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The art of product management | Shreyas Doshi (Stripe, Twitter, Google, Yahoo)

Lenny's Podcast・72 minutes read

Shreyas Doshi shares insights on product management, emphasizing the importance of internal optics for creating energy and opportunities, while also discussing key topics like pre-mortems and execution problems. He highlights valuable takeaways from his experiences at major tech companies, endorsing tools like Coda and Productboard for productivity and effective product building.

Insights

  • Pre-mortems are a proactive approach to foreseeing project challenges by imagining failure scenarios and identifying potential threats early, fostering a culture of proactive problem-solving and accountability.
  • Understanding and prioritizing high-impact tasks over neutral or low-impact ones, as guided by the LNO framework, can maximize productivity and ensure individuals focus on tasks with the most significant impact.
  • Optics, focusing on internal awareness and feedback within a team, is crucial for generating energy and opportunities for better execution, although organizations must balance this with actual impact to avoid prioritizing optics activities excessively.

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Recent questions

  • What is the importance of pre-mortems in project management?

    Pre-mortems in project management involve imagining project failure in advance to identify potential causes of failure. This proactive approach fosters a culture of problem-solving, encourages team members to voice concerns, and creates a shared vocabulary to discuss threats. By holding separate meetings for different project functions, every team member can contribute, and voting on the most concerning threat aids in prioritizing mitigation efforts. Post pre-mortem, an action plan is created to address identified threats, enhancing accountability and progress. Pre-mortems have proven to prevent issues that could lead to project failure, ultimately saving time and resources.

  • How can individuals prioritize high-impact tasks effectively?

    Individuals can prioritize high-impact tasks effectively by utilizing the LNO framework, which categorizes tasks as leverage (high impact), neutral (equal return), and overhead (low impact). Focusing on leverage tasks allows individuals to maximize impact with their time, reducing time spent on neutral and overhead tasks. By identifying high leverage tasks that are known but avoided due to their impact and complexity, individuals can address procrastination and tackle these tasks effectively. Understanding the different levels of product work - impact, execution, and optics - can also guide individuals in prioritizing tasks based on their impact and complexity.

  • What are the common causes of misalignment between teams in organizations?

    Misalignment between teams in organizations can stem from various factors, including strategy problems, culture issues, and interpersonal conflicts. Strategy problems such as unclear priorities or lack of alignment can lead to miscommunication and misalignment between teams. Culture issues, where individual goals are prioritized over collaboration, can hinder alignment and execution. Additionally, interpersonal conflicts between team managers can also cause misalignment and execution problems. Recognizing and addressing these underlying issues is crucial for promoting better understanding and collaboration within organizations.

  • How can individuals shift their mindset from ROI to opportunity cost in task prioritization?

    Individuals can shift their mindset from ROI to opportunity cost in task prioritization by calculating the value of the optimal option minus the value of the chosen option. This shift helps in picking optimal tasks rather than just good ones, focusing on minimizing opportunity cost. Providing teams with the freedom to explore tasks that minimize opportunity cost and setting rough allocation percentages for different types of activities can guide teams in planning effectively. By understanding the concept of opportunity cost and its impact on task prioritization, individuals can make more informed decisions and maximize the value of their time.

  • What is the significance of internal optics in creating energy and awareness within a team?

    Internal optics play a crucial role in creating energy and awareness within a team by focusing on internal feedback and awareness. This internal focus is essential for generating opportunities for better execution and impact. While optics can become the primary goal in some organizations, leading to a culture where optics activities are overly valued, striking a balance between internal and external optics is key. Early-stage teams should prioritize execution over immediate impact, focusing on core insights and converting them into products. By understanding the importance of internal optics, teams can enhance collaboration, communication, and overall productivity.

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Summary

00:00

Shreyas Doshi: Product Management Wisdom and Insights

  • Internal optics create energy, awareness, excitement, and feedback, leading to greater impact and execution.
  • Shreyas Doshi is renowned for his wisdom in product management, gaining a massive Twitter following for his unique insights.
  • Shreyas has worked at major tech companies like Yahoo, Twitter, Google, and Stripe, offering advice based on his real-life experiences.
  • The conversation with Shreyas delves into five key topics, including pre-mortems, time management for product managers, and product work levels.
  • Execution problems often stem from strategy issues, and a common pitfall in prioritization is discussed.
  • Coda, an all-in-one doc combining documents, spreadsheets, and apps, is recommended for productivity and organization.
  • Productboard is endorsed for helping teams build products effectively, with over 6,000 companies relying on it, including Zoom and Volkswagen.
  • Shreyas shares his background, growing up in Mumbai, India, with a father in the spice business and a homemaker mother.
  • Shreyas initially studied computer engineering in the US, transitioning to product management after realizing his passion for it.
  • Working at Loudcloud, later acquired by EDS, Shreyas managed vendor relationships and was inspired by the talented and energetic teams at Opsware.

