Really well said, Frank. I remember a head of product at a company I worked for recently lamenting how little collaboration there was between PMs. But in that company—as in most I’ve worked at—expecting PMs to collaborate closely is kind of like wondering why the pitchers from every Major League team don’t work together more. They do the same job, sure, but for different teams. Their paths don’t really cross, and when they do, it’s usually in a competitive or adversarial context.
That isolation is real, and I think PMs would do better work, enjoy their roles more, and deliver more value if they had space to reflect on why they made certain decisions, to talk through their product thinking, or even just to have time for product thinking—rather than constantly being beholden to shipping and spinning a story about how what they shipped created impact.
This is a must-read for anyone building or leading a product team.
Really well said, Frank. I remember a head of product at a company I worked for recently lamenting how little collaboration there was between PMs. But in that company—as in most I’ve worked at—expecting PMs to collaborate closely is kind of like wondering why the pitchers from every Major League team don’t work together more. They do the same job, sure, but for different teams. Their paths don’t really cross, and when they do, it’s usually in a competitive or adversarial context.
That isolation is real, and I think PMs would do better work, enjoy their roles more, and deliver more value if they had space to reflect on why they made certain decisions, to talk through their product thinking, or even just to have time for product thinking—rather than constantly being beholden to shipping and spinning a story about how what they shipped created impact.
This is a must-read for anyone building or leading a product team.
Ohhh, the MLB pitchers comparison is spot one. Thanks for reaching and sharing!