A common trope I’ve seen repeated many times, is that it’s a product manager’s job to say no.
This is wrong. It’s a very dangerous thing to get into young product managers’ heads. Saying no is absolutely not your job.
You don’t need to say no. Saying no doesn’t accomplish anything. It doesn’t make you feel better. It doesn’t help the other side feel better. It takes no considerations into account.
When you say no to things, others will start bypassing you. They’ll reach out to other PMs, or even above your head to get things done.
Say yes to the right things through transparency
Instead of saying no, or even just saying yes to the right things – put processes and transparency into your work.
When everyone knows your process, the process says no for you. If something doesn’t fit in the process, it’ll get stopped by itself.
You may have to show others how it doesn’t fit the first couple of times, but when you’re open with others, you gain respect and trust.
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