Chris Gann – Only Fools are Certain

Chris Gann started in product development when he was very young, working in healthcare EDI at the dawn of HIPAA while promoting his punk band. Chris taught himself to use the resources available and "read recipes" to make new products. "I learn through doing," says Chris, "and it can be hard to give direction to others when you learn through doing." Today Chris is a leader of other product managers. When he's hiring he looks for disposition and character over direct product experience. Curiosity is the big thing for Chris. "If you already know the answer, then you're not a product manager," says Chris. Being engaged and grit are close seconds to curiosity for Chris. Chris loved playing bass in bands and feels that product managers are like bass players  – they make everyone around them sound better. Chris knows he's the right fit for product management because he's comfortable working between worlds; a negotiator with everyone else's perspective in his head. Chris can see all sides equally and believes  "objective truth is not a thing to be found." Chris feels more rewarded by curiosity then by knowing. Tom and Chris talk about the differences between committing to a course of action and making a final decision. Chris and Tom then get into a discussion of free will and agency versus determinism. "There's the grand sense of things, and there's what you're forced to live in," says Chris, a sentiment that works for product managers prioritizing work and people prioritizing things in their life. Chris and Tom wrap up by talking about strategy, how to help people say "no" to bad ideas and unproductive work, and how important expertise in a discipline other than product management is import for product managers.