I used to do some fun holiday jingles requirements-style. I fell out of habit with it a few years ago, but luckily they are timeless and can just be reused! That said, I was trying to get in the holiday spirit to try again this year, and I found myself going down a different path. I have been thinking a lot about what product management is and came to the realization, I think Santa is really just a product manager in a red suit and white hat! Think about it, he figures out what all the boys and girls (his stakeholders) want for Christmas, leads a team (elves) to build the products, and sees it through delivery. Doesn’t that make him a pretty well rounded (no pun intended) product manager? Let’s break this down a bit further:
| Santa’s activity | What he’s really doing |
| He’s making a list | He’s drafting the requirements |
| He’s checking it twice | He’s reviewing his own work and hopefully getting peer reviews too. After all, he can’t possibly know every stakeholder’s requirements without some elf help. |
| Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice | This is clearly stakeholder analysis at its best. In fact, shouldn’t we all just rate our project stakeholders on this scale? |
| Santa Claus is coming to town | Sounds like Santa, who usually works from the North Pole virtually, is doing a bit of face-to-face elicitation. And like any good leader, he’s coming to town to launch the product in person. |
My holiday wish to you is for you to be as jolly of a product manager as Santa is in the New Year!
