"But Google Does It This Way": Why Data Products Must Be about Your Company, Not Others
Your week starts off great. You have the best cup of coffee, sit down at your (virtual) desk, join the meeting and in that weird zone between 9:00 and 9:02 when the meeting begins, you hear “I was reading about how Google does [insert data product here] why don’t we do it like that?” Suddenly, that cup of coffee doesn’t taste as good, and by 9:03 you’re scrambling to explain and justify why your approach is the right one. Feel familiar? I hear it all the time - pressure to build the products that the giants use. Here’s the issue: what is best for the giants may not be best for your company.
There is an intense pressure in the data world to do things the way “the world’s most admired companies” do them. In some ways, it makes sense. Google, Facebook, Uber, AirBnb, Netflix and others have tackled incredibly important problems at scale (and their alumni often start companies after they leave). Companies want success like that. On the other hand, success for Google and Facebook likely looks different than success for other, perhaps non-digital native companies. What the giants optimize on is likely slightly (or majorly) different than what you do.
Rather than a point of frustration, this desire to “be like the giants” is an area of opportunity. A strong data product manager has the opportunity to step in to say “hey, what they are doing is great, but here’s what I think makes sense for us and here’s what we can learn from the giants.” In fact, not having someone step in to say this has led a lot of corporations down a path they are now regretting, realizing that the scale and problems they needed to solve didn’t require the level of complexity and scale they heard about at a conference.
But I get it - stepping in to say “here’s what I think makes sense for us” is a pretty intimidating step. When you are operating in a space that seemingly changes by the month, you’re probably asking yourself, how can I confidently step in and be this guide? I’m here to tell you that no one is fully confident (including me), but we need to do our best to fairly represent our company and understand what the industry is doing. Here are 5 practical things you can do to step up with confidence:
Deeply understand your company’s strategy and capabilities. I cannot tell you how many times I meet with others or am asked for advice that sounds like “how do I make my company’s data product run like [insert > 1T market cap company]?” When I ask “What makes your company similar and why are those your peers?” there is usually an uncomfortable silence. I’m not saying you shouldn’t aim to be like the giants, but I am saying that before you decide that’s the right approach, invest in fully understanding your company’s strategic approach and how data is a part of it (or not).
Keep up to date with what major players are doing in the space. This doesn’t mean read every journal article, but it does mean that you should check out engineering blogs, look at conference summaries, see what people you admire are sharing on social media (articles/talks). This isn’t a nice to have, it is a must have. Your job as a data PM is not just to know what companies are doing and what works, but also to know what they’ve learned on their journey that helps you decide how to make steps forward.
Define an easy to understand and shareable mission and vision. Everytime I talk about mission and vision, I get some eye rolls. Sure, it sounds weird to discuss with technical audiences, but a huge part of your role as a data PM is to provide people an easy way to think about your product and where you want to take it. If you don’t have that (and market it heavily), then it makes sense that others would ask “why don’t we just do it like Google?” You might not love marketing, but it is an important part of your role.
Show your wins. Most frequently, I hear pressure to be like other companies when there are not obvious wins happening internally (or at least those wins are not well understood). If you own a product and it is making appreciable impact on the business, the noise around “why don’t we do it like this other company?” tends to die down (and potentially cease altogether). If you don’t actively show progress, its natural that others will propose alternative solutions.
Speak to strengths and weaknesses of the “big players” approaches. It is highly unlikely that “do it like Google” is something a company can fully adopt. Instead, there are things that companies like Google and Facebook do that might make sense for your business and product. If you are able to dive into the nuance and speak to the details about what might work and what likely won’t, you immediately will build credibility with those around you. A successful data product might be a combination of many other companies’ approaches/solutions, but you need to own that path forward.
Next time you sit down for your 9am meeting with that incredible cup of coffee and you hear “I was reading about how Google does [insert data product here] why don’t we do it like that?” don’t shy away or let it ruin your day. Instead, be ready to respond, while sipping that cup of coffee. It will benefit you, your company and your long term success.