Beat reporting for product management
Back in the groove, comparing product management to beat reporting.
I turned the last issue of this newsletter private on advice from peers on the internet. And August ended up being no newsletter writing month. So, this is me trying to get back into the groove.
Being a beat reporter
If you know a bit about me or have been reading this newsletter from the start, you will know TV( movie) has been a big influence on the frames with which I view the world. One movie which made the work of beat reporters look cool and impactful was “All the presidents men
The reporters in the film end up breaking the Watergate scandal which leads to the resignation of U.S president Robert Nixon. I saw the movie and was instantly hooked on the process of cultivating sources and building a body of work iteratively leading up to the big reveal which increases trust on you for the people who are part of beat.
I mentioned previously that I see product management as a form of vocation and not as a profession. Everyone invested can pick up the skills through training and get to be great at it. I also have this point of view because every product role is different. It depends on the current function of the product with respect to team and business. Somewhat similar to the workings of a beat reporter.
A beat reporter is assigned a beat from the newspaper and then spends considerable time initially understanding the details and spends enormous time cultivating sources who trust the reporter.
The beat reporter doesn’t have any influence on stories but they continue to do the leg work and putting in the reps through writing stories. Thus engaging continuously with their sources. When a big story breaks, the odds of a source reaching out to the reporter and they ending up getting the big break is higher due to their previous leg work.
Due to this process of reporting on the beat, they end up viewing the world through their beat. For example, a crime reporter when walking down the street could be thinking about the number of possible crimes that can happen due to multiple micro-fractions taking place in crowded places.
In legacy domains, you have many folks from domain migrating into product roles once they get a hang of the technology and learn the skills to manage the building process. The reason why this is more prevalent in legacy domains ties to the fact that they have been living the beat of domain all through their careers.
The product management I practice is a lot like living the life of a beat reporter. I view the world through my beat, logistics. And the process of building a product is indulging in the leg work of doing the discovery for the product by engaging with customers or stakeholders and transforming the stories into artefacts we can build.
One instance of this is my focus on trucks on the highways and trying to figure out the story behind it. Back when I was working in my previous role would involve talking to drivers at stops and figuring out which commodity they move from where and how often since it was an informal economy. And now it is entering the Motor Carrier Number and Department of transportation(DOT) number in the Transportation portal provided by DOT and figure out their operations.
Does it immediately fit into the product that I am building, no. But it helps me understand the lay of the land and understand the experience of front line folks. This is different form of product building to dominant narrative.
It’s not always about the domain but also when viewing novel technology advancement, like Generative AI at the moment and trying to adopt it. Every product in my domain is figuring out how to apply LLMs to their product offering and the real breakthrough will come from viewing this work as a beat reporter. The big story is the technology breakthrough and now its on you, the product manager, to go to your sources and find out where it is applicable and build your version. Like the beat reporter, the first report is just the start and every subsequent reporting is how you unpack the story. So, the first version is just a tangible output that gets the ball rolling and every subsequent update and the feedback that you get from your sources will eventually lead to the big impact.
I apologise if it is not simple or straight forward or aspirational, but its literally how products that shape the way we work end up coming into fold. In essence, all we need is perpetual curiosity of the domain where the product functions and then reporting ethic to finding different stories that end up impacting part of the product offering.
Round up
Abstraction of region in Logistics
I ended up writing about the importance of defining the region when developing products in logistics.
How should one define a region when designing a product in this domain? Should it be a pair of co-ordinates that show the location? Should it be the boundary of the facility plotted on a map?
Across 3 different stages of product building I have spent more time defining the region and each time getting it right became a very detrimental step.
I see this as a challenge that would make many agents stumble as they are tasked with executing workflows on people’s behalf. The region abstraction layer would be key context that the agent needs to comprehend for it to contribute meaningfully. If not contextualised properly, the loss of trust on the agentic framework will be swift.
This is not a single product but a function of lack of theory. The problem persists because the simpler abstraction is easier to understand even if it not effective.
I wanted to now share this post next time I am asked about the reason why I am spending so much time defining a region.
Links that resonated
This time I have no real suggestion. I moved rss feed reader off my phone and it has led to complete collapse of my reading habit. I recently found this blogroll of folks in Bangalore participating in Indieweb Club.
More personal blogs are always welcome. If you have any suggestions send them my way.
Sign off
I will leave you with a call out to watch the movie, “All the presidents men”. It will make why beat reporting is how you unravel a big story more relatable. Spotlight is a more recent addition to this genre of films.
When I opened my newsletter platform, it called me out for not sending out an issue for the past 42 days, just the right amount of snark I need to get back into more regular writing.
These 42 days have been filled with renewed focus on my work with the added interest of practicing sales in front of prospects. It entailed a bunch of travel. So, transit is now taking a significant chunk of time. I will be reporting on my beat as the story unravels of selling in future reports.
Signing off till next time,
Vivek , reporting while on transit