Braden Kowitz on what to do when you don’t know how to fix your product

I know that’s crazy. Nobody has all the answers. But when I’m feeling uncertain, it’s easy to put my guard up. Instead of saying “I don’t know,” I’ll dismiss a question as not important. Worse, when I’m uncertain, I may stop asking my own questions about what could be better. This all just leads to worse product decisions.

Fortunately, I know I’m not alone. I’ve worked with dozens of startups and seen product managers struggle with the same issues. They might not share their deep dark fears with me, but the symptoms are recognizable enough.

Product leaders with more assertive personalities tend to deal with uncertainty by pretending they know everything. They’ll dictate what to build, even though they don’t have a strong rationale or supporting data. In the short term, this looks good by creating lots of activity. But it often doesn’t end well. Poorly designed features don’t have a good chance of working. And asking a team to build poorly planned features erodes trust in leadership.

Other product leaders may go the opposite direction: they disengage from decisions. This is my failure mode. When I’m uncertain, I’m more likely to withdraw and let each team build whatever their heart desires. This may foster experimentation, but it doesn’t create focus and momentum. The product may improve, but it also becomes fragmented and incoherent.

If you work with a product leader who’s exhibiting these behaviors, please cut them some slack. It’s a hard job. What you observe as arrogance or avoidance is more likely a way of dealing with feelings of fear and uncertainty.

The good news for product leaders is that there is a path out of uncertainty. I feel overwhelmed with uncertainty at least once a year, so I’ve gotten somewhat good at getting myself out of the rut. Here are the steps I take:

1. Breathe. You’re not alone.

Many of us have the mistaken notion that a great product leader is some genius character who dictates solutions to the rest of the team. It’s unfortunate that this archetype has captured our imagination because it just doesn’t work. Dictators don’t make good decisions, and no one likes working with them either. But what makes this image of a product leader particularly harmful is that it suggests we must have all the answers.

If you get caught up thinking this way, remember that you’re not alone. You have a whole team that’s excited to solve product challenges with you. It’s not your job to have the correct solution. It is your job to lead the team to find a solution. That may seem like a minor distinction, but it makes all the difference.