Middle Layer Obsession Reduces Business Impact

The "Impact First" approach to product management focuses on aligning team work directly with business outcomes rather than getting lost in process frameworks.

The Low Impact PM Death Spiral

• Product teams often fall into a cycle where they focus on low-impact work that's:
  • Easier to execute
  • Less likely to invite scrutiny
  • Less likely to "break" important systems
  • Visible but not necessarily valuable
• This creates a compounding problem:
  • More teams add small features and cosmetic improvements
  • Product becomes a "collection of loosely connected features" rather than a cohesive experience
  • Technical complexity increases ("the hood gets heavier")
  • Organizations add program management layers to handle dependencies
  • Building high-impact features becomes increasingly difficult
  • Teams retreat further into low-impact work
  • The cycle continues until layoffs occur

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 (company → department → big team → small team)
• Instead, have team goals directly orbit around company goals
• Express goals in the same unit of measure as company goals when possible
• Make goals specific and quantifiable (e.g., "convert X single-product users to multi-product users" rather than "improve cross-selling")
• Test: "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 multiple layers of abstraction
• Maintain visibility of the top-level goal throughout the product development process
• Avoid the trap of "doing OKRs right" but losing connection to business outcomes
• Regularly check if your work is still aligned with the impact you're trying to create

3. Connect every bit of work back to impact

• When prioritizing, express impact in the same unit of measure as your goals
• Avoid abstract scoring systems that disconnect work from business outcomes
• Be willing to pursue high-impact work even when it requires coordination with other teams
• Recognize when you need to adjust your approach to deliver meaningful impact

How to Push Back on Low-Impact Requests

• Don't simply say "yes" or "no" to stakeholder requests
• Present options with trade-offs and a recommendation
• Frame discussions in terms of impact on business goals
• Be willing to adjust impact projections when priorities change
• Recognize that executives may have information you don't have access to

The Mindset Shift

• See business constraints as opportunities that shape your work, not obstacles to overcome
• Accept that some things are outside your control, but you're still accountable for outcomes
• Approach your role with curiosity about what drives business success
• Understand that your team exists to create value for the business, not to follow "best practices"
• Recognize that no team is immune from the need to demonstrate business impact