Drivers of Dysfunctional PM and Design Subcultures

Engineering Subcultures

• Promotion Driven

  • Work is chosen based on what will promote individuals rather than impact.
  • Notable example: Google.

• Happiness Driven

  • Engineering leaders focus on keeping every engineer happy.
  • All decisions are made through the lens of engineer satisfaction.

• Systems Driven

  • Focus on building the right systems, sometimes excessively.
  • Engineers may optimize systems with little business impact.
  • Main job perceived as creating beautiful systems.

• Expectations Driven

  • Focus on setting low expectations and meeting them.
  • Less concern for actual impact or quality.

PM (Product Manager) Subcultures

• CEO Driven

  • PMs execute ideas channeled from the CEO.
  • Role seen as decoding and executing CEO's wishes.

• Ideas Driven

  • PMs focus on bringing their personal ideas to life.

• Activity Driven

  • Focus on being busy and making processes slightly more efficient (5%, 10%).
  • Can result in minor improvements for small businesses.

• Short-term OKR Driven

  • Guided by short-term objectives and key results (OKRs).

Design Subcultures

• Virtue Driven

  • Focus on user and customer delight.
  • Example: Resistance to ad revenue at Twitter.
  • Disconnect between idealistic views and business realities.

• Pure Validation Driven

  • Designs created for validation in design critiques.

• Research Driven

  • Heavy reliance on research to validate design decisions.

• Portfolio Driven

  • Designs are created with the intent of showcasing them in personal portfolios.

Conclusion

• Identifying these patterns helps understand dysfunctions in teams.
• Encourages reflection on one's own environment.