14:11

"Lessons from High-Caliber Teams at Tech Giants"

  • Being part of a high-caliber team early on was a stroke of luck, bringing energy and collaboration to work.
  • Working at significant companies like Stripe, Twitter, Google, and Yahoo provided valuable takeaways.
  • Yahoo taught the importance of bundling services under a single account, a concept later refined by Google.
  • Google emphasized thinking big, pursuing billion-dollar opportunities over smaller ones.
  • Twitter's success stemmed from combining network effects with core product differentiation, ensuring longevity.
  • At Stripe, the magic of high energy, sound judgment, low ego, and small teams was evident, shaping leadership growth.
  • Interactions with founders like Larry, Sergey, Eric Schmidt, and Jack highlighted strategic insight, listening skills, and asking crucial questions.
  • Learning marketing clarity from John at Stripe and clear communication from Patrick, emphasizing living company values consistently.
  • Implementing pre-mortems, discussed in a Harvard Business Review article by Gary Klein, as a proactive approach to foreseeing project challenges.
  • Pre-mortems aim to prevent the need for postmortems by identifying potential issues early on, fostering a culture of proactive problem-solving.

29:11

"Pre-mortem ritual enhances project success"

  • The pre-mortem ritual involves imagining project failure six months ahead and working backwards to identify potential causes of failure.
  • The ritual prompts team members to share concerns they may have hesitated to bring up, fostering psychological safety.
  • The approach enables a shared vocabulary to discuss potential threats, including tigers (actual threats), paper tigers (seeming threats), and elephants (unaddressed concerns).
  • Pre-mortems involve separate meetings for different functions involved in a project, ensuring every team member contributes.
  • The leader initiates the pre-mortem meeting with a prompt, followed by alternating between speaking and quiet time for team members to share concerns.
  • Team members vote on the most concerning threat raised by someone else, aiding in prioritizing threats for mitigation.
  • Post pre-mortem, an action plan is created to address identified threats, enhancing accountability and progress.
  • Pre-mortems have proven to prevent issues that may have led to backlash or project failure, saving time and resources.
  • The LNO framework categorizes tasks as leverage (high impact), neutral (equal return), and overhead (low impact), guiding individuals to prioritize high-impact tasks.
  • Focusing on leverage tasks allows individuals to maximize impact with their time, reducing time spent on neutral and overhead tasks to accommodate high-impact work.

43:48

"High Leverage Tasks and Default Thinking Levels"

  • Expense reports can be an example of an O task, where attention to detail may not always be necessary.
  • Activities like filing bug reports can vary in importance, being either an L task or an O task depending on the situation.
  • Taking notes can also fall into different categories, such as L, N, or O tasks, based on the context and content.
  • High leverage tasks for PMs are often tasks that are known but avoided due to their impact and complexity.
  • Procrastination on high leverage tasks is common due to fear and the need for dedicated attention.
  • Placebo productivity and changing locations can help tackle high leverage tasks effectively.
  • Understanding the three levels of product work - impact, execution, and optics - can explain conflicts within teams and organizations.
  • Differences in thinking at different levels can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts, especially between PMs and CEOs.
  • Recognizing and addressing the default thinking level can help resolve conflicts and promote better understanding within organizations.
  • The default thinking level can impact promotions and overall functioning within an organization.

58:28

"Optics, Execution, and Team Alignment in Organizations"

  • Optics is about creating awareness of impact and execution within a team.
  • Internal optics, focusing on internal awareness and feedback, is crucial for creating energy and opportunities for better execution.
  • In some organizations, optics can become the primary goal, leading to a culture where optics activities are overly valued.
  • Early-stage teams should prioritize execution over immediate impact, focusing on core insights and converting them into products.
  • Misalignment between teams is often seen as an execution problem but can stem from strategy, culture, or interpersonal issues.
  • Strategy problems, such as unclear priorities or lack of alignment, can lead to misalignment between teams.
  • Culture problems, where teams prioritize individual OKRs over collaboration, can hinder alignment and execution.
  • Interpersonal problems, like conflicts between team managers, can also cause misalignment and execution issues.
  • True execution problems include infrastructure issues and skill gaps within the team.
  • Identifying non-execution problems involves recognizing recurring issues that persist despite temporary solutions, indicating a deeper underlying issue.

01:13:43

"Maximizing ROI by Minimizing Opportunity Cost"

  • Learning the concept of focusing on minimizing opportunity cost in high leverage roles from observing Patrick at Stripe.
  • High leverage roles like product management, founders, engineering leaders, and designers involve numerous tasks with positive ROI.
  • Positive ROI is when the value created exceeds the value of your time, leading to a high ROI mindset.
  • The formula for ROI involves the value created minus the cost of your time divided by the cost of your time.
  • Decreasing the denominator (time) in the ROI formula leads to a higher ratio value, often achieved by working on quick wins.
  • Prioritizing quick wins can lead to missing out on potential opportunities and upside due to focusing on positive ROI tasks.
  • Opportunity cost is calculated as the value of the optimal option minus the value of the chosen option.
  • Shifting mindset from ROI to opportunity cost helps in picking optimal tasks rather than just good ones.
  • Providing teams with the freedom and permission to explore and pursue tasks that minimize opportunity cost is crucial.
  • Setting rough allocation percentages for different types of activities like incrementals, big new initiatives, and stability and infrastructure can guide teams in planning effectively.

01:29:33

"Product Sense Course Launch by Shreyas Doshi"

  • Shreyas Doshi plans to launch a course on product sense and product management later in the year, encouraging listeners to share his ideas and engage with him on social media platforms like Twitter to help bring clarity to teamwork and project dynamics.
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