dimension: Not every product that has a viable business case is worth building. As product people we have the possibility to shape our future with the products we build. Let’s use our knowledge and experience to fight the good fight.
• Get some rest. Muscles recover and grow in between your training sessions. Give your organization a break and respect the cyclic nature of human beings. Periods of high intensity are totally fine – as long as they are followed by a chance to rest, reflect and recover.

Happy fighting 🙂