In my last week at Coursera, someone asked me, “What’s something from the early days of Coursera that you wish the company could revive as we scale?”. My response - “the childlike wonder of what education could become.” I find this analogy useful for thinking about companies and about life.
Very well written Kapeesh. As parents we often want to push our children to do more and focus on the fruits, but as you have rightly allowed Roohi to master her skills just for the sake of mastery and enjoyment; She and other children teach us not to forget the awe and enthusiasm for new learning for its own sake and not with a view towards a specific goal. Once you master a skill, opportunities open up automatically..you don't need to focus on them..they come to you.
Found your blog via your Linkedin post. Appreciate the truth, wisdom and humility among these words of clarity in this post. Reminds me of some points in the book Grit and Atomic Habits. Hope your sabbatical has been rewarding.
Really enjoyed reading this post and shared this with my friend also. Just curious, for a growth PM let's say, what are examples of the different skills one can acquire and then master? How do you think about categorizing the different skills, and what to work on next, and if you could share stories from your personal experience that'd be super helpful! Thank you!
That's a great question. The skills a PM should develop is a pretty big question! I think this article by Gib Biddle is a great overview. I think you can apply the S-curve concept to every single skill you can think of. Specifically for "growth" PMs, you might think of user acquisition as a skill. You can divide that into different channels - SEO, paid, etc. For each of those channels you can think about where you lie in terms of your expertise and how you can grow along that curve.
Very well written Kapeesh. As parents we often want to push our children to do more and focus on the fruits, but as you have rightly allowed Roohi to master her skills just for the sake of mastery and enjoyment; She and other children teach us not to forget the awe and enthusiasm for new learning for its own sake and not with a view towards a specific goal. Once you master a skill, opportunities open up automatically..you don't need to focus on them..they come to you.
This was so well written and relatable, Kapeesh! Thanks for sharing your thoughts
thanks Quang!
Found your blog via your Linkedin post. Appreciate the truth, wisdom and humility among these words of clarity in this post. Reminds me of some points in the book Grit and Atomic Habits. Hope your sabbatical has been rewarding.
Really enjoyed reading this post and shared this with my friend also. Just curious, for a growth PM let's say, what are examples of the different skills one can acquire and then master? How do you think about categorizing the different skills, and what to work on next, and if you could share stories from your personal experience that'd be super helpful! Thank you!
That's a great question. The skills a PM should develop is a pretty big question! I think this article by Gib Biddle is a great overview. I think you can apply the S-curve concept to every single skill you can think of. Specifically for "growth" PMs, you might think of user acquisition as a skill. You can divide that into different channels - SEO, paid, etc. For each of those channels you can think about where you lie in terms of your expertise and how you can grow along that curve.
That makes a lot of sense - thank you, Kapeesh!