The Three Threads of Great PMs
The three durable behaviors that separate great product managers from good ones, in any company type.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 95%
Maggie Crowley argues that beneath the usual 'communication, vision, strategy' advice, three concrete behaviors consistently separate the best PMs she has hired and managed: relentless simplification, following up on results, and carrying the water (doing the unglamorous work). These hold across consumer, B2B, startup, and enterprise. They are the differentiators on top of the basic competencies, not replacements for them.
Origin
Distilled by Maggie Crowley from hiring, managing, and promoting PMs across Tripadvisor, HubSpot, Drift, Charlie Health, and Toast. 'Carry the water' was a cultural theme she credits to her time at Drift (attributed in-conversation to David Cancel).
Core principles
- 01Strategy is only about 5% of the job; shipping and reps create impact
- 02The PM is accountable for outcomes, so no task is beneath them
- 03Ownership is really about making a bet you're responsible for
- 04Differentiators sit on top of basics (communication, analytical ability, UX intuition)
How to run it
- 1
Simplify and pick the one thing
At any moment, find the single most important thing to work on and stay with it long enough to finish it. Resist the pull of many priorities and OKRs; have the gumption to say no to the other nine things you could do.
Pro tip Never more than three bets, priorities, or conclusions; if a fourth appears, figure out how to squish it in.
Watch out Prioritization isn't a one-time moment; people will try to relitigate the priority a week later. Staying with it is the hard part.
- 2
Follow up on results
After a launch, proactively return to check the metric weeks, a month, and six months later, then share the result with whoever cares, without being asked. This is rare and high-value, and it compounds your learning.
Pro tip Put reminders in your calendar at 2 weeks, 1 month, and 6 months post-launch to check the dashboard and share it.
Watch out Don't rely on a great manager noticing your quiet good work; great managers are few and far between, so share progress yourself.
- 3
Carry the water
Do the hard, boring, unglamorous work: customer support, sales calls, copywriting, QA, project management, implementing with customers. No one else is incentivized to fill the gaps, and you're the one accountable for the business result.
Pro tip When in doubt, it's your job as a PM. Also treat yourself as the emotional center of the team and keep optimism and momentum going.
Watch out If you catch yourself saying 'that's not my job,' that's probably a sign it IS the thing you should do.
In the wild
Crowley notes that as a leader several layers up she won't remember to follow up on a feature, but when a PM returns and says 'hey remember we did that, here's what happened,' it stands out dramatically.
→ Those PMs become the ones she flags for promotion; the aura that a PM 'has this' and won't drop threads frees the manager from having to track it.
Common mistakes
Treating strategy as the whole job
A PM with great strategy but nothing shipping out the door will never be great; the PM who ships more, gets more reps, and creates impact wins.
Waiting to be noticed
Toiling quietly in the background and hoping a good manager rewards you leaves your progress up to chance.
Is it for you?
Best for
Early-to-mid-career PMs who keep hearing vague advice like 'drive impact' and 'be more strategic' and want concrete, repeatable behaviors to develop.
Not ideal for
ICs in specialized roles (engineering, design) whose accountability is scoped to their craft rather than the end business outcome.
From the transcript
“the best PMS are really good at breaking things down and simplifying things”
“the really really good PMS remember to follow up because especially when you're in management couple layers up in management I'm not going to remember…”
“you can't be a good PM if you're not willing to do the hard boring unglamorous work of customer support sales marketing writing copy project…”
“if you ever find yourself saying something like that's not my job that's probably a thing you should do”
“the person who has a good strategy will not be as successful as the PM who ships more stuff gets more reps and has the…”
From the episode
Mastering product strategy and growing as a PM
Maggie Crowley (Toast, Drift, Tripadvisor)