How does product development actually work? Do hard launch dates actually help in the long run?
This thread by Shreyas brings some good perspective.
» NextBigWhat’s #Threadmill brings you curated Twitter threads on product, life and growth.
Some people will disagree with some of these points. If you’re one of them, this isn’t an attempt to change your mind. It’s hard to change minds! Instead, I hope this is useful for folks who’ve felt that conventional wisdom is wrong but haven’t yet found the words for it.
Dates don’t matter as much as we pretend they do.
Hard launch dates are less about getting the product in users’ hands as quickly as possible and are more often a blunt tool used by management to ensure that people “are working well and are working hard”.
You can get most B2B products right upfront.
The practice of spending several years finding product-market fit shouldn’t be viewed as a virtuous activity that’s worthy of praise or admiration. It should usually be viewed as an option of last resort.
Product leaders shouldn’t feel pressured to secure early product wins in their first 90 days.
The net long-term value of “securing early wins” in a new product leadership job is more often negative than it is positive.
It’s often a good thing if a Product Manager spends less time on product building activities.
Most PMs should spend at least 10% less time on product building activities. Allocate that time towards thinking about product distribution & incorporate that thinking in the product
You will learn more from avoiding major product mistakes than from making them.
Most product blunders & product PR issues can be foreseen & avoided, but aren’t. “Learning from mistakes” is important, but it’s often used by teams as an excuse for shoddy thinking & execution.
Every situation is different. Context is everything.
That’s precisely why it’s important to call them out: in many companies the opposite of these statements are blindly treated as rules.
That needs to change.
👍🏾
