Present Options with a Recommendation

Matt LeMay believes product teams must directly connect their work to business-critical outcomes to survive and thrive, especially in today's environment of tech layoffs and increased scrutiny on ROI.

The core of LeMay's philosophy is that product teams often fall into what he calls the "low impact PM death spiral" - focusing on small, low-risk features that seem safe but collectively make the product more complex without driving meaningful business results. This pattern continues until the next round of layoffs, when teams doing "work around the work" are the first to be cut.

LeMay advocates for an "impact first" approach with three key steps. First, set team goals no more than one step away from company goals. This means having a direct, clear connection between what your team delivers and what the business needs most - whether that's revenue, user growth, or profitability. Second, keep impact at the forefront throughout the entire product development process, not just during planning. Third, connect every piece of work back to that impact, ensuring prioritization decisions are made based on their contribution to business goals.

When facing stakeholder requests, LeMay suggests a powerful approach: never just say "yes" or "no" - instead, present multiple options with clear trade-offs and a recommendation. This approach acknowledges that executives may have information you don't while still ensuring decisions are made with full awareness of consequences. As he puts it, "If you're doing product management really well, you never have to say yes and you never have to say no. You're giving people options and you're helping them understand the trade-offs."

For product teams, this means shifting from seeing business constraints as limitations to viewing them as guideposts that shape effective work. The most successful product leaders don't fight against commercial realities but work with them, understanding that their team exists to facilitate a value exchange between the business and its customers.

A powerful question LeMay suggests teams ask themselves: "If you were the CEO of this company, would you fully fund your own team?" If you can't confidently answer yes, that's a sign you need to reconsider how your work connects to what truly matters for the business.

This approach isn't just about survival - LeMay found that commercially-minded PMs were often the happiest, with clearer boundaries between work and life. By embracing business realities rather than fighting them, product teams can focus their energy on driving meaningful impact rather than engaging in exhausting battles over process.

Practical Decision Implications

• When setting goals, ensure they directly connect to company objectives with just one simple formula or "why" statement between them
• Evaluate feature requests by estimating their impact in the same unit of measure as your team goals
• Present stakeholders with multiple options and a clear recommendation rather than a single solution or no opinion
• Regularly revisit your team's connection to business outcomes, especially when things are going well
• Reframe constraints (regulation, quarterly targets, etc.) as competitive advantages rather than limitations
• When prioritizing work, be willing to take on higher-effort, higher-impact initiatives rather than accumulating low-impact "safe" features
• Proactively communicate when goals need adjustment rather than hiding information that might affect business planning