Session note: how to tell if you need a product leader or just better PMs

The Situation

Product isn't working. Features are shipping, but they're not creating value. Priorities keep shifting. Decisions feel unclear. You know something needs to change, but you're not sure if you need a product leader or just better PMs.

The default answer is usually "hire a product leader." But sometimes the problem isn't leadership—it's execution. And sometimes the problem isn't execution—it's leadership. The question is which one you actually have.

The difference matters. Hire a leader when you need better PMs, and you'll have someone creating strategy that can't be executed. Hire better PMs when you need a leader, and you'll have execution without direction.

What Most Teams Try (and Why It Doesn't Work)

Most teams try to solve the problem by hiring, but they don't diagnose the problem first.

Hiring a leader when you need better PMs

If the problem is execution, a leader won't help. They'll create strategy, but if the PMs can't execute it, you're still stuck. You need better execution, not better strategy.

Hiring better PMs when you need a leader

If the problem is direction, better PMs won't help. They'll execute well, but if the direction is unclear, you'll execute the wrong thing well. You need clearer direction, not better execution.

Assuming the problem is both

Sometimes it is both, but usually it's one or the other. If you try to solve both at once, you'll solve neither. Diagnose first, then hire.

How I Approach This in Practice

I diagnose the problem by looking at three things: clarity, accountability, and execution capacity.

Clarity: Do you know what to build?

If you know what to build but it's not getting built, that's an execution problem. You need better PMs. If you don't know what to build, that's a leadership problem. You need a product leader.

Accountability: Who owns product decisions?

If no one owns product decisions, that's a leadership problem. You need someone accountable for direction. If someone owns decisions but they're not good decisions, that's a different problem—either better leadership or better PMs depending on why the decisions are bad.

Execution capacity: Can you execute what you decide?

If you can make decisions but can't execute them, that's an execution problem. You need better PMs. If you can't make decisions, that's a leadership problem. You need a product leader.

The overlap: Sometimes it's both

Sometimes you need both. But usually, one is the bottleneck. Fix the bottleneck first, then see if the other problem persists.

A Real Example

A growth-stage company with strong engineering but unclear product direction. Features were shipping, but they weren't creating value. Priorities kept shifting. They thought they needed better PMs.

But when we looked at the problem, it wasn't execution—it was direction. The PMs were executing well, but they were executing unclear priorities. The problem wasn't that PMs couldn't execute—it was that no one was creating clarity on what to execute.

They hired a product leader who created clarity on priorities, constraints, and near-term bets. The PMs didn't change, but they started executing clearer direction. The execution was always fine—it was the direction that was unclear.

The outcome wasn't better PMs—it was clearer leadership. Once direction was clear, execution improved because PMs were executing the right thing.

When This Matters

You need a product leader when:

• Direction is unclear. You don't know what to build, or priorities keep shifting. You need someone to create clarity on direction.
• No one owns product decisions. Decisions are made by committee, or they don't get made at all. You need someone accountable for product direction.
• Strategy doesn't exist. You're executing features, but there's no coherent strategy. You need someone to create strategy, not just execute it.

You need better PMs when:

• Direction is clear but execution is weak. You know what to build, but it's not getting built well. You need better execution, not better direction.
• PMs can't execute the strategy. The strategy exists, but PMs can't translate it into execution. You need better PMs, not a new strategy.
• Execution is the bottleneck. You can make decisions, but you can't execute them. You need better execution capacity, not better decision-making.