Hey PMs & tech leaders, here’s a recording of my talk:
"The 7 Myths That Stymie PM Impact (& Careers)"
youtube.com/watch?v=jLH9xa
It covers some topics that don't get enough coverage, including:
Money vs Title
Confidence vs Competence
Problem Prevention (& pre-mortems)
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Some of these 7 ideas are quite radical, others less so.
And they are not for everyone.
But I hope that they will inspire further reflection.
You'll also see slightly unconventional book recommendations for PMs and product leaders in general.
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1st:
Solving problems is good, but selectively preventing key problems is even better.
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This thread (which blew up a bit when I first posted it) covers it in more detail, so check it out if you haven't already:
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Why do smart companies & orgs make stupid mistakes?
A thread:
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This is why problem solving is so enticing:
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What you’re about to see is a remarkable couple of paragraphs from Rolf Dobelli’s excellent book “The Art of The Good Life”*
amazon.com/Art-Good-Life-
* As an aside, this is one of my top 5 all-time favorite books.
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And this thread delves into pre-mortems, a key tool you can use for problem prevention:
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Twitter, now that we understand why the preventable problem paradox is so prevalent and pernicious, it’s time to talk about combating it.
So, as promised, here’s a thread on pre-mortems.
Show this thread
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2nd:
PMs should definitely utilize their strengths, but they will have a greater impact and become better product leaders if they also address their weaknesses.
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Understand the 3 Essential Senses of a PM:
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And, aim to be a 10-30-50 PM.
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Learn more about this in this Tweetstorm:
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Now we can answer why Alice has risen so fast while her peers are stuck on the PM Career Treadmill.
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3rd:
You can increase your impact on the organization (and reduce the tremendous stress that often accompanies the PM job) by avoiding the trap of doing a great job on all tasks (and even features). Seek leverage, actively try to do a bad job for certain tasks.
What!!??
Yes.
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This deserves a Tweetstorm of its own, and I worry that some of the nuance will be lost as I summarize here, but I'm feeling brave today.
Though better than reading it here, jump directly to this part of the talk:
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I often find that a large part of early/mid-career PMs' work stress is due to not recognizing this:
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Introducing the LNO Effectiveness Framework.
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Leverage tasks
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Neutral tasks
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Overhead tasks
(note: you actually won't end up doing a *bad* job, but as a perfectionist, you should actively try to do a bad job so you end up doing an OK job, which is what such tasks deserve)
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A nonspecific PM's to-do list, before using the LNO Effectiveness Framework:
(not including the 4 hours of meetings they have today)
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The same PM's to-list, after applying the LNO Effectiveness Framework:
(now they're able to spend *more* time on the high leverage tasks than they would have otherwise, while still spending *less* total time to get through the tasks of the day)
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A similar concept can also be applied to product features.
Be intentional about what type of feature you're trying to build in a given context.
Chiefly, once everyone's on the same page on the quality level you're aiming for, you can more rigorously resolve disagreements.
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The most useful part of the Agreed Target Quality framework is the common lexicon. It works wonders when Eng–Design–PM are all aligned on the target quality for a given milestone.
(I've adapted this over the years after first learning about it from at Twitter)
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4th:
Becoming VP Product / CPO / COO / etc. isn't the only path for high-performing PMs. And it might even be a terrible path for some. So, don't just chase the big title.
And remember one key thing:
Title and Money are not as correlated as you might think.
What!!??
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Jump to the part of the talk that describes how "LinkedIn Envy" pushes many high-performing PMs towards bad career decisions, why trying to emulate the "celebrity PMs" / 30-under-30 PMs is a bad idea, and what to do instead:
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5th:
Pride in one's logical & analytical thinking can create major blind-spots for PMs and product leaders. You must understand the psychological factors that will influence your users' and customers' behavior. This applies to consumer products AND to enterprise products.
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At this point, we get to the part of the talk where I leave exercises for the audience (and for you here).
If you are a PM (or if work on products in almost any capacity), you must read "Alchemy" by .
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Another must-add to the PM bookshelf:
In "Super Thinking", Lauren McCann and describe hundreds of mental models that can help you become a better thinker and decision maker.
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Bonus PM book recommendation:
"The Art of the Good Life" by is one of my top 5 favorite books of all time.
It will make you a better PM and decision-maker (among other things).
amazon.com/Art-Good-Life-
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Last one here:
"The Art of Thinking Clearly", also by
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#6:
Don't assume that "PM-driven" companies are better for PMs. If you care about building superb products, you'll be better off at a company where Eng/Design/others have an *equal* voice in what product gets built. PM-driven companies are good for PMs' egos, but not much else.
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The ego feels great when we’re in charge.
But it almost always leads to worse products. When PMs are "calling the shots", largely based on their title, why should others care deeply about the product?
So, seek "product-obsessed companies" and avoid "PM-driven companies".
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