The Complementary-Axis PM Skill Development Framework
Level up (or transition into) PM by picking the skill axis opposite your background, then strategy
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 90%
A concrete sequencing for developing or transitioning into product management across four core skill axes — data, technology, design/research, and strategy. Because you can't improve everything at once, you pick the highest-leverage axis (usually the one opposite your background), demonstrate it, then move to the next, saving strategy for after you've proven two of the first three. Used at Gojek to transition many people, especially in Indonesia, into strong PMs.
Origin
Developed and applied by Vikrama Dhiman's product org at Gojek to transition ICs from growth, data, and research backgrounds into product management.
Core principles
- 01You can't improve every skill area at once — that's what overwhelms you
- 02Pick the maximum-leverage area, fix it, then move to the next
- 03Fix a floundering/negative area first — it gives the highest leverage
- 04Softer skills (communication, collaboration, community) are lifelong 4/5-forever pursuits
How to run it
- 1
Fix any area where you're floundering first
If you are genuinely negative or failing in one skill area, address that before anything else — it gives the highest leverage because it's actively holding you back.
Watch out Don't skip a glaring weakness to chase a strength; the weakness caps everything else.
- 2
Pick the axis opposite your background
Choose one of data/tech and one of design/research to develop — specifically the side you didn't come from. If you come from design/research, pick data or tech; if you come from data/tech, pick design/research. This targets the skill you necessarily haven't developed, giving maximum leverage.
Pro tip When starting in PM, the recommended combo is one of {data, tech} plus design/research — deliberately chosen to be complementary to your origin.
Watch out Transitioning is harder and slower the more senior you already are in your original function; expect it to take longer and secure a strong product leader to shape the skills.
- 3
Demonstrate two of the three, then move to strategy
Once you've demonstrated capability on two of {data, tech, design/research}, shift focus to strategy — specifically product strategy: given the mountain to climb (chosen by others), define how to climb it (user segments, their needs, the right product, and the order of work).
Pro tip Assign transitioning PMs projects that force the new axis while leveraging their strength — e.g. a design-heavy redesign that still requires deep data segmentation.
Watch out It doesn't always work — some PMs pick skills up fast, others don't; go slow during transition so you can go fast later rather than getting stuck.
In the wild
A PM from Crystal's growth/data team was given a Gojek 'finding driver' redesign — a very design-focused product — but was helped to leverage existing data skills by building a PRD with detailed data on what different customer segments were doing, then working with designers on the framework. Dhiman calls the resulting redesign 'a piece of art.'
→ A data-native PM demonstrated design/research capability while still using their data strength, producing an award-worthy redesign.
A PM who transitioned from research was given repeated feedback that her technology and data skills needed to be verified by engineers confirming they could work with her strongly. Once she cleared that bar, she turned a heated question on a feature into a full solution with designs and trade-offs, then reframed it as a leadership question about product direction.
→ A research-native PM built the complementary tech/data axis and advanced to shaping product direction.
Common mistakes
Trying to improve all axes simultaneously
Picking up data, design, strategy, and technology at once overwhelms you and stalls progress on all of them.
Reaching for strategy before demonstrating the craft axes
Strategy comes after you've proven two of {data, tech, design/research}; jumping to it early skips the foundation.
Rushing a senior-level transition
Senior specialists who transition too fast get stuck; going deliberately slow during transition enables speed later.
Is it for you?
Best for
People transitioning into product management from an adjacent function (growth, data, research, engineering) and PMs deciding where to invest limited learning time
Not ideal for
Softer skills like communication and community, which you work on your whole life and never fully master — this sequencing is for the harder, definable axes
From the transcript
“You need to pick which is the area which is the maximum leverage for you and improve on that particular aspect, and then move on…”
“When you're starting off, my recommendation is that you pick between data and tech one and definitely one on design and research and strategy.”
“My advice is if you're coming from design and research background, then you pick data or tech. If you're coming from a data or tech…”
“Once you've demonstrated on two of these three between data, tech and design and research, then you start focusing on strategy.”
“We've had great success at Gojek in transitioning a lot of product managers especially in Indonesia using this framework”
From the episode
A framework for PM skill development
Vikrama Dhiman (Gojek)