First of all, apologies for the clickbaitish title. However, i do believe that Lord Krishna was a great product manager (if not the best) and there is a lot to be learned about Product management from Lord Krishna and his life.
1. Shrimad Bhagavad Gita – “The” best PRD ever
It is a well established opinion that Shrimad Bhagavad Gita has answers to all the problems of life. This is akin to the concept of PRD (Product requirement document) in the Product Management world.
When Arjun (i.e. the Developer) was having doubts about performing his duties as a warrior (i.e. Product development) in the battlefield (i.e. Sprint), he reached out to Lord Krishna (i.e. the Product Manager) and Lord Krishna guided him by reciting verses which later constituted Shrimad Bhagavad Gita (i.e. the PRD)
Thus, we can say that Shrimad Bhagavad Gita is the best and the most detailed PRD ever created by the best Product Manager ever.
2. Innovation & Out of the box Thinking
A product manager is expected to come up with innovative and out of the box solutions to problems.
There are numerous examples, through out Lord Krishna’s life, of how he came up with innovative ideas to get the job done. To mention a few instances –
- Gandhari, Duryodhana’s mother, had blindfolded herself for years even though she was not actually blind. She had this power that whoever she would see after removing her blindfold would become indestructible. When Gandhari decided to remove her blindfold, she had instructed Duryodhana to stand before her with his clothes removed so that his entire body would become indestructible. However, Lord Krishna tricked Duryodhana into partly covering himself up before going in front of his mother. This made Duryodhana vulnerable and he was later defeated by Bhima.
- Karna was a great warrior and Lord Krishna knew that as long as Karna had his armour and earring, he is invincible in the battlefield. Exploiting Karna’s generous nature, Lord Krishna made him give away his armour and earring to Lord Indra.
3. Data Driven and Goal Oriented
A product manager should always be data driven and keep track of the success metrics (or goals) of the product. All their actions should eventually contribute to the fulfillment of those goals.
Though Lord Krishna’s life is full of adventures (side quests so to say), he never left sight of his 3 main goals –
- Paritrayana Sadhunam – Welfare for good
- Vinashaya Dushkritam – Destroy evil
- Dharma Sansthapana – Establish and strengthen the good principles
Lord Krishna never let his actions be biased because of his relatives – Kansa was his uncle, Kauravas and Pandavas were brothers
4. Market and User research
A Product manager is supposed to be the voice of the user in any organization and should do thorough market research before start working on any product.
Lord Krishna is believed to be the eighth avatar of Lord Vishnu (or ninth, its debatable). Thus, in a way, through his various earlier avatars (incarnations) and their combined knowledge Lord Krishna conducted extensive market research of this world.
Also, Lord Krishna is said to be ‘Sarvagna’ which means ‘all knowing’. So, it’s safe to assume that nobody knows the user and the target market better than him.
5. Leadership & Stakeholder Management
A Product manager should be a successful leader (often without authority) and should be able to manage multiple stakeholder expectations – Business, Marketing, Sales, Customer Care, Technology, Design and many more.
Lord Krishna’s leadership style has been a subject of numerous management studies. Even during the battle of Mahabharata, he maintained his relationships with both Kauravas and Pandavas. He offered himself and his counsel to Pandavas & gave his army of 100,000+ men to Duryodhana.
Though these are just few Product management learning we talked about, Lord Krishna’s life offers lessons in all the aspect of personal and professional life.
