Where does the Product Manager’s job complexity come from?

How is it that the Product Manager’s work has to be so complicated to the point that “it depends” became the industry catchphrase? Where does the complexity come from? How to make it simpler?

Let’s start by saying that the words “it depends” come from a clash of the complex world of a PM with relatively simple requests from stakeholders.

You probably lived through or heard a similar dialogue:

(S)takeholder: Could you add a [feature] to the product?
PM: 𝗜𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀.
S: On what?
PM:
Well, it depends on:
• the urgency
• will users like it
• how complex it is
• was it tried before
• are you from legal
• the size of my team
• when do you need it
• do competitors have it
• is the impact estimated
• did more people ask for it
• does it meet current goals
• what metrics does it touch.
• does it need product discovery
• what will happen if this is ignored
• will it need a maintenance budget
• are you sure this is the best solution
• how will it fit with the rest of the product
• what other commitments are there already
• do you know what problem you are solving
• do you have the power to enforce this on me
• do we have the backend to support the request
• do I have the time and brainpower to take this on
• do I have the right talent in the team to work on it
• is there even space in the roadmap…