Lenny Rachitsky: belief

Transcript context

…What you bring to the table is one of the most misunderstood attributes and aspects of product management. On one end, you could get around and say, "Here is my PRD, here is my JIRA board, here are my stories, here is my pre-sprint planning or pre-iteration planning document" and go. It's not just about the spread and the width of the things that you're doing, but it's also about the depth of those things as well. Some product managers, what they bring to the table is arguments, what they bring to the table are debates, what they bring to the table are pushbacks, while others are able to channelize the questions, channelize the inputs, channelize the direction and convert that into strategic choices which can then shape discussions, which can then shape direction. Be the latter and you will rise faster in your career. So you have these three buckets of what you produce, what you bring to the table, and what your operating model is, the three W's. So let try to summarize and see what I missed and then we'll move on. So one is just focus on executing, getting things done that are helpful to your team, your company, your manager, and focus on just getting stuff out. Not so much in necessarily in strategy. Even when you're a manager and a leader and a VP, just like you're still responsible for producing things, not just telling people and being wise. Two, what you bring to the table, my takeaway here is produce high quality artifacts that raise the bar. The way I think about this is as a PM, you want to have this aura of I got this. People put something on your plate, you want to feel like Lenny's got this, I'm not going to have to worry. It's going to be forgotten and I know it's going to be done well. And then the third piece is this idea of an operating model. Basically just make sure decisions are being made. It's not about you that you're pushing back on bad ideas. Is there anything else I missed before we move on? No. I think the art of pushback is another important factor because if you're pushing back a lot and the way you are pushing back matters a lot as well. Just don't be someone who's seen as an obstacle and a hindrance and as someone who's just very difficult to work with, but rather see as someone who's able to actually add value to whatever your leader, your stakeholders, your product area demands and you are able to advance the product and the direction and execution forward. Once you do that, I think keeping that as the intent and ensuring that your team is getting unblocked and not getting to do work on anything which is stupid or is likely to be changed, then you've really got it.…

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