Never hire a product manager off of "spidey-sense product instincts and creativity", because you won't be able to tell a candidate who's got some skill from a c

Never hire a product manager off of "spidey-sense product instincts and creativity", because you won't be able to tell a candidate who's got some skill from a candidate who's been having some luck. A product manager shouldn't just be able to tell you good ideas - a product manager needs to be able to tell you how they come up with good ideas, and how they figure out if those ideas are right before they blow a bunch of resources on things. If a product manager is trying to get hired on instincts, no matter how good their ideas sound, the appropriate thing to say is 'Okay, let's say my instincts 100% disagree with yours, and I happen to be your boss. Now what?' And if they can't articulate exactly how they're talking to customers, determining market needs, validating their assumptions, and doing whatever else they can to prove they're not just some charismatic lunatic advocating a fever dream, do not let them in the door - because they are a potential time-bomb. Some people do have good product instincts. But if you've accidentally hired a product manager of the lucky variety, their performance is likely to revert to the mean - after they've persuaded your organization to sink a huge bunch of time and money into their dog of an idea that sounded good at the time.