The Path to Product Success: Principles for Driving Results

Recently, I had an opportunity to listen to the episode of Lenny’s podcast with Shreyas Doshi in which Shreyas shared some really useful principles for product managers. The insights resonated deeply with me, and I wanted to share what I learned. These are actionable takeaways that I’m eager to apply in my product management journey.

1. The Power of Pre-Mortems
Shreyas mentioned about the idea of pre-mortems which will help to eliminate the need for strict post-mortems. Unlike post-mortems, pre-mortems drive the teams to figure out what could go wrong before the project is initiated. You assemble your team and tell them to close their eyes and think of the project as if it was a failure. Why did it happen? 

It is possible to create better strategies from the start by identifying “Tigers” (real threats), “Paper Tigers” (apparent threats that are not really threats), and “Elephants” (problems that no one is addressing). The concept of spending some time in order to consider the weaknesses and threats before moving on to the implementation is something that I like.

2. The LNO Framework for Time Management
Another principle that really made an impression was the LNO Framework. Not all tasks are equal and what makes a great product manager is the ability to determine where to invest time. The LNO Framework helps categorize tasks into three buckets: The LNO Framework helps categorize tasks into three buckets: 

• (L) Leverage Tasks: These are the tasks that are likely to produce a high impact on your work and this is where you have to work hard and strive to do your best.

• (N) Neutral Tasks: These need ‘good enough’ model where you give quality but do not spend much time and effort on it. 

• (O) Overhead Tasks: It’s just very important that they get them done. No need for perfection. 

This framework also stresses on the management of energy, not hours. This is acceptable to do O tasks when you are tired, but it is important for one to save energy for L tasks where they will be most effective.

3. Three Levels of Product Work
Importance of understanding the three levels of product work: 

• Execution Level: Where we are more concern with the activities. 

• Impact Level: Where we emphasize on the generation of meaningful impacts.

• Optics Level: Where we are concerned with the face value or the exterior aspect of an entity or matter. 

The issue comes in when all the team members get stuck at different levels and do not even know it. This often leads to conflicts, because we’re arguing about symptoms rather than addressing the root cause. It is crucial to be aware of these three levels and to be aware of where we are personally and where the team is primarily functioning because friction will occur when the team is not operating at all three levels. 

4. Execution problems are about problem trading.
If one tries to solve a problem in a complex environment, one usually stumbles upon a new set of problems. Shreyas formulated this as ‘problem trading’ instead of problem solving. In fact, as product managers, we should not focus on the idea of eradicating all problems since this is unachievable. Rather, we should decide which problems are acceptable to have in order to gain more significant goals. 

Another thing that I learnt was the transition from the ROI (Return on Investment) way of thinking to the Opportunity Cost way of thinking was a major eye opener for me. While ROI thinking is good for the ‘low-hanging fruits’ the Opportunity Cost thinking creates the conditions for the huge, long-term gains. 

5. High Agency: The Game Changer Mentality
Last of all, Shreyas explained what High Agency means, which means that one can force oneself to do things regardless of the circumstances surrounding him. High Agency people are innovative. They do not sit and pray for the best conditions to be created; instead, they look for ways how to get things done in the worst possible way. This way of thinking is very helpful, especially when working in product management since the role is often filled with uncertainty and vagueness.

This matrix below is an interesting illustration of different kind of people.