Saying no is a leadership skill.

It’s not about rejecting ideas, it’s about protecting focus. When everything feels important, nothing is. Saying no clears space for what truly matters—what drives impact, not just activity.

Yes, it will sting. People will take it personally. But prioritisation isn’t about popularity; it’s about progress.

Every “no” to distractions is a “yes” to momentum.

Outsourcing research kills your product instincts.

Research isn’t just about getting answers.
It’s about knowing your product inside out.
Understanding your users deeply.
Feeling the small problems they face.

When you outsource research, someone else builds that understanding.
Your gut feel for what works?
It goes missing.

You can’t pay someone to care about your product like you do.

-- Posted on LinkedIn -- delete
Hold your solutions back.

Jumping in with answers stifles creativity. Product designers thrive on tackling problems from fresh perspectives. Sharing your solution too soon anchors their thinking, narrowing their exploration. Give them space to wrestle with the challenge, experiment and uncover angles you might not have considered. Their approach could lead to something better—or reveal nuances that refine your idea.

Collaboration works best when it starts with independence.

Bold ideas unlock progress.

When crafting new products or features, it's easy to focus on safe, incremental improvements. These solutions feel achievable and practical but they rarely break new ground.

Adding a bold concept into the mix forces the team to think beyond limitations. Even if the daring idea doesn’t make it to launch, it creates a spark. It pushes boundaries, reshapes how problems are viewed and reveals opportunities overlooked in safer designs.

A bold solution isn’t just a backup plan. It’s a catalyst for better work.

A team doesn’t always need a dedicated product manager.

In startups, founders often take on this role naturally, using their deep understanding of the market and their vision for the product.

In larger companies, if the team already has a strong handle on strategy, data and market needs, they can absolutely operate without a formal PM. However, someone still needs to take charge of the product function - making prioritisation decisions clear and aligning the team around common goals.

Feature prioritisation isn’t always about frameworks like ICE (Impact, Confidence, Effort).

Sometimes, it’s about building momentum - creating buzz, lifting morale or staying ahead of competitors.

The challenge is finding the balance between chasing these quick wins and staying true to your long-term vision.

Sharing problems doesn’t mean solving them.

Early in a product management career, it’s tempting to package every problem with a solution. It feels efficient and helpful but it can limit your team’s creativity. Presenting ready-made answers shifts focus from understanding the problem to critiquing your idea. This shortcut skips the messy, collaborative process where the best solutions often emerge.

Teams thrive when they tackle challenges together. Give them the problem—leave space for their brilliance.

Both product managers (PMs) and product designers (PDs) often engage in activities like talking to customers, generating feature ideas and suggesting UX improvements.

When responsibilities overlap, PMs should step back if PDs are excelling in their role. Instead, PMs can concentrate on strategy and collaboration across the organisation

Dedicated QA creates more problems than it solves.

When a dev team owns quality, accountability stays in the right hands. Bugs are fewer, fixes are faster and processes tighten.

Introducing dedicated QA shifts that balance.

Developers grow complacent, relying on testers to catch mistakes. Tools diverge, creating inefficiencies. QA often duplicates what devs should already handle.

Quality isn’t a separate role. It’s a shared responsibility embedded in every line of code.