from Lenny Rachitsky | by Lenny Rachitsky

The most common pitfalls of new product managers: 1. The Coordinator 2. The Dictator 3. The Dreamer 4. The Feature Factory 5. The Busted Umbrella Read on 👇 pic.twitter.com/mI2PU4PQ9J

1/ The Coordinator You are a product manager. Not a *project* manager. You weren’t hired to just coordinate other people’s work. You were hired to bring your own point of view. To help shape the product. To deliver optimal business impact.

You do all this not by simply executing other people’s ideas but by actively pushing your team in the right direction and making sure the right product decisions are made.

2/ The Dictator At the other end of the spectrum is a PM who fully embraces the supposed “mini-CEO” role. This person may have recently transitioned from an engineering or ops role, or is fresh out of an MBA program, and has been waiting for their chance to finally run the show.

They think they need to have all of the ideas, micro-manage every decision, and that their teammates are there to execute their plans. Unless you work at Zynga, this won’t work out for you. Your teammates didn’t sign up to report to you. They expect for their ideas to be heard...

...and their input to be taken into account. The good news is that this will lead to better outcomes (and better teammates). The bad news is that you need to learn to lead through influence.

3/ The Dreamer Your first responsibility as a PM (especially as a new PM) is to help your team execute, today. To ship, to hit dates, to make sure everyone knows what they should be working on. But many PMs come into the role expecting to spend most of their time developing...

...strategy, visioning, and thinking big. That’s fun, but that’s not the role you signed up for. You need to earn this right. Yes, strategy and vision are essential, but not at the expense of the immediate needs of your team.

4/ The Feature Factory The flip side of the above is the PM who equates shipping with success. “Look at us, we’re shipping left and right and giving customers everything they want. We’re killin’ it!” Wrong. Shipping isn’t success. Success is shipping work that...

(1) has meaningful impact on the business, (2) has high ROI relative to other opportunities, and (3) moves you closer to achieving your strategy. Teams become factories when they lack a strategy. A good strategy tells you what you need to do to win but, ...

more importantly, what you should not do. Without a strategy, you may be moving fast, but you’re not going anywhere.

5/ The Busted Umbrella And finally, there’s a reason PMs are often called “shit umbrellas.” It’s their job to shield their teams from stupid shit. Like time-sucking questions, unnecessary drama, and the whims of execs. People outside your team have no idea how much impact...

...their ad hoc asks and “quick” questions have on the team. It’s your job to help them see this, and to protect your team from them. Help your makers (e.g. engineers, designers, etc.) stay focused and in flow. Unfurl your shit umbrella.

Read on for the most common PM pitfalls, how to know you're pitalling, and how to avoid them lennysnewsletter.com/p/product-mana…