Most product managers are cowards.
There, I said it. The dirty secret of product management is that the job has become less about building the right things and more about avoiding uncomfortable conversations. PMs have transformed from strategic thinkers into glorified feature request processors, too afraid to tell a customer "no" even when that customer's request will actively harm the product.
I've watched PMs cave to feature demands from a single enterprise customer that torpedoed the experience for thousands of other users. I've seen roadmaps hijacked by whoever screams loudest. I've witnessed products die slow deaths, bloated with features nobody asked for except one guy at a Fortune 500 who threatened to churn.
This is fear-based product management. And it's killing your product.
The Real Problem: PM Spinelessness
Every product manager knows the scenario: A major customer threatens to leave unless you build their requested feature. The sales team forwards urgent requests from prospects who'll "definitely sign" if you just add this one thing. The feature request backlog grows ever longer, each item seemingly critical to someone's success.
And most PMs fold immediately. They call it "customer centricity." It's not. It's conflict avoidance dressed up in business jargon.
The Hidden Costs of Wrong Features
Building the wrong feature isn't just a waste of resources—it's actively harmful in several ways:
-
Technical Debt: Each feature adds complexity to your codebase. Wrong features are particularly toxic because they deliver negative value while still requiring maintenance.
-
Cognitive Load: Users must navigate around features they don't need, making your product harder to understand and use effectively.
-
Support Burden: Even unused features generate support tickets and require documentation, training, and maintenance.
-
Opportunity Cost: Every hour spent building the wrong feature is an hour not spent building the right one.
Making the Hard Choice
So how do we balance responsiveness to customer requests with product integrity? Here's my framework:
1. Understand the Root Problem
When a customer requests a feature, treat it as the starting point for investigation, not a solution specification. Often, the requested feature is just one possible solution to an underlying problem. By understanding the core need, we might find a better way to solve it—or realize it's not actually the problem we should be solving.
2. Evaluate Strategic Fit
Every feature should advance your product's strategic goals. A feature that perfectly solves one customer's problem but takes you off your strategic path is still the wrong feature. Ask yourself:
- Does this align with our product vision?
- Will this solution scale across our customer base?
- Are we the right team to solve this problem?
3. Consider the Full System Impact
Features don't exist in isolation. Every addition affects the whole product ecosystem:
- How will this impact the user experience for other customers?
- What maintenance burden will this create?
- How might this limit our future options?
4. Learn to Say No (The Right Way)
Saying no is essential, but how you say it matters immensely. When declining a feature request:
- Acknowledge the underlying need
- Explain your reasoning transparently
- Offer alternative solutions where possible
- Keep the door open for future discussion
Finding the Balance
Great product management is not about building everything customers ask for. It's about having the spine to protect your product from the people who claim to love it while demanding you destroy it.
The PM's Job Is to Say No
Your job is not to make customers happy. Your job is to build a product that wins in the market. These are not the same thing.
The customer screaming loudest is rarely your best customer. They're the one with the least fit for your product who wants you to bend it into something it was never meant to be. Every time you cave, you make the product worse for the customers who actually chose you for what you are.
Stop processing feature requests. Start protecting your product.
The next time a customer threatens to churn unless you build their pet feature, let them churn. The next time sales forwards an "urgent" request from a prospect who'll "definitely sign," delete the email. The next time your backlog fills up with demands from people who don't understand your product strategy, clear it.
Build the product you set out to build. Say no to everything else.
That's the job.