Product Management Interview Substack Series Introduction
For the next 10 Substack issues, I am going to be focused on the Product Management (PM) Interview and executive function. Or in other words, why it is so hard for my ADHD brain to go through a PM interview?
These two subjects are on my mind right now as I am interviewing for PM roles. I find the most difficult part of becoming a PM, is the case interview questions.
I’d rather write 10 6-pager strategy docs by hand than answer a series of PM case study questions. However, it’s a part of the job, and I like the job. So I’ve decided to confront my fear head-on by turning my hyper-focal brain on breaking down my interview barrier. I want to master the interview and learn why my ADHD brain dislikes it so.
Don’t worry, there will still be plenty of stories of trauma, shame, and self-doubt that you’ve grown to love. They’ll now be included with random hypothetical questions that are the difference between employment and unemployment.
Interested in the full series on overcoming Product Management Interviews? Subscribe to our Substack for free to receive new posts.
Takeaways
ADHD can be defined as a disability of executive function.
PM case interviews are weird but can be mastered with time and practice. Both of which I am currently avoiding thanks to my executive function.
The PM Case Interview
How would you estimate the number of coffee cups served in a day in New York City?
Design an alarm clock.
How would improve your favorite app?
If you notice a 30% change in usage of your product, what would you do?
How would you estimate the percent increase in toilet paper sold in Costco for the holidays? (Not a real interview question, but it could be)
No, I’m not trying to come up with a new game to play while drunk or high (to be inclusive of my 420 friends). These are real examples of product manager case interview questions. Number 2 was asked of me at my most recent interview, and I failed at answering it (it still hurts a little. Known as case study questions, they are commonly asked when hiring PMs.
The questions are designed to showcase how a candidate thinks and problems solves.
Interviewers are looking for candidates to follow a framework and challenge how broadly they can think about a subject. The key to solving these types of questions learning the framework and practice. Practice, practice, practice.
It’s a straightforward solution but why do I struggle so much with them? Why do I have such a hard time practicing? Shouldn’t abstract and novel questions engage my ADHD brain? To answer these questions, you and I are going to explore the world of executive function in the brain.
Executive Function and Me
I am going to oversimplify the executive function into the domains of attention, memory, and decision-making. (Feel free to believe me or read the fancy Harvard definition below this paragraph.) These cognitive domains are responsible for a large range of behaviors such as emotional regulation, time management, planning, self-talk, and self-confidence.
Attention is our ability to focus on certain stimuli in order to process the experience. For example, you are able to read this story because your attention has blocked out the other words currently in your visual field. Our brain then encodes a memory from the experience. Your brain places the memory it in short-term memory, where it may be forgotten soon.
Or if the memory and desire are strong enough, it may move into long-term memory where it lies in wait to be recalled at another time. This story is currently going into your short-term memory and you are deciding whether or not you continue to read (attend or abandon).
At this moment your brain is attending to stimuli, processing them into memory, and then deciding what to do about them. Congratulations now you know the basics of executive function.
**Note if you are a scientist in this field, please forgive me for my simplification of memory and attention.
Executive function and self-regulation skills are the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. Just as an air traffic control system at a busy airport safely manages the arrivals and departures of many aircraft on multiple runways, the brain needs this skill set to filter distractions, prioritize tasks, set and achieve goals, and control impulses. - Harvard Center for Developing Child
ADHD is a Disability of Executive Function
People with ADHD have a disability in the regulation of their executive functions. Meaning, they have physiological differences in their brain that make it more difficult to regulate their executive function when compared to a neurotypical person. People with ADHD struggle to “Just do it”, “Just not be lazy” or “Just start the task” because something about their brain wiring requires either more work to do the task or a different approach than a neurotypical person.
You may think, well doesn’t everyone have struggles with attention, memory, and decision-making at times? Yes, neurotypical people can have impairments, situational impairments (drugs, meds), or struggle with executive functions similar to those with ADHD. However, overcoming those challenges is often more difficult for someone with ADHD.
You might feel like you’re "a little ADD” all the time but assuming you don’t have ADHD, it’ll most likely be easier for you to regulate your executive function to do the tasks you want to do. Neurotypical and ADHD brains can share the same challenges but the difficulty of the challenges and the solutions will vary. That’s a key to working with those of us with ADHD. We can do the task but how the individual with ADHD or the person asking for the task, often has to find a different approach to get it done.
The wheel of behaviors
Executive function is a broad category of behaviors that some other scientists and coaches have already broken up for me. Each newsletter going forward is going to look at each behavior from the executive function wheel below. These are 10 behaviors that make up this executive function wheel. There are plenty of other wheels and breakdowns out there. This one looks nice and is easy to read.
I am going to explain common traits in each behavior and combine them with strategies to approach the PM interview. I am tackling my PM interview practice problem by making it part of my newsletter.
This includes case studies and behavioral questions. I didn’t mention the behavioral questions because coming from Amazon, I have developed good strategies to answer them. I’ll share those strategies along with the case interview strategies in context to the behavior of the week.
Hey, I might even get a job by the end.
I went a little neuroscientist on you today. Old habits die hard.
Interested in the full series on overcoming Product Management Interviews? Subscribe to our Substack for free to receive new posts.
Sources
https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/executive-function/
Human Memory - This was an undergrad textbook of mine I had lying around. Reach out to me if you want an updated book about memory.
A thank you to Catherine Mutti-Driscoll for providing me with the wheel and guidance.
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