道路工程結構計算軟件

by Sari Harrison

莎莉·哈里森(Sari Harrison)

我從軟件工程到產品管理的道路 (My path from software engineering to product management)

以及一些有關如何自己做的建議 (And some advice on how to do it yourself)

I am often asked how to make the move to product management. By software engineers, project managers, product marketing managers, data scientists, people in QA… I wonder if they know what they are asking for.

經常有人問我如何轉向產品管理。由軟件工程師，項目經理，產品營銷經理，數據科學家，質量保證人員……我想知道他們是否知道自己的要求。

Here’s how it happened for me.

這對我來說是怎么回事。

一見鐘情 (Love at first program)

My father bought the family a computer when I was 12. It came with a BASIC programming manual and I dove right into everyone’s first program — Hello World! Then moved onto copying the code for the “Sorry!” game from the manual, finding and fixing a bunch of bugs.

我父親12歲那年給家人買了一臺計算機，它帶有BASIC編程手冊，我喜歡上每個人的第一個程序-Hello World！然后繼續復制“對不起！”的代碼手冊中的游戲，查找并修復許多錯誤。

As a kid, I always loved doing puzzles, and programming was like solving puzzles to make the computer do what I wanted. I was instantly hooked and I decided that I was going to major in computer science. Yes, at 12.

小時候，我一直喜歡做拼圖，而編程就像解決難題一樣，使計算機能夠完成我想要的事情。我立刻被迷住了，我決定要去上計算機科學專業。是的，在12點。

I look back at that and marvel a bit. So decisive… Such great listening to my intuition… Why can’t I do that all the time ?? I’ve only experienced that kind of clarity a few times in my life. Another one being the move to PM. But I’m jumping ahead.

我回頭看，有點驚訝。如此果斷……聽見我的直覺真是太好了……我為什么不能一直那樣做？我一生中只經歷過幾次這種清晰度。另一個是轉向PM。但是我向前邁進了。

蘋果第一回合 (Apple Round 1)

After college, I landed my dream job as a software engineer at Apple, back in the days of John Sculley. I worked on the Apple Internet Router under Alan Oppenheimer, who literally wrote the book on Apple’s networking stack.

大學畢業后，我回到了約翰·斯卡利(John Sculley)時代，在蘋果擔任軟件工程師，這是我夢dream以求的工作。我在艾倫·奧本海默 ( Alan Oppenheimer )領導下的Apple Internet Router上工作，他實際上是在蘋果的網絡堆棧上寫這本書。

I was practically the only female engineer on the team. The guy that was setting up my phone asked me if I was “supporting” Alan. Took me a few minutes to realize he thought I was Alan’s new admin. But again, I digress…

我實際上是團隊中唯一的女工程師。設置我手機的那個人問我是否在“支持”艾倫。花了我幾分鐘時間才意識到他以為我是艾倫的新管理員。但是我又離題了……

I worked at Apple for 8.5 years in round 1 (we’ll save round 2 for another time). I had 4 CEO’s. After John Sculley, there was Michael Spindler, Gil Amelio, and then the return of Steve Jobs.

我在第一輪在Apple工作了8.5年(我們將另存第二輪)。我有4位CEO。在約翰·斯卡利(John Sculley)之后，有邁克爾·斯賓德勒(Michael Spindler)，吉爾·阿梅里奧(Gil Amelio)，然后是史蒂夫·喬布斯(Steve Jobs)的回歸。

When Steve came back, he laid off huge parts of the workforce and canceled many projects, including the one I was working on. I didn’t manage to get a severance package though, which at the time, we all considered the better option (what did we know?).

史蒂夫回來后，他解雇了大部分員工，并取消了許多項目，包括我正在從事的項目。不過，我沒有設法獲得遣散費，這在當時我們都認為是更好的選擇(我們知道什么？)。

I continued on at Apple for a few more years, delivering the first version of the Apple Keychain and the first ever Internet API suite (Subwoofer). The iMac launched. I spoke at WWDC 3 times. I was successful by most definitions, including my own.

