How does product development actually work? Do hard launch dates actually help in the long run?
This thread by Shreyas brings some good perspective.
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Note:
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.1/
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”.
2/
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.
3/
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.
4/
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
5/
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.
Lastly, these aren’t rules that will be right 100% of the time.
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.
👍🏾
