Curious PMs Understand Business Success

Matt LeMay believes product teams must relentlessly focus on business-critical outcomes rather than getting lost in process or best practices. His philosophy centers on the idea that your work will ultimately be evaluated against business impact, regardless of how perfectly you follow product methodologies.

The core of LeMay's approach is what he calls "impact first" thinking. He argues that many product teams fall into a "low impact death spiral" where they focus on small, low-risk features that don't meaningfully contribute to business success. This pattern continues until the next round of layoffs, when companies realize these teams aren't driving sufficient value.

LeMay advocates three practical steps for product teams to drive real impact: First, set team goals no more than one step away from company goals. This means having a direct, clear connection between your team's objectives and what the business needs most. Second, keep impact at the forefront throughout the entire product development process, not just during planning. Third, connect every piece of work back to impact by estimating and measuring in the same unit as your goals.

For product leaders, this means asking the hard question: "If you were CEO, would you fully fund your own team?" If you can't confidently answer yes, you're likely not aligned with business-critical outcomes. For ICs, this means having the courage to push back on work that doesn't drive meaningful impact, even when it comes from executives.

LeMay challenges the notion that constraints like regulation or quarterly targets prevent teams from doing "real" product work. Instead, he suggests these constraints should guide your decisions: "The things you think you're fighting against are usually the things giving your work shape." Working within these constraints, not against them, is how you deliver value.

Perhaps most surprisingly, LeMay found that commercially-minded PMs were often the happiest. By accepting that business success is partially outside their control, they focus on what they can influence, do their best work during office hours, and then go home without carrying the burden of trying to transform their company into something it's not.