我繼續在Apple工作了幾年，提供了Apple Keychain的第一個版本和有史以來第一個Internet API套件(Subwoofer)。 iMac發布了。我在WWDC上發言了3次。根據大多數定義，包括我自己的定義，我都是成功的。

全面質量管理(TQM) (Total Quality Management (TQM))

Apple didn’t have product management back then (or now, for that matter). There was a very lightly staffed product marketing team that hypothetically wrote “Market Requirements Documents” (MRDs). But if I ever saw one it was done after we had written the engineering specs and added ~0 value.

蘋果當時(或現在)沒有產品管理。假設有一個人員很少的產品營銷團隊，他們撰寫了“市場需求文檔”(MRD)。但是，如果我看過一個，那是在我們編寫了工程規格并增加了?0值之后完成的。

Fortunately, I was born a first principles thinker. Simon Sinek was probably still in grade school, but I was starting with why anyway. My need to figure out the right thing to do next and having no one to guide me, lead me to something called TQM.

幸運的是，我是第一個原理思想家。西蒙·西內克 ( Simon Sinek )可能還在讀小學，但無論如何我還是從為什么開始。我需要弄清楚下一步應該做的正確的事情，并且沒有人來指導我，這使我想到了一種稱為TQM的方法。

There was a TQM consultant floating around Apple working with other teams that I got wind of. And I had him come teach it to the routing team.

有一名TQM顧問在Apple周圍徘徊，并與其他團隊合作。我讓他來教路由團隊。

As it was taught to me, TQM was basically design thinking but solely focused on technology. And to be honest, there are elements of it that are above and beyond design thinking (sorry IDEO). In particular, the focus on having the whole team develop empathy for the customer, as opposed to just the designers.

據我所知，TQM基本上是設計思想，但只專注于技術。老實說，它的某些元素超出了設計思維范圍(對不起IDEO)。特別是，重點在于讓整個團隊為客戶發展同情心，而不僅僅是設計師。

So I was off and running doing customer visits and gaining product insight through empathy. Back in 1995. This lead me to my first product idea — the Apple/IP Gateway. It was a big success until IP took over most existing networks and AppleTalk was deprecated.

因此，我開始奔波進行客戶拜訪，并通過同理心獲得產品見解。早在1995年。這使我想到了第一個產品創意-Apple / IP網關。在IP接管大多數現有網絡并且不贊成使用AppleTalk之前，這是一個巨大的成功。

And it wouldn’t have come about without customer empathy. Especially since this was a B2B product. Our customers didn’t “ask” for it. I just saw the problems they had first hand and that tunneling IP through AppleTalk would help.

沒有客戶的同情就不可能實現。特別是因為這是B2B產品。我們的客戶沒有“要求”它。我剛剛看到了他們的第一手問題，并且通過AppleTalk建立IP隧道會有所幫助。

直接負責人(DRI) (Directly Responsible Individual (DRI))

After my time in routing, I moved onto the Cyberdog team which was developing a suite of Internet apps. FTP, Telnet, Gopher, SMTP, and HTML … I’m guessing many of you need to look some of those up ?. We did all this with a team of about 25 or so and I was one of the engineering managers.

在路由之后，我轉到了開發一系列Internet應用程序的Cyber??dog團隊。 FTP，Telnet，Gopher，SMTP和HTML…我想你們中的許多人需要查找其中的一些內容嗎？我們大約有25個左右的團隊來完成所有這些工作，而我是工程經理之一。

After our first release, I was anointed “DRI” of Cyberdog. This concept is unique to Apple and is why there is still no product management there to speak of. The DRI is usually an engineering manager and includes both product ownership and running the engineering team creating the product.

在我們的第一個版本發布之后，我被膏了賽伯狗的“ DRI”。這個概念是Apple獨有的，這就是為什么現在還沒有產品管理可言的原因。 DRI通常是一名工程經理，包括產品所有權和負責創建產品的工程團隊。

It is a great gig if the team is reasonably small. I loved it. Except for the minor detail that I still had to write code.

