Do you think it makes sense to grow PM competence within the organization or hire people from the broader market to succeed faster?

In my mind, it's not an either-or. By growing existing talent, you retain organizational knowledge and build a shared culture, while bringing in external hires inject fresh perspectives and sometimes specialized skills lacking within a PM team. When I am looking at my team structure and needs, I often consider the following: Things to Consider: Internal Development Programs:Promote from within by offering training, mentorship, and rotational programs that broaden your team's exposure. This appro ...Read More

You want a healthy balance of the two, and it's really going to depend on the stage of the organization and what you want to accomplish. It may be that you're trying to effect a cultural change and drive a different way of thinking, in which case optimizing for bringing in outside talent can be helpful, particularly as you're bringing in senior outside talent. The challenge with that, though, is that it can signal, rightly or wrongly, that there isn't upward mobility organically within the organ ...Read More

This is a tough question to answer because it is so situational. For example - I have seen organizations where PM is so immature that it is essentially a project management function. Melissa Perri even uses such an example in her excellent book Escaping the Build Trap! While in Perri's fictional organization, she was able to develop the PMPs into PMs in the end, many companies would opt to try and hire a few true PMs first. Another dimension is mix of seniority which is critical on any team (jus ...Read More

apologies for the long read, in advance When considering the growth of Product Management competence within an organization, it's crucial to strike a balance between nurturing internal talent and bringing in fresh perspectives from the broader market. Both approaches have their unique advantages and can complement each other in building a robust PM team. Growing PM competence internally offers several benefits. It promotes a deep understanding of the company's culture, processes, and products, w ...Read More

I believe it's crucial to do both. Internal promotions are essential because they create a growth culture and clear career paths within the organization. These internal candidates bring valuable institutional knowledge about our product and business that's hard to replicate. At the same time, bringing in external talent is equally important as they inject fresh perspectives and new ideas that can help shape and evolve our organization. Rather than favoring one approach over the other, the key is ...Read More

Regardless of how you grow your product team, you'll need to establish a healthy culture around the product process, how you work, and the principles you run the team with. This means you have a defined process for how you work, it's clear what you expect from PMs in the team and what it takes to be promoted. In my experience, I've found the best results come by clearly articulating your product philosophy and principles and developing high-potential PMs internally while augmenting and accelerat ...Read More