Jackie Bavaro on getting better at product strategy, what exactly is strategy, PM pitfalls to avoid, advancing your career, getting into management, and much more

1. Initiate Career Growth Conversations

Start career growth discussions with your manager using the template: “I’d like to grow into [goal] someday. What should I work on now to be ready when the opportunity arises?” This non-threatening approach brings your manager to your side and focuses their feedback on what truly matters for your advancement.

2. Understand Strategy’s Three Pillars

A complete strategy consists of three key components: an inspiring vision (what the future looks like), a strategic framework (market, success metrics, and big bets to win), and a roadmap (a reverse-engineered plan to check feasibility and identify major initiatives).

3. Connect Dots in Strategy

A good strategy clearly links high-level business goals (e.g., revenue targets) to specific product features and initiatives. As a PM, when given a numerical target, it’s your job to connect your product work and customer insights to that target, explaining the ‘why’ and intermediate steps.

4. Listen for Strategic Confusion

To identify missing assumptions or connections in your strategy, continuously communicate it to stakeholders and actively listen for their confusion. This feedback reveals gaps that need further explanation or refinement in your strategic narrative.

5. Practice Saying ‘Yes’

To foster collaboration and openness, challenge yourself to say ‘yes’ to ideas for a set period (e.g., two weeks). This doesn’t mean agreeing to every solution, but rather acknowledging the problem or agreeing to test an idea, shifting from a defensive ’no’ mindset.

6. Avoid Defensive ‘No’ Mindset

As a Product Manager, resist the urge to view your role primarily as saying ’no’ to ideas. A defensive mindset can hinder collaboration and make you seem unapproachable, rather than a partner in problem-solving.

7. Early PM: Learn Before Strategizing

For the first six months in a new PM role, prioritize learning the existing strategy, conducting customer research, and executing on current plans. Avoid immediately trying to redefine the strategy, as this builds trust and understanding of the product and team.

8. Address Disagreements with Strategy

When persistent disagreements arise over features or decisions, it often indicates an underlying strategic misalignment. Resolve these by explicitly defining your strategic framework or principles to address the problem at a higher level, rather than fighting over individual choices.

9. Learn Strategy Through Iteration

To truly improve your strategic capabilities, commit to a team or product long enough to implement your plans, measure the results, and iterate. This allows you to observe patterns, test different approaches, and form robust conclusions about what works.

10. Cross-Apply Strategic Frameworks

Enhance your strategic thinking by observing how other products and companies frame their decisions and then applying those frameworks or questions to your own challenges. This broadens your perspective and offers new ways to analyze problems.

11. Early PM: Execute Simply, Earn Trust

As an early-career PM assigned narrowly scoped projects, focus on executing the simple solution exceptionally well rather than over-innovating. This approach builds trust and earns you the opportunity to take on larger, more complex initiatives in the future.

12. Balance Leadership and Collaboration

As a PM, actively contribute and serve as a multiplier for your team’s work, avoiding both under-leading (being a passive note-taker) and over-leading (crowding out others and potentially burning bridges). Strive for a collaborative approach that empowers everyone.

13. Show Enthusiasm for Current Role

Demonstrate genuine enthusiasm for your current day-to-day responsibilities, even if you have aspirations for future roles. This signals maturity and a strong work ethic to your manager, fostering a positive working relationship and making you easier to manage.

14. Understand Role Expectations

Avoid common early-career mistakes by clearly understanding the specific expectations and success metrics for your current PM role and stage. Don’t prematurely optimize for future roles, as this can be perceived as immaturity or a lack of understanding of your current responsibilities.

15. Management is a Two-Way Door

Consider a move into management as a reversible decision. Many professionals are now transitioning back to Individual Contributor (IC) roles if management doesn’t align with their preferences, so don’t feel it’s a permanent commitment.

16. Financial Growth Beyond Management

Recognize that significant financial compensation can be achieved as a Senior PM (IC path) at many companies, often comparable to other high-earning professions. You don’t necessarily need to pursue people management solely for financial gain.

17. IC Path: Grow Impact Beyond Promotions

If pursuing an Individual Contributor (IC) path, focus on growing your impact beyond official promotions. This can involve switching companies for better compensation, working on cutting-edge products, or contributing to socially impactful work, as high-level IC roles are rare.

18. Advocate for High-Level Meetings

To gain access to higher-level meetings, frame your presence as a way to save your boss time and energy. Offer to attend to directly get answers to critical questions, rather than having your boss relay information back and forth.

19. Leverage Manager’s Peers

If you have a new manager at a large company with a promotion committee, seek out your manager’s experienced peers who have successfully promoted others. Ask them for advice on what to work on to get promoted, leveraging their knowledge and support.

20. Share Knowledge Publicly

If you’re willing to share valuable insights or advice with a select few, consider sharing it publicly. This helps to level the playing field and ensures broader access to knowledge, contributing to the community.

21. Engage a Coach for Specifics

Engage a coach when you have a specific development area you want to work on, rather than for continuous, open-ended sessions. This targeted approach maximizes effectiveness and prevents making small issues seem larger than they are.

22. Understand Management Downsides

Be aware that management can be a lonely and less enjoyable role than an Individual Contributor (IC) position. Managers often need to keep confidential information and navigate complex conflicts of interest, which can be emotionally taxing.

23. Early Career: Choose Large Companies

Consider starting your career at a large or medium-sized company. These environments often provide opportunities to learn best practices, build a strong professional network, and establish a solid financial foundation with competitive salaries.

24. Prioritize Peer Relationships

Recognize that strong peer relationships are crucial for career success, as peer reviews significantly impact performance evaluations. Prioritize collaboration and positive interactions with your colleagues to ensure favorable feedback.

25. Prepare for ‘Proud Project’ Question

In interviews, be ready to discuss a recent project you are proud of. Focus on the problem, your epiphany or insight, the actions you took, the results achieved, and what you learned from the experience.

26. Use PEARL for Interview Answers

When answering interview questions about projects or experiences, structure your response using the PEARL framework: describe the Problem, your Epiphany/insight, the Actions you took, the Results achieved, and the Learning gained.

27. Read ‘Getting Things Done’

For transformative insights into personal and professional productivity and organization, read ‘Getting Things Done’ by David Allen.

28. Consider Microsoft for PM Roles

Microsoft is an underrated company to consider for PM career opportunities, offering valuable learning experiences and a strong foundation in strategy.

29. Utilize Paprika Recipe Manager

Use the Paprika recipe manager app to save recipes from any URL, plan meals, and create shopping lists, enhancing your cooking and food planning experience across devices.