如果團隊規模很小，那將是一次很棒的演出。我愛它。除了次要細節外，我仍然必須編寫代碼。

I liked writing code well enough, don’t get me wrong. But it required me to be completely focused, which is not always possible in a fast-paced environment. And I much preferred the rest of my job.

我很喜歡編寫代碼，不要誤會我的意思。但這需要我完全專注，這在快節奏的環境中并不總是可能的。我更喜歡余下的工作。

I got pretty cranky sometimes. I remember the feeling when my primary tester came to my door when I was trying to figure out a super tough bug. It would take all my energy not to scream “leave me alone — I’m working!”. In hindsight, this was really good data ?.

有時候我很奇怪。我記得當我試圖找出一個超級棘手的錯誤時，我的主要測試人員來到我家的感覺。我將不遺余力地大喊“讓我一個人呆著，我在工作！”。事后看來，這真的是好數據嗎？

All in all, I was a decent coder. Better at iterating on someone else’s code than starting from scratch. But I was a great DRI. I loved making tough prioritization calls. I loved user research. I loved driving the team forward, cutting through the ambiguity. I even loved writing specs.

總而言之，我是一個不錯的程序員。比從頭開始更好地迭代別人的代碼。但是我是一個很棒的DRI。我喜歡撥打艱難的優先級電話。我喜歡用戶研究。我喜歡推動團隊前進，消除歧義。我什至喜歡編寫規范。

Microsoft程序管理 (Microsoft Program Management)

As the DRI of Subwoofer (first ever Internet API suite), I went to Microsoft one day to see if we might want to do some code sharing with their Mac Internet Explorer team.

作為Subwoofer的DRI(第一個Internet API套件)，我有一天去了Microsoft，看看我們是否想與其Mac Internet Explorer團隊進行一些代碼共享。

I sat down in one of their conference rooms and in comes this guy who introduces himself as the program manager. I’m thinking “uh… can I talk to someone technical, please? Where’s the dev manager?”

我在他們的一間會議室里坐了下來，這個人介紹了自己作為項目經理。我在想：“呃...我可以和技術人員談談嗎？開發經理在哪里？”

But it turned out he was technical and understood the business. Interesting, I thought… what is this role exactly?

但事實證明，他是技術專家，了解業務。有趣的是，我想……這個角色究竟是什么？

Side note for those that haven’t worked at Microsoft. Program management is product management. The discipline started there when other tech companies had product marketing and product management as a single person. Microsoft was the first to split them up. The first to have someone completely focused on what we should build, why, and a little bit of how. And they call it “program management”.

對于那些尚未在Microsoft工作的人的旁注。程序管理是產品管理。當其他技術公司將產品營銷和產品管理作為一個人的時候，這一學科就開始了。微軟是第一個拆分它們的公司。第一個讓某人完全專注于我們應該建造什么，為什么建造以及如何建造一點點的人。他們稱之為“程序管理”。

In 2001, I got a call from a friend who used to be at Apple with me and whose company (WebTV) had been bought by Microsoft. “Sari,” he said, “we need program managers here and I thought of you.”

2001年，我接到一個朋友打來的電話，他曾經和我一起在Apple任職，其公司(WebTV)已被Microsoft收購。他說：“紗麗，我們這里需要項目經理，我想到了您。”

He knew, before I did, that I was a PM. Even though we had both spent most of our careers at Apple where they didn’t exist.

在我這樣做之前，他知道我是PM。即使我們都在蘋果公司度過了絕大部分的職業生涯，但他們都不存在。

I joined the team (leaving a ton of Apple stock behind, whoops…). My friend left for Google shortly thereafter. But I had found my calling from a discipline perspective and never looked back.

