Three Steps to Impact-First Product Teams

The Impact First Product Management Approach

Matt LeMay's framework helps product teams align their work directly with business-critical outcomes, regardless of organizational structure or process. This approach addresses the growing risk of layoffs for product teams doing "work around the work" rather than driving meaningful business impact.

Why Impact Alignment Matters

• Product teams are increasingly vulnerable to layoffs when they can't clearly demonstrate business value
• Daniel Ek (Spotify CEO) specifically cited "too many teams doing work around the work" in 2024 layoffs
• Even if executives ask you to build something, you're still at risk if that work doesn't drive meaningful impact
• The business evaluates your team based on business-critical outcomes, not adherence to product processes

The Low-Impact PM Death Spiral

• Teams gravitate toward low-impact work because it's easier and invites less scrutiny
• They focus on small features and cosmetic improvements rather than addressing core business needs
• As more teams add "rhinestones to the car," the product becomes increasingly complex
• This complexity makes high-impact work harder, leading to more process and coordination overhead
• Companies add program management layers and reorgs to manage dependencies
• The cycle continues until the next round of layoffs

Three Steps to Become an Impact-First Product Team

1. Set Team Goals No More Than One Step Away From Company Goals

• Avoid cascading goals through multiple levels that disconnect from business outcomes
• Use Christina Wodtke's model: company goal as center of gravity with team goals orbiting one level around it
• Example: If company goal is $100M revenue, team goal might be "convert X single-product users to multi-product users" with clear revenue impact
• Ask yourself: "If you were the CEO of this company, would you fully fund your own team?"

2. Keep Impact First At Every Step

• Don't let impact get "cascaded into oblivion" through OKR processes and strategy documents
• Maintain visibility of how your work connects to business outcomes throughout development
• Avoid getting lost in "doing OKRs right" without connecting back to business impact
• Example: A growth team spent time perfecting OKRs but couldn't explain how they contributed to the company's goal of acquiring 1M users

3. Connect Every Bit of Work Back to Impact

• Express impact in the same unit of measure as your goals when prioritizing
• Avoid abstract scoring systems that obscure real business impact
• When using frameworks like ICE or RICE, define impact specifically in terms of your team goal
• Example: Instead of scoring "impact" abstractly, estimate how many users each initiative would convert

Practical Implementation Tactics

• For pushback: Never say just "yes" or "no" - present options with trade-offs and a recommendation
• For alignment: Visualize impact goals on a timeline with clear milestones and metrics
• For motivation: Ask "What's one sentence you'd want to say at the end of the year that would make you feel awesome about this team's work?"
• For perspective: See business constraints as opportunities that shape your work, not limitations to overcome
• For focus: Subtract features and streamline experiences rather than always adding more complexity

The Mindset Shift

• Accept that impact is not fully within your control, but you're accountable for it anyway
• Understand that following "best practices" doesn't guarantee business success
• Recognize that your team exists to facilitate a value exchange between business and customers
• Embrace that the most commercially-minded PMs are often the happiest, with clearer boundaries
• Remember that no good work is wasted, but impact-disconnected work puts your team at risk