Seek Outcomes, Not Ownership

Product managers don’t own products. We are stewards of products, temporarily taking on responsibility for a product’s success or failure. We own the outcomes we cause and are rewarded for outcomes that are valuable.

To understand what's valuable, focus your attention on a select, few high-signal channels:

1. Earnings calls: You’ll hear about important priorities as well as specific product initiatives. For example, Snapchat's Q4 2019 call began with growth (93 mentions) and was followed by content (36), camera (19), lens (16), augmented reality (14), expression (7), and of course revenue (52).
2. All-hands: Company leaders often gather employees together at an all-hands to share the message they most want everyone to hear. As with the earning calls, a lot of thought goes into these presentations, so you get a great return by tuning in.
3. Strategy posts: Odds are every PM between you and your CEO has written multiple strategy posts. Gather all of the posts. Then pick out common themes and desired outcomes. The more closely your product work ladders up to these outcomes, the more valuable your work is likely to be.