我加入了團隊(留下了大量的蘋果股票，哎呀……)。此后不久，我的朋友離開了Google。但是我從學科的角度發現了自己的呼聲，再也沒有回頭。

最后的想法和建議 (Final Thoughts and Some Advice)

My story is one of someone who is a PM at heart and found her way to it organically. So my first question for you is exactly that:

我的故事是一個發自內心的PM并有機地找到自己的方式的人之一。因此，我的第一個問題就是：

Are you a PM at heart?

您是內心的下午嗎？

Look hard at why you want to be a PM. It’s hard to understand what the role is if you aren’t already doing it, so how do you know? Why are you drawn to it? Read some of my other blogs. Are you sure?

認真思考為什么要成為一名PM。如果您還沒有做過這個角色，那很難理解，那么您怎么知道呢？你為什么被它吸引？閱讀其他一些博客。你確定嗎？

Are you doing the job already? Without the title?

你已經在做這份工作了嗎？沒有標題？

If you are in an engineering, project, program, or design role today and you don’t have a PM, who is doing the work of the PM? The work — defining the product, driving things forward, being the catalyst for hard decisions getting made — has to get done. By someone.

如果您今天擔任工程，項目，程序或設計職位，但您沒有PM，誰來負責PM？必須完成工作-定義產品，推動發展，成為做出艱難決策的催化劑。由某人。

If it’s you, and it’s your favorite part of your job, then that’s a good sign it’s the right role for you. It’s also how you can pitch yourself in an interview.

如果是您，并且這是您工作中最喜歡的部分，那么這就是一個好信號，它對您來說是正確的角色。這也是在面試中宣傳自己的方式。

Try it where you are.

在您嘗試的地方嘗試。

If you do have a PM, ask them if you can help in some way. Most PMs are going to jump at the chance because they are overwhelmed with work. Yes, you’ll have to do it in addition to your day job. Sorry ??♀?.

如果您有PM，請詢問他們是否可以提供某種幫助。大多數PM都會抓住機會，因為他們不堪重負。是的，除了日常工作外，您還必須這樣做。抱歉？

Making the switch in your current organization is what I recommend, if at all possible. You already know the product and the technology and that is a tremendous help.

如果可能的話，我建議在您當前的組織中進行切換。您已經知道產品和技術了，這是極大的幫助。

Let your PM leader know you are interested. Find out what they look for. Ask for ideas for how you can practice the skills required or prove you have them.

讓您的項目負責人知道您有興趣。找出他們想要的東西。詢問有關如何練習所需技能或證明自己具備技能的想法。

Take a class.

上課。

Get some training. There are a bunch of product management classes you can take. I’m not going to recommend any particular one. Ask around. The main thing a class will help with is getting you exposed to what the role is and give you some vocabulary. And show hiring managers that you care enough to devote time and energy. It will also extend your network.

得到一些訓練。您可以選擇許多產品管理課程。我不會推薦任何特定的。問問周圍。課堂將幫助您的主要事情是讓您了解角色，并提供一些詞匯。并向招聘經理表明您足夠在意您的時間和精力。它還將擴展您的網絡。

Speaking of network… What I don’t think helps all that much is “networking”. What I mean by that is attending networking events, meetups, or conferences. The relationships you start there may help you in a couple of years if you nurture them. But they won’t help anytime soon.

說到網絡……我認為對網絡沒有多大幫助。我的意思是參加網絡活動，聚會或會議。如果您培養了這種關系，那么從那里開始的關系可能會在幾年內為您提供幫助。但是他們不會很快提供幫助。

Use your network.

使用您的網絡。

I do think your existing network can help. That’s how I landed my first PM role without really even intending to. Someone thinking of you as a great option is the best way to get any job, including PM. So let your existing network know you want to make the switch. And no, I don’t know a short cut to building a good network ?.

我確實認為您現有的網絡可以提供幫助。這就是我什至沒有打算就擔任我的第一任PM職位的方式。有人認為您是一個不錯的選擇，是獲得包括PM在內的任何工作的最佳方式。因此，讓您現有的網絡知道您要進行切換。不，我不知道建立一個好的網絡的捷徑嗎？