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Comment by tombert | Hacker News Reader

I know, but even given that I really don’t think it’s that hard, and certainly not as hard as regular pre-AI software engineering.

We all like to act like “the hard part was figuring out what we want”, but I don’t think I really buy that anymore. Even when I really half-ass Claude prompts, it still usually figures out what I want well enough, and when it doesn’t it usually does once I give it correction.

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I think this actually gets at a big part of what is causing this existential crisis. You're right, I don't think it was ever true that "the hard part was figuring out what we want". I think there have always been two hard parts: 1. Figuring out what is useful, and 2. Implementing a useful thing well. The second of these has gotten a lot easier, which means the first has become more important. But software engineers have long had a tendency to underrate that first part and consider it easy. I have long perceived a (to me) baffling arrogance that product management is an easier and less important job than software engineering. But that was never an accurate perspective, imo. And now that the "implementing things" job has gotten easier and the "figuring out what to implement" job has become more important, people with this perspective are really being thrown for a loop.

What even is product management? Just saying what you'd like? That's like equating the person ordering their meal with the person who will create it.

Both of the comments replying to my comment so far are just demonstrating exactly the point I'm making!

Yes, software engineers have a giant blind spot about "what even is product management" and don't think it's hard. This is exactly what I'm saying!

Maybe I don't think it's hard because I have a blind spot. That's possible.

It's also possible that I have no blind spot and it isn't hard though.

It's because you have a blind spot.

Product management is indeed an important but at the same time not very hard job.

This is the exact attitude that I'm talking about.

I delivered a number of complex products start to finish, in software and in hardware.

Yes but my point was about the attitude, not the aptitude.

I'm not trying to somehow deny the merit of product management. It is a necessary job with own set of challenges. It also often comes with responsibilities that an individual developer never faces. However in comparison it to programming (or other skilled IC work) it was quite a bit easier purely technically. Lateral career moves for product managers between industries are common while for technical specialists it is a lot harder purely on the sheer amount of technical expertise you are supposed to acquire and maintain.

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