A pig in drag

There are times during your PM career in which you may be handed, or unwittingly volunteer to take, a product of someone else’s handiwork. Often times, what you receive will be well thought out, diligently constructed, and artfully run. In this case, all you have to do is to make sure you don’t auger it into the turf. That’s the best kind of inheritance!

However, there are other situations in which you may find yourself suddenly clutching one large pig in serious need of enormous quantities of lipstick. And despite applying said beauty balm generously, the result still ain’t gonna be pretty! Upon receipt, you will quickly find there was no business level forethought, little structure, and even less of a clue on the part of the preceding parties about how to build and run a product. Thus, a pig.

You will find that fundamental business concepts have been completely ignored with this pig. Economies of scale in manufacturing? Piffle! Sales cycle and coverage? Yeah. Right. Simple, clean, orderability? Non-sense! Clear-cut position - both competitive and relative to product line or portfolio? Ha-rumph! Margin? What’s that? You get the picture.

These kinds of issues are usually the result of having had nooooo adult supervision within moon shot of your new fangled pig! As the PM, you will be tasked with finding, assessing, and fixing all the issues. Unfortunately it will take tremendous work and patience… very much like that which is required to turn a bag of all-natural fertilizer into a rose petal. It can be done, but it won’t be quick. And you’ll sweat a lot! Or more likely you’ll swear a lot. Either way, you’ll earn your keep.

What’s the key to all this you ask? As soon as I figure it out, I’ll let you know. For a dollar… or maybe a beer.

Truthfully, the key is simple. Not easy, but simple. It’s patience. And a LOT of sound business practice application. Go back to the basic building blocks you learned (hopefully!) in business school. Make sure you’ve covered the fundamentals - thoroughly. And did I mention patience? You’ll need both.

Also, you’ll be wise to find a sounding (venting?) board to offer support. This will be crucially important on those days when the business infidel are many and your patience is shot. Without a cool hand, applying sound business principles to spruce up your farm animal will be more than most mortals can accomplish.

Good luck with your pig!