Hi, Tamer and Ben here! 👋 

we share actionable advice for product builders in startups and scale-ups.

The following post is about Non-negotiables. It should help you find the balance between sticking to professional product work and the flexibility it needs to make progress. It contains 560 words and can be read in 2 minutes.

Some announcements:

• Out next product guild (free) is planned for October 9th Sign up here

• Join our webinar “Do’s and Don’ts of User Research” (free) planned for the 10th of October. Sign up here

• Our next batch of the “product management essentials” course is starting on the 4th of November. Checkout productbench.co

Non-Negotiables

Flexibility in product is a survival skill, but it can lead to compromising your principles.

Many product people struggle to find a smooth way to operate their product creation. They often end up in conflicts with various departments. Stakeholders' working styles are frequently incompatible with those of the product team.

Our product practice needs to be customized to fit the characteristics of our company. Our ability to adapt and compromise in our working methods enables better collaboration with other teams. However, relying on standardized frameworks and best practices can often lead to conflicts, distracting us from making progress and pushing us into debates about processes rather than focusing on outcomes. It’s rare to see fully outcome-driven roadmaps in companies where investors plan budgets on a yearly basis.

The gap between these two worlds can be substantial, and bridging them is dangerous. There is a fine line between adapting to the company's way of working and compromising our professional integrity. Luckily, our goals are aligned when we focus on maximizing the value we create for both the company and the user. However, the approach is often fundamentally different. Product teams are most effective when they explore options based on customer needs rather than building on guesswork. They succeed when concepts are developed by leveraging the expertise of each team member, rather than through design by committee.

But what exactly is professional integrity in product management? How can we adapt our practices without undermining the foundations of professional product work?

Our understanding of professionalism results from a blend of personal experiences, learning from books, role models, and best practices. Some approaches stick with us, while others are not practical. A good way to uncover what is steadfast and what is changeable is to be self-aware. Feeling tension in our daily business is the starting point—it signals the need for reflection. These moments allow us to uncover our non-negotiables through a reflection exercise.

This reflection exercise helps us define what professionalism should look like in practice. It helps us understand where we can be flexible and where we need to stand firm. The first question to ask is a simple "Why?" to uncover the reasons for our beliefs. By asking "Why?" we transition our feelings into a more conscious understanding of our job. For example: Why not put features on the roadmap that simply come from ideas? Why skip research in favor of a quicker time-to-market?

Questions like these help us dig deeper. The answers bring us closer to the reasoning.

The question "Why outcome-driven?" might lead to answers like: "Because the value matters more than the feature," "Because we might learn things along the way that lead us to better options," or "We need exploration to ensure we’re making informed decisions, not just spending money blindly."

The second question relates more to company habits and behaviors: "What if?" For example: What if I keep chasing feature requests and neglect discovery work? What if someone uses their power to overrule a roadmap? What if the tech team always prioritizes the simplicity of implementation over creating a usable version?

This reflection exercise, prompted by the tensions we feel, helps us identify our non-negotiables and balance flexibility with steadfastness.

It helps product people maintain their sanity, prevent burnout, and avoid attempting the impossible, ultimately earning them the credibility and trust they need to do their job.

Learn more about the Essentials of Product Management

We’re offering a hands-on, 6-week, live & digital course on the most important yet hardest skills of a product manager. Learn from 25+ years with over 70 companies. The next batch starts on November 4th, 2024