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I’ve been mulling over a new metaphor for product management: farming. The farm metaphor has been used to describe software development in general. I believe it is also relevant to describing, specifically, the product management process.

Farmers produce crops to fill a societal need. Some crops are staples that drive modern society, growth, and advancement. Others are more vanity, but provide for another need: satisfying differing tastes and a desire for variety.

Product managers product products to fill a societal need. Some products are major innovations which end up driving our society. Others, such as entertainment products, provide for a different set of needs but real needs nonetheless.

A farmers job is to produce successful crops in a sustainable way. There are many choices and factors that determine the success of any given crop. To decide which seeds can and should be planted, farmers gain an understanding of the environment, including soil, climate, and the market in which the harvested goods will be sold. They negotiate for and purchase resources, such as land on which to grow crops and, water rights with which to nurture them.

A product managers job is to produce a successful product in a sustainable way. There are many choices and factors that determine the success of a given product. The product manager must understand the market need and the environment (what is possible) in order to make the most effective choices. They have a limited amount of resources with which to complete the job. They work within the constraints and capabilities of these resources while simultaneously acquiring and negotiating for additional resources as needed to ensure success.

To reap a successful harvest, the crop must be gingerly cared for while it is growing. It must be given the proper amount of water and nutrients. It must be protected from predators and adverse environmental conditions. Not all attention can be given to a single field, a single row, or a single plant. Farmers must distribute their time to ensure that the farm, as a whole, is successful. At the same time, they must be aware of the details to watch for signs of trouble or make adjustments as needed.

As a farm has fields, products have features. A product manager must decide which features to build and then care for the development of that feature. To develop a product and features successfully is actually a fragile process. The quality of the end result depends on the environment in which it is grown. Product managers should play a part in monitoring and shaping the environment to protect the product and the product team. Sometimes problems will arise that take focus away from success, and care must be taken to ensure that continued focus on the problem is justified.

Predators are an important threat to a successful crop. Farmers must be diligent in protecting the crop from these pests. They have a choice in how they protect their crops. For example, they may spray pesticides or they may introduce natural predators of the pests.

While everyone is supposed to be on the same team, stakeholders are often the biggest threat to a products success. Every stakeholder is naturally biased to their own position. Product managers must be respectful of stakeholders’ point-of-view while at the same time keeping the product vision and strategy in mind. Product managers have choices in how they interact with stakeholders to keep everyone aligned and truly on the same team. The choice of interaction style plays an important part of how engaged those stakeholders will be to the products success.

Some circumstances are outside the farmers control. A doubt, or a deep freeze may threaten or destroy a crop. Farmers must do what is within their power to protect their crops, but must also recognize when a crop is or will be unsuccessful. They should take steps to mitigate the situation without being attached to a sunk cost. They must also keep everyone motivated to keep going despite occasional failures.

Every product starts with an idea. Hopefully the idea meets a market need, or the product has very little chance of being successful. Even ideas that meet perceived market needs, however, need to be adjusted based on experience. In some cases minor refinements are all that is needed. In others, major shifts in strategy that will result in lots of rework are necessary. Product managers must continually examine their position and adjust or cut losses as necessary to stay viable and competitive.

With a little luck and a lot of hard work, the crop matures into a healthy and viable product. The farmer must take this product to a market full of competition. It helps if the crop can be uniquely positioned within the market. An understanding of the market led the farmer to make choices about what to plant and how to grow it. A crop may have been position as a high quality organic product that appeals to upscale local markets or oversees customers, or as a low cost organic product suitable for mass sale in national supermarket chains. These choices will now be played out in the market.

With a little luck and a lot of hard work, a viable product is born. The product manager must take the product to a market. In most cases the market will already have competition. Even if there is no competition, as is the case when the product creates a new market, competition will be sure to follow if the product is successful. The most successful products will have a unique position, which was painstakingly crafted and protected by the product manager throughout development. A good position will allow the product to be successful even in markets full of competition.

Part of the farmers success in the market will be determined by reputation. Especially in the modern age, where information sharing is at an all-time high, it is becoming difficult to keep lapses in judgement and quality a secret. Thus, farmers must be vigilant in maintaining a high quality of work and product produced.

Unlike crops, product features tend to stick around past the point of harvest. In a sense, they are continually harvested to continue building the success of the product. Features are a bit like reputation. They are really hard to get rid of once you have them, so product managers should be careful to what and how features get developed.

If the farmer succeeds—in picking good, nutrient rich land in a good climate and picking crops to match the climate and the market; in choosing and following a position for how to produce and sell the harvested product in the market; in nurturing and protecting crops during development; in cutting losses that would take focus away from successful crops; and finally in taking to market and promoting the harvested crop—they will be profitable and can continue to iterate many times over.

Finally, if the product manager succeeds—in picking a good idea that will satisfy a need in the market and is possible to build; in positioning the product for success in that market; in nurturing and protecting the product throughout development; in maintaining focus and adjusting and cutting losses where necessary; and in taking the product to market and promoting it—they will be profitable and can continue to turn their ideas into reality.

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