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Something I’ve observed over the years:
Product Managers who always win real-time debates about product issues — with their quips, eloquent arguments, bulletproof analogies & metaphors — tend to build surprisingly mediocre products, with mediocre outcomes.
Product Managers who always win real-time debates about product issues — with their quips, eloquent arguments, bulletproof analogies & metaphors — tend to build surprisingly mediocre products, with mediocre outcomes.
Why?
This tendency of Gifted Great Debaters (GGD) has a few adverse effects:
- It falsely grows GGD's confidence about being right
- It shrinks GGD's team members’ self-confidence
- It can drain team members’ energy to a point that they often just choose not to speak up
This tendency of Gifted Great Debaters (GGD) has a few adverse effects:
- It falsely grows GGD's confidence about being right
- It shrinks GGD's team members’ self-confidence
- It can drain team members’ energy to a point that they often just choose not to speak up
How to deal with this if you're a GGD?
- Reframe the point of the product debate in your head. It isn’t to win. It isn’t even to get your arguments heard
- The point of a product debate is for you to seek counterarguments
- Ask questions rather than making definitive statements
- Reframe the point of the product debate in your head. It isn’t to win. It isn’t even to get your arguments heard
- The point of a product debate is for you to seek counterarguments
- Ask questions rather than making definitive statements
How to deal with this when working with a GGD?
- Send GGD a link to this thread
- Ask GGD to make a compelling case for the opposite of their stance. Create a norm that no decision can be made without that
- Get more time. Create some space between the debate & the decision
- Send GGD a link to this thread
- Ask GGD to make a compelling case for the opposite of their stance. Create a norm that no decision can be made without that
- Get more time. Create some space between the debate & the decision
And perhaps the most important tactic of all:
Have fewer 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘭 discussions about important issues.
𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 instead of 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨.
Writing creates rigor.
Have fewer 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘭 discussions about important issues.
𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 instead of 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨.
Writing creates rigor.
