The Product Side of Man
So long it is not eternal (lifecycle-centered), It is a PRODUCT…
A certain belief system calls man “a product of grace,” but that’s not what I’m here to discuss with you. Yet, you’re the nucleus of this conversation — Yes! I mean you. So, let’s get to it!
After series of untapped intellectual chatter with some of my top guys, one of them asked — “what makes a successful man and how exactly can we measure man’s success?” Let me be a bit ingenious here. In my head, it looked as though he asked — “who dey briiiiiit?” Trust me, in the Nigeria lingo hallway, this phrase could mean thousands of words.
That question came from a stern stance of concern and deep thought, following what we’ve earlier discussed which I cannot start pouring out here. I simply asked her “why would the subject of success show up at every snippet of conversations about man?” I mean “man” as in all gender. Then she said, “because, a clearheaded man should aim to be successful.” Apologies, I flipped a word in the last sentence. She said “a sane man…” but I remember the word “insane” whenever I hear anyone use that, so I tried to make myself comfortable by flipping it to “clearheaded.” I do hope you forgive me as she has also forgiven me in advance. Immediately she said that, it reverberated more like “a good product should gain traction and increase in revenue.” I said revenue because that is the end of every product conceived by people who build stuff — I mean entrepreneurs, business owners, and more.
This changed the whole narrative of my discussion with her as she hijacked it and we kept going with verbal discussion. After we finished that convo, then I took out time to retrospect, I focused more on the things she told me as I resumed (in full capacity) the office of an active listener.
I put the summary of what she said into — “You are a product.” To capture why I came to such a conclusion, check the next few paragraphs.
Now let’s decongest it into an Intelligible context. There are few elements that characterize every man — my perspective. They are:
- Life — the one that happens at birth
- Problem — that which become known at maturity
- In-demand Survival Risk — good pressure and bad pressure
- A time of Discovery — responsive ability
- Solution-to-problem approach — Action
- Success — the boom
- Decease — the plunge effect, apparently, we’ll all die someday
- Legacy — what’s left after you’re gone
The journey of every successful man always has these attributes at one point affixed to it. Success here of course is not delimited to money. Success could mean basic acceptance by a group that has for long rejected some sets of persons. It could even be a simple task fueled by the determination to travel from one location of economic comatose to that of magnanimous opportunities — to excel professionally and live life. What remains true is that success wears different hats, you only need to find the best fit for yourself.
Of all the listed elements above, that which qualifies a man as more of a product is the “death.” Apparently, no product will last forever. What is allowed is longevity, sustainability, and innovative transition. This is why you will see a company like Google acquiring YouTube, Oculus, and all. Trust me, if they stay with the basic technology they started with during the early days of their market entry they would have been in extinction now. In the PM and business world, it is called sunsetting. This made me remember that one of the most assistive listing product platforms in Nigeria will be unavailable to the public (its users) in the coming years. I’m talking about Disha. Disha will be sunsetting by 31st of December, 2022. By now, you should have at least known what the scenario of “sunsetting” could be in the business and product world. It breaks my heart to see this happen but such decisions are not taken if they’re not the best decisions. How does this resonate with you?
Every man will die. We are not going to live forever. Disha, as their case is, will not go down in history because they prepared for a soft landing (no matter what is). They gave users about three years’ notice to migrate all their data from their platform. Do you know what that means? Users will not have to cry over sudden disappearance, unannounced exit, no scenario of their users been left at a puzzling spot without knowing what next to do. I’m sure you might be asking how this resonates with the death of humans again. I know human death could be shocking many times, but the context of death here is controlled damages and uncontrolled damages. Every human must find a way to always transit smoothly from one journeying phase to another. It could be from being a general reporting lawyer to a tech-law attorney or from being a business consultant to a cybersecurity expert. It could be literally anything that has to do with change.
The split in the pancake happens because humans sometimes are not aware of when they sunset. As humans, we get to quit many times, feel tired and exhausted that we forget the pattern by which we are supposed to live by. Remember, problems will keep coming, you will keep getting tired, you will try the most feasible option for you at a time and it won’t work. What you should know is that you are less of what you don’t see. I mean the kind of seeing that happens when your brain takes the position of an eye and your mind takes the position of staff to the blind.
Even the seemingly genius product that seems like it won’t experience its full product lifecycle really does. What makes the difference is the way those giants have been able to master smoooth transitioning from a product experiencing redundancy to a product that never dies — I mean Legacy. Humans have such characteristics too. Some have lived this beautiful planet rent-free even after their demise. Why is that so? They lived their life with the understanding of a product. The game tested them many times but they stayed ten toes down. Built a fuming core within, the juggernaut of enthusiasm that mined out the best in them and deliver the finished product as an undying impact to the world.
I put this question to you. What impression do you get when you hear about these names (living or dead): Michael Jackson, Kamala Harris, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Tyler Perry, Asa, Fela Anikulapo, Adebayo Ogunlesi, Jesus Christ, Muhammadu Buhari, Seyi Shay, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Olamide Towobola, Okonjo Iweala.
You must have gotten a mixed impression while skimming through those names. The same goes for comparing several physical or digital products in the same market scenario. There will always be the ones that leave you with a high sense of credibility while some give the most unsolicited legacy degradation.
Humans are products. What comes out of every one of us is the finished product we designed by doing and not necessarily nature. Are you working on yourself or on something to build you up at the moment? Keep to it. The finished product is about to be mature and launched into the most terrific lifelong experience. Keep building. Don’t stop.
Makes me remember this beautiful quote by Tolulope Ajayi — You are solely responsible for your actions, and inactions.
Own it! Control it!
Do have a beautiful day 😉
