
it is often written that PMs are in the business of alignment, and communication is the craft
but I have to say - almost universally - PMs hate it
in this time of politics, without being political - I want to note that is its worthy to observe how professional politicians work - and, maybe an obvious statement along these lines - that PMs need to be good at politics
it isn't to say that they need to be political in the low-integrity sense of the word - but rather in the positive construction - that "the body politic" is your terrain - the human terrain
you must become good at influence and persuasion is how
one signature of a good politician - of any stripe - is the repetition
watch a political campaign closely and you will grow tired of it - spoiler alert - they say the same thing in every campaign stop, every podcast, every interview, every debate
this is a lesson for PMs - you need to repeat yourself A LOT - repeat your strategy A LOT - give the same presentation over and over and over again - way way way more than you need you need to
i hear PMs and even executives say - "but I have given this presentation twice" - and my answer is - you dont need to just give it 2 more times you need to give it 200 more times
the way you know that you have given your presentation enough? people start mimicking you and making fun of your delivery - it means you are starting to break through
is it boring? yes
is it necessary? also yes