Victor Vasile: The Art of Navigating Chaos in Product Management

A career like an uncharted road, where Victor, Product Manager at Caroda, shares his story of mistakes, bold leaps and the way order is earned a little more every single day.

Victor Vasile is currently a Product Manager at Caroda, with a non-linear professional path, diverse experience across incompatible fields, a love for antifragility and a passion for collecting life stories.

C&B: If we were to look at the narrative thread of your career, what have been the key moments that defined you?

Victor: My red thread is radical adaptability. I started in the rigor of the army at 23, convinced that I knew everything. That is where I learned discipline and the fact that sudden reversals can happen daily. I would place flexibility and the bold jumps between incompatible fields on a pedestal, because they forced me to reinvent myself countless times.

C&B: What has been the most difficult moment in your journey so far and how did you overcome it?

Victor: One year after finishing the academy, by far the most difficult moment of my life was admitting that I had made a terrible mistake four years earlier when I completely changed the course of my life. I was entirely incompatible with army life. It was, so far, the most expensive lesson I have had to pay for. I was a fortunate man, as I met my future wife on the last day I spent in the army, and together we overcame that moment with patience and love.

C&B: Is there a dream or ambition that has always guided you, regardless of obstacles?

Victor: “Wake up and be useful, in one way or another, to as many people as possible.”
This is my personal mantra that echoes in my mind every time an important decision needs to be made. I believe our ambitions should be tied to the people we surround ourselves with. The goal is to succeed together as a group, and to enjoy the results of our work collectively.

C&B: What did you look like at the beginning of your journey, and how do you feel you have transformed up to this point?

Naive and full of hope, I was an idealist who believed the world worked according to clear rules. Today, after twelve years, around ten jobs and fifteen different homes, I have replaced naivety with antifragility. I have learned that the plan you make at home never matches the one you find in the real world and that my value is anchored in navigating chaos.

C&B: If we were to meet your collaborators, what do you think they would say about you?

Victor: I am sure that if I mapped their opinions on a spectrum, I could cover it entirely. I have met many interesting people over the years, but I have stayed in touch with very few. The nature of the job and the context in which we crossed paths brought out very different traits and behaviors from me. What I believe I can say is that I am direct and that I bring order to chaos.

C&B: What is the most important decision you have made that changed your trajectory?

Victor: My wife and I decided to move to Malaga for a limited period. A professional opportunity appeared in the company, I anticipated an organizational gap in the near future and we used the chance to also enjoy a radical change in our lives. With both the good and the bad, the two years we spent in Spain had an intensity entirely different from anything I had lived before.

C&B: How have you built your leadership style or the way you make decisions? Was it a natural or a learned process?

Victor: I would describe it more as a remix of all the management styles I have encountered over the years. Classic mentorship is extremely rare, so jumping between jobs taught me to be self-taught, observing what to do and especially what not to do.

C&B: What does a typical day look like for you now and which moments bring you the most satisfaction?

Victor: I would shorten the answer with a summary: too much time spent in front of a screen. Satisfaction comes when I notice that I reduce the level of uncertainty by bringing logic and structure to the chaos of each ordinary day. I adapt the myth of Sisyphus to a messy and disorganized room that you enter and start cleaning, you finish, enjoy the order for a few moments and the next day you find it in a state only very slightly better than at the beginning of the previous day. Rinse and repeat.

C&B: What values or principles guide you in what you do and how do you apply them daily?

Victor: The core principle is zero tolerance for injustice. In short, fight or flight. If I see something unfair and remain silent, I become complicit. In the past, my reaction to toxic environments was to leave, flight, a form of self-preservation that some may judge, but that saved my integrity and in some cases even my life. Now, as I mature, I am learning to shift to fight, to stay and build a fair environment around me instead of constantly adapting to one that is already shaped.

C&B: If you were to send a message to people who follow your example, what would it be?

Victor: There is no personal or professional growth without mistakes. As long as the risks do not endanger your health or your life or anyone else’s, think very seriously about what you truly have to lose.

An article for those who are not afraid to jump into the void, because sometimes the best decisions are the ones that completely rewrite the map.