“What Exactly Does a PM Do?” — A Journey with Alia

When Alia turned 28, she wasn’t just celebrating another year around the sun — she was celebrating her third year as a Product Manager in a fast-growing fintech startup in Bangalore.

At first, her relatives thought she was into “project management.” Her friends thought she was “kind of like a mini-CEO.” Even she thought she’d mostly be shipping features and writing specs.

But Alia soon learned that product management was more like conducting a 40-piece orchestra while also writing the music, tuning the instruments, explaining it to the audience — and sometimes, even selling the tickets.

Over time, she realized being a PM wasn't about being the smartest person in the room — it was about being the one who can ask the right questions, connect the dots, and move the team forward when things get messy.

So what does a great PM like Alia actually do?

She thinks strategically, executes relentlessly, analyzes data, collaborates across functions, resolves conflicts, empathizes with users, and navigates ambiguity — sometimes all before lunch.

To truly understand her world, you have to break it down.

👇🏽 Here’s a full-spectrum map of the skillset every great PM needs — just like Alia.

🛡️ The Product Manager as Maa Durga: Ten Arms, One Mission

Sometimes, we joke that being a Product Manager means juggling so much, we’d need ten arms to do it right.

Well — maybe that’s exactly what it takes.

Think of Alia as a modern-day Maa Durga — the fierce, composed warrior goddess, balancing chaos with grace, slaying ambiguity with her trident of clarity, and protecting her team from the demons of scope creep, last-minute pivots, and misaligned stakeholders.

Each of her ten hands holds a different weapon — or in this case, a critical PM skill:

1. Vision Spear – Crafting long-term strategy with clarity.

2. Roadmap Shield – Defending the product from distraction.

3. Customer Mirror – Reflecting true user needs through research.

4. Prioritization Axe – Cutting through noise with sharp decisions.

5. Design Compass – Navigating UX, not controlling it.

6. Data Lens – Seeing the truth in metrics and signals.

7. Collaboration Lotus – Building harmony across teams.

8. Delivery Bow – Targeting execution with focus and follow-through.

9. Technical Blade – Understanding systems, not just specs.

10. Empathy Flame – Burning bright with care for users, teams, and outcomes.

She doesn’t do it all alone. But she carries the weight of it all, and channels strength from each skill, just like Maa Durga draws power from the gods.

Modern product management is a battlefield — of ideas, egos, deadlines, and unknowns. But with calm in her eyes and a kanban board at her feet, Alia steps into the storm not as a manager — but as a force.

This is an AI-generated creative imagination. There is no intention to mimic or represent any religious sentiment.

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