Three no-brainer skills for PMs to invest in, especially during times of uncertainty

It’s 2025. Things are uncertain right now. Between widespread tech layoffs and AI's rapid workplace integration, we're all trying to maintain composure in a Squid Game style round of musical chairs, wondering when the music will stop and who will remain standing.

The bad news? Change isn’t slowing down any time soon.

The good news? Humans are crazy adaptable. You’ve got this.

Let me share three no-brainer skills that Product Managers should develop. These will help put you ahead of the pack, regardless of industry, career stage, or personality type. They are not easy skills to master, and you don’t need to be great at all of them to succeed. Yet, it is valuable to have a broad view of the PM skill set and entirely possible for anyone to upskill with dedicated effort and practice.

The most valuable gifts come to those who put the work in. I strongly believe these three skills are worth investing in, especially during these transformative times.

1. Technical Fluency Skills

The Strategic Puzzle

No matter how your product organisation is set up, as a PM, there’s a piece of the product for which you should be the organisation’s leading expert. This expertise isn’t just about how the features work but also requires a deep understanding of customer problems and the value your product delivers. The continued relevance of your product to the lives of customers, amid shifting external landscapes, should be at the forefront of your strategic mind.

Technological evolution directly impacts this strategic puzzle. New developments create fresh capabilities while making others obsolete, fundamentally changing consumer habits. Product Managers simply cannot afford to be technically complacent.

Explore and Evaluate

Practice being curious around new technology. I know this can be hard as it is relentless! Slow and steady does it. Take time to understand the evolving tech. Particularly, the hot topics today of Generative and Agentic AI. Test new products personally. Make sure you understand enough about any new technology to discuss real-world applications confidently.

"No team structure should be static. Your organisational context is evolving—and your team should too."

Sei Moon, Fractional CPO & Coach

This doesn’t require coding skills, understanding how things work is enough. Sharpen your ability to distinguish between genuine innovation and sparkly vapourware.

Most importantly, please do not delegate this exploration. Your product-sense comes from your unique judgement. It comes from your own, beautiful, unstructured brain mush of product knowledge, customer understanding, and assessment of any new technology’s potential.

The Critical Question

Remember, just because something is possible doesn’t mean it’s beneficial. Practice your ability to articulate whether you should implement a new technology, not simply that you could.

Practical Steps

1. Put aside 30 minutes a week and just start fiddling with new tools to understand what they can do. Have fun with them, whether you get anywhere or not.
2. Have a set of questions you practice asking yourself about any new technology or tool. Some ideas of good questions are:
   1. What does this help me do?
   2. How do I do this thing without this new technology or tool?
   3. Is the new way immediately and obviously better? How and why?
   4. If not, what needs to happen or change for the new thing to be potentially better in the future?
3. Do it together. Run an informal monthly ‘tech exploration lunch’ with colleagues to explore topics like how new technologies might change your industry.

2. Business-Focussed Critical Thinking Skills

Go Beyond Data

So, you’ve explored available technologies and understand the art of the possible. Now comes the crucial skill of thinking critically. You need to figure out which possibilities you think are worth pursuing and which you would ignore. If everything is important, nothing is. It’s time to form well-reasoned opinions.

We’re rapidly entering an era where AI can handle a mind-boggling range of tasks. I encourage you to delegate process work, research, data analysis etc. But, never outsource your thinking. Protect, nurture, and strengthen your critical thinking muscle. You need it, more than you likely realise.

Make Friends with Constraints and Trade-offs

Product development in the real world exists within the constraints of time, resources, and customer appetite. Sadly, we are not in a wonderland of unlimited possibilities. Fortunately, business models are somewhat established and offer you blueprints and patterns you can use as guides. Learn to understand diverse business models and their identifying patterns (AI tools can be great “teachers” here). Then, practice applying these models to your own product thinking. Get better at critiquing and strengthening your own ideas.

Your role as a PM is to help your business make confident decisions based on strong judgement, making use of your unique blend of knowledge, expertise and experience. These decisions must account for time constraints, resource limitations, risk factors, and underlying financial models. The process involves snap judgements about priorities, possibilities, and where to place your bets when looking at multiple promising options. Some gut feel helps too. This goes far beyond calculating highest-probability outcomes. Businesses need PMs who give teams the confidence to be bold in and amongst the conflicts, contradictions and ambiguity of life.

Practical Steps

1. Practice getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. Your daily life presents so many opportunities to practice the ability to keep a clear head and move forward despite discomfort and/ or uncertainty. For example, practice making decisions with incomplete information by setting yourself a time constraint. Give yourself 30 minutes to make a decision on something that usually takes you hours.
2. Dedicate some time every week to learn about business strategy and different business models. I prefer old-school books to modern snappy snippets for this but any learning is good. Just be consistent.

3. Form your own opinions and justifications at work even if you don’t feel comfortable sharing them yet. Keep a ‘strategy journal’ where you write down your opinions and reasoning. Review this periodically to see how your thinking evolves.

3. Expert Communication Skills

Bridging Diverse Perspectives

Once you understand the landscape and have formed thoughtful opinions about your product’s direction, you must communicate effectively. Unless you’re a one-person band, success depends on being able to clearly share your vision and collaborate effectively to make things happen.

Here’s where it gets tricky. Remember your unique blend of knowledge, expertise and experience? Well, everyone has their own version of that, with different strengths and blindspots. And, there’s rarely one “correct” answer. The more skilled and diverse your team, the more perspectives will vary. That’s a GOOD thing. That’s actually valuable.

From Opinion to Alignment

The skill lies in expertly facilitating meetings, preventing them from deteriorating into unproductive debates where nobody feels satisfied and everyone ends up doing the bare minimum because they disagree with the direction.

Communication is a deeply human activity involving listening, sharing and practicing deliberate attention management. In my opinion, there are few people who wouldn’t benefit from practicing better communication (myself included!). Communication skills are particularly crucial for PMs who bridge functional divides.

Be the PM who both contributes valuable perspectives with robust opinions, and excels at facilitating discussions that respect diverse expertise. Your goal is to drive confident decisions that move the team forward, together.

Practical Steps

1. Have more intentional conversations. Before any important meeting, write down the single most important thing you want to achieve. Keep conversations short and effective by being clear about your intentions.
2. Dedicate yourself to practicing powerful listening skills. These can include:
   1. Looking relaxed, curious and interested when someone is talking to you
   2. Staying focussed on what the other person is saying and not getting distracted
   3. Not interrupting
3. If you are someone who struggles with communication, know that you are not alone. Let your workplace know that this is something you want to work on. Maybe ask a trusted colleague for specific feedback on your communication skills.

Resilience is the Foundation Skill

Imagine two kids on a playground. They both trip and fall. One collapses in tears, waiting for consolation. The other assesses the damage, brushes off, and continues playing. When developing new skills, you’ll stumble and fall, but you’ll always have a choice in how you respond.

Make an effort to be the second kid. Pick yourself up, learn quickly, and move forward. Practice makes habit, which leads to sustained change. This resilience isn’t just a bonus skill, it’s the foundation that makes improving all the other skills possible in times of uncertainty.

The most successful PMs in 2025 won't just be technically savvy, critically astute, and excellent communicators, they'll be the ones who can adapt, learn, and persist through rapid change. That's how you'll not just survive but thrive in whatever comes next.

Thanks for reading and have fun practicing.