There is No Such Thing as a "Non-creative Career"

There is no such thing as a non-creative role.

"Creative" is a term we reserve for our designers. However, no matter what your job is, everyone needs a creative outlet. Mine is music.

On June 3rd (just in time for my 30th birthday) I finally earned my online eDegree from Punkademic certifying my skillset in the following 4 areas:

–Music Production

–DAW Proficiency

–Music Theory

–Music Composition

This is a symbol of what I've learned over the past few months regarding music. Everything from recording to synthesis to orchestration to film scoring, I have tasted a lot in the vast realm of music.

It's one of many steps I am taking to expand my skillset outside of my professional role as a PM.

Now, many of you may be asking, "How does music (or any creative endeavor) make you a better Product Manager?" I'll stick with music for my analogy but I encourage you to use a little creativity to see how this could apply to writing, painting, etc.

1. Being a Product Manager requires a ton of abstract thinking.

Now, write a song from scratch. Pick your instruments. Find the right frequency of sound waves that sound good together (or don't) and lay them out into a song. Make your song not boring. But what constitutes boring? And for whom? Making music = making something awesome that people want to experience out of nothing = Product Management.

2. Being a Product Manager requires time management.

Lots and lots of time management. The amount of time I've wasted finding the perfect melody is mind-boggling, especially since there are so many variables that go into making a song sound pleasant. How does one write a song in a few days? That includes, but is not limited to, sketching ideas, laying out structure, instrumentation, sound design, mixing, and sound testing. It's incredibly easy to get lost in one of those stages. Translate those stages to PM terms (market research, user research, business planning, managing backlog items, etc.) and it's very easy to get overwhelmed without discipline.

3. Being a Product Manager requires understanding how individual pieces come together to create a whole.

PMs require managing large, cross-disciplinary teams. They must also manage the constant new discoveries, implementing feedback, and changes in data. It's a lot to handle to see the pieces come together as a unified unit. Likewise, musicians must handle the infinite puzzle pieces that make up composing and performing a song. Melody, harmony, texture, instrumentation, rhythm, timing, notating for different instruments, finding performers, finding venues to play at, etc.

4. Being a Product Manager requires constant (and often humbling feedback).

Feedback is crucial in both roles. Sometimes that feedback is hearing how much you missed the mark and why. It can hurt when you've poured so much into a product (or song) just to hear it needs to go back to the drawing board. However, without that feedback, you remain stagnant; I'd choose getting better than staying stagnant any day.

5. Being a Product Manager requires translating non-technical language to technical language and vice-versa.

Everyone has a favorite song. It's good enough for you to listen to it. But on the other side of writing there is a myriad of composition theory, technology, recording techniques etc. That'll make your head spin. In other words, you may not know why a iii chord can substitute a I but you can still love jazz.

6. Being a Product Manager requires you to keep your sanity.

The best way is to have a creative outlet you enjoy. Need I say more?

So much of the skills I learned for PM have come from sources outside of the immediate domain. It's when two different domains find common ground that new ground is broken and innovative (and just as important, pragmatic) solutions are found.

As you go about learning something new for your career, I encourage you to carve a little learning time for something completely unexpected. Find the little lessons in the new territory. Ask how it applies to what you do every day.

And, if all else fails...

At least you got to play your guitar.