Before we begin, a few words. There is absolutely no time too late to begin a new adventure. Too many people make the mistake of not reinventing themselves because they think they are too old or the trend is past them. I am here to remind you that it is a big lie. It is never too late to reinvent yourself. Whenever you latch on to a trend, you can still make hay. You control the sun and moon of your life. Please do ot hesitate, begin that new adventure today. It is not too late to learn, try or do.
On to today’s topic. One of the metrics of qualifying a really good product manager is based on their ability to write really good and clear user stories. A user story is a short, simple description of a feature of functionality told from the perspective of the person who will use that feature. It’s something commonly used in Agile development, and product managers are usually in charge of writing them. It’s the way to communicate to the engineers what you want built. An engineer will read the user story and is expected to understand the requirements of what is being asked and then write the code. One of the reasons why user stories work so well is that a good user story always answers three key questions and leaves no room for ambiguity. Who is the user, what do they want, and why do they want it. These three “w”s provide context that ensures that the engineer does not build astray.
A good example of a user story would be something like this, “As a Facebook user, I want to reset my password online, so that I can regain access to my account without contacting support”. An average product manager would write this user story as “As a user, I want to reset my password so I can gain access to my account”. I don’t need to tell you why the latter version is so poor, you can see it for yourself, but so many product managers make this mistake a lot. The main characteristic of a product manager should be the ability to see the big picture from start to end in a way that no one else has the ability to. Engineers are too busy with code, business is too busy with selling, you’re the only one who’s full time focus is the product, and thus, you’re expected to provide depth in a way no one else can or should.
Now that you know what a good user story looks like, it is time to adapt this to your everyday life. Your day to day life should be lived out like user stories. You should be able to know who you are, what you want and why you want it. And when you’re dealing with people, you should do the same. Know what their vested interests are, why is it so and who they are. Too many people live life without any conscious effort to be better, they believe that by doing the banal random things they do, by hoping to perspire, things will come their way. In some cases, things will come your way, but they will always be short of the grandiose things you can achieve by sheer planning and self-storification.
Why do you want to read a book a month? Is it because it’s a cool thing to do or because you truly want to be better? Turn it into a user story. “As a mid-career person, I want to read a book a month, so that I can become more knowledgeable in my field and open myself to more opportunities”. This is a better way to lay out your goals instead of just blurting out your desire to read a book; the why and so what are super critical, as they provide much-needed fuel on the days that you’re low. It also allows you to dig deeper to find your why and be original. Also, remember, a user story is short and simple; the moment it becomes complex, you lose the engineer, and you also lose yourself. It has to be succinct and clear to all who read it. Don’t overcomplicate things.
Do this for all the other areas of your life and for all the goals you have written down. Productize your life today.
Welcome to the product-led life.
Miracle.