The More You Learn, The Less You Know
Embracing Curiosity as a Product Manager
By Jason Abdo
Let’s imagine a professor standing before a whiteboard with the leather patches on his elbows.
He draws a medium-sized circle and explains that this circle represents everything you know—every bit of knowledge, insight, and experience you've accumulated.
The edge of the circle is where your understanding meets the vast unknown. As you expand your knowledge, that edge grows. With every new concept or lesson learned, your awareness of the unknown increases.
This analogy is a profound reflection of how knowledge works:
the more we learn,
the more we realize how much we don't know.
Every time we expand our understanding, the border where it meets the unknown grows even larger.
This doesn’t mean we're becoming more ignorant, but that we are more aware of the complexities beyond our current knowledge.
How Does This Apply to Product Management?
In digital product management, this concept can be incredibly powerful. Every new feature iteration, user insight, or market trend brings more clarity but also exposes more uncertainties.
It’s a continuous process of discovery, adaptation, and learning.
A curiosity mindset is essential:
Stay Open-Minded: Whether you’re crafting a pitch deck, releasing a new capability into the market, or collaborating with co-creators, be open to the possibility that there are things you don’t know. There may be a better approach, different user behavior patterns, or new competitive dynamics that you haven’t yet encountered.
Attention Please: This does not mean wander without perspective.
Shape an early point of view, and
have strong opinions, weakly held.
Test Before Committing: Just like when building something physical, such as a new permanent fire pit in your backyard, rushing to finalize decisions can lead to costly rework. The same applies to final product launches. Instead of committing to a final design or feature, you can leave room for a pilot or test run—allowing your current decisions/scope to breathe before it's fully locked in. This reduces the risk of future revisions and ensures you’re basing decisions on well-rounded knowledge.
Iterate and Evolve: When designing a new feature, like a new app capability, start by identifying the problem and testing your ideas. Each round of feedback sharpens your understanding, revealing what works and what doesn’t. Failures aren’t setbacks—they’re lessons that expand your knowledge. With each iteration, the circle of what you know grows, bringing more clarity while simultaneously revealing new challenges to explore.
Curiosity: The Engine of Growth
The product manager's journey is never about having all the answers—
it’s about constantly asking the right questions.
By embracing the notion that "the more you learn, the less you know," you foster a culture of curiosity within your team and your processes.
Practical Takeaways:
Respond to Co-Creators Thoughtfully:
When working on solutions, don’t rush to answer immediately.
Provide your first blush impression but take the time to reflect, consider alternative perspectives, and explore different approaches.
Phased Approaches Reduce Rework:
Implement small, testable phases before committing to large-scale launches.
This allows for adjustments based on what you learn along the way.
Work with your development team on ways to “flag” a feature on or off for certain segments in your experience.
Stay Curious:
Always keep your knowledge circle expanding by embracing feedback, gathering data, and learning from every interaction with your product and customers.
Remember, your role isn’t to have all the answers but to continuously push the boundaries of your knowledge and allow curiosity to be your guide.
The more you’re aware of what you don’t know, the better equipped you are to lead your product to success.
Until next week!
Product Protégé
First published in Protege Pulse, the Product Protégé newsletter. Read it on Substack.
