Essays/linkedin/25-08-21 product leadership isn’t project management. here’s why.
📌 Product leadership is not fancy project management. Project management is about delivering on time and on budget. Product leadership is about deciding what to build, when and why.
Product leaders spend more time defining problems than assigning tasks. They navigate uncertainty, synthesise customer insights and align stakeholders. Some have the ability to craft vision, but the reality is that most product leaders act in a broader context, and aligning to a broader company perspective.
In product-focused companies, the critical performance indicators are the outcomes achieved and not the number of features implemented. (Sometimes even removing features is the proper way to go).
In deep‑tech, this distinction is critical. Timelines are long and stakes are high. You need someone obsessed with value creation, not just task completion. In small companies, when you become project-obsessed, you loose the ability to close the learning loops in quick cycles.
The voice of the customer can be loud, but ships have already sailed to act on it on a timely fashion.
In your organization, how do you separate product management from project management? Does it create friction between stakeholders?
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