Yesterday, I felt triggered to speak up when I saw
’s post about online courses. It was a pile-on kind of post and I was wondering if it was worth trying to share a different POV?I tried it.
The answer: Yes.
Why? The outreach I got after sharing this nugget of a story was overwhelming. While I ended up misreading the comment a bit (check the thread) it ignited a dialogue around online courses & certification that made people feel seen - in many directions.
Years ago, after completing an online set of courses through HBS, I wrote about why I did it and what I learned for internal Spotify boards. They paid for it after all.
So I decided to dig up the original piece because it was begging to get repurposed.
And to be clear from my intro video, Wisconsin is an amazing school. Let’s fking go Badgers!
Letter of Recommendation: Learn Something Outside of Work (2019)
I love the New York Times Letter of Recommendation section, which is dedicated to “celebrating the overlooked and under appreciated.” Highlighting life’s simple joys, like crying at movies or cold showers, always inspire me to try new things (ok, not always).
So, I endeavor to do the same here with my own Letter of Recommendation.
I’ve been a Product Manager since the beginning of my career. When I got to Spotify, two years ago, I considered myself a seasoned PM. I knew my way around a trello board, had QA’ed one too many iOS builds and facilitated a sprint retrospective like an agile coach. But, coming up on seven years into my PM career, I began to recognize a shortcoming: I had very little experience with business. This shortcoming became even more pronounced on my small PM team of four, the other three PMs hailing from top MBA programs. On one hand I was all, “go me!” but on the other hand, I felt imposter syndrome slowly starting to creep in.
As these feelings progressed, I did some internal soul-searching, conducted lots of 1:1s with product leadership and dug my heels into PM communities online. I asked myself, “do I need a MBA to be good at this thing?” I came to product with a B.A. in Journalism and the rest I learned on the job, with great mentorship and steady opportunity. But was that enough?
Deep down, I knew I didn’t want to stop working. Learning on the job was what got me to where I am today, 66 floors up with beautiful Manhattan views. But I knew there was something missing and I needed to know what could make me a stronger PM.
With full-time and part-time MBA programs off the table, I set out to find something flexible but credible. Turns out there’s a LOT out there, and quite honestly, it was overwhelming. Working with my manager (a MBA grad), I identified relevant coursework that would be foundational for me to develop a stronger business acumen. I stumbled on an online program through Harvard Business School, CORe: three courses, 10 weeks and a final exam for B-school credit. It was self-driven, community-oriented with deadlines. My manager helped me fund the program through Spotify. In May, I was off to the races.
The program covered Business Analytics, Economics and Financial Accounting. The online portal was impressive. HBS has invested a ton in their online programs and it shows. Last week I finished my 10 week program with a hefty final exam. A few takeaways from my time dabbling back into school...
Going to school and working is HARD.
Continued education is a commitment. Especially online classes. The classes were so easy to blow off - especially in the summer. Thankfully, I’m one of those annoying people who have to “see things through” and was able to stay on track - through vacations, lunches, weekends and extremely stressful times at work. But as I carried on with the coursework, I realized I was only going to get what I put into it. So, I hunkered down. Once I learned how to “learn” in a “classroom” setting again, it was enriching to exercise my brain in new ways.
Business classes are basically useful for anyone.
We are so lucky to work with some of the best business people in our industry and many of us, myself included, take advantage of that. But what’s more empowering and more impactful for your work is to collaborate with our business folks. These classes weren’t necessary for me to get a grasp of what our business teams are doing on Creator, but learning new concepts helped me to feel a little more confident in business conversations. There’s pretty much no downside to having a bit more knowledge in this space.
Investing in your continued education is worth it.
Financial accounting, in my spare time, over the summer sounds ..sadistic..right? What I’ve found, inside and outside of work, is that growth happens most when you’re squarely outside of your comfort zone. My recommendation: find the space outside of your comfort zone and work with your manager to creatively design your development plan. Continued learning is expensive and we are incredibly lucky to work at a company that supports our growth. Take advantage of the resources we have!
Hi - I’m Jori and I’m a Product Coach. Here’s how to work with me ↩️
I work with Product Leaders and their teams to unlock their biggest career moments. If you’re looking for support - drop me a note, I’d love to connect. 🤝
I co-host Product Leadership Breakfast NYC, a monthly product breakfast series to bring together curated groups of PM leaders to connect and share learnings and insights over casual breakfast. If you live in NYC or find yourself passing through, join us! ☕
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