More PM Problem Areas

Marty Cagan follows up on an earlier list of product manager problem areas with five more common pitfalls. He argues that many teams play defense, acting risk-averse and protecting ground instead of moving forward, often because the product manager lacks competence. He contrasts optimization work, which captures existing value through tweaks and A/B tests, with discovery work, which creates new value. He also argues teams need qualitative research alongside quantitative data, should explore multiple solution paths rather than fixating on one feature, and should weigh value and viability risks more heavily than usability and feasibility. He closes by saying the root cause of these problems is inadequate coaching from product managers' directors.

01Key takeaways

• Distinguish optimization (capturing existing value) from discovery (creating new value) and make sure your team does both.
• Pair quantitative metrics with direct conversations with users to understand the reasons behind the numbers.
• When given a business problem, map out multiple opportunities and possible solutions before committing to one feature.
• Spend most of your risk-reduction effort on value and viability risks rather than usability and feasibility.
• Recognize risk-averse 'playing defense' behavior as a signal of cultural or competence gaps to address through coaching.
• Managers of product managers should review these common problem areas one-on-one and identify where coaching can help.

02Key sections

Playing defense vs. offense

Risk-averse teams focus on not losing ground rather than advancing, which often signals a leadership or competence problem. The issue is usually specific to certain teams rather than an entire organization.

Optimization mistaken for discovery

Teams that only make small, low-risk tweaks and A/B test them are doing valuable value-capture work but not value creation. Years of this can yield minimal progress.

Qualitative learning

Teams have swung too far toward quantitative data and neglect talking to users. Data shows what is happening, while conversations reveal why.

Exploring alternative solutions

Teams given a business objective often lock onto one feature too early. Multiple opportunities and solutions should be explored to find the highest-impact paths.

Thinking broadly about risks

Teams gravitate toward usability and feasibility risks because they feel in control, but value and viability risks deserve most of the attention.

Coaching product managers

The common root cause of these problems is insufficient coaching, so managers should discuss these problem areas with their product managers.

03From the post

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04Frameworks mentioned

Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.