Looking for a promotion to a product leadership role?
The key lies in moving from owning problems to owning problem spaces.
PMs own problems by solving challenges. Product Leaders own problem spaces by anticipating challenges.
This isn’t just a change in responsibilities. It’s a way to accelerate your career growth.
In this article, I will show you a 4-step method to start this mindset shift.
Why Most PMs Fail to Own Problem Spaces
Owning a problem space is surprisingly taxing, mentally.
It requires you to operate in a constant state of ambiguity that demands more of you. More cognitive load, more responsibility, more pressure. This increases your decision fatigue and emotional strain.
Yet, this is not why most PMs fail.
They mostly fail for these reasons:
- Time
PMs are constantly pulled into day-to-day tasks and urgent problems. This prevents them from seeing the bigger picture and anticipating challenges. The consequence: reactive decision-making instead of proactive planning for the future. - Permission
Some PMs assume they must stay in their lane, instead of thinking bigger and on a longer-term. But this mindset holds them back as it limits their ability to innovate and take initiative. - Incentives
PMs are often pressured and promoted based on short-term wins, or execution. This is a tricky motivator, as Product Leaders are rewarded for long-term views. Shifting the mindset requires PMs to ignore these short-term incentives. - Fear
Some PMs resist this mindset shift due to comfort with the status quo or fear of the unknown. Owning problem spaces demands venturing outside of well-defined tasks and embracing ambiguity. - Stakeholder alignment
With problems, stakeholders are often aligned on a specific solution. To own a problem space, you must educate and align stakeholders on a broader vision for the future. - Metrics & measurement
Measuring the success of problem-solving is often clear-cut. But the success of a problem space is measured against long-term goals and complex metrics. - Knowledge
Regardless of the struggles, some PMs might try to own problem spaces. However, often they simply don’t know how.
Shifting your mindset from problems to problem spaces is challenging.
But I will make it easier for you.
The steps below outline how you can turn this abstract process into a more concrete one.
The Quick Start Guide to Owning Problem Spaces
I developed this approach while transitioning from individual contributor to leadership roles.
It’s a simple method with four steps.
It’s not comprehensive. You’ll realize this shift requires you to constantly adapt to your own reality. However it should give you a jump start to build momentum.
Sometimes, all you need is a little nudge to get you going in the right direction.
These are the steps:
Step 1: Risk Analysis
Risk analysis starts to turn your thinking from reactive to proactive. It’s how you begin to take the focus out of execution and place it on anticipation.
It’s the easiest place to start because it’s about analyzing aspects of what you already do. Consider the following:
- What could cause your current plans to derail?
- What assumptions are you making? How solid are those assumptions? Which ones are likely to fail?
The outcome of this step can be as simple as noting down a list of risks, each with a suggested mitigation.
Step 2: Gap & Opportunity Analysis
This step starts to broaden your thinking beyond what you are doing. It focuses you on what you could be doing in the problem space.
This is when you should ask yourself questions like:
- What pain points am I not addressing?
- Are there features users asked for that aren’t on the roadmap?
- Are there features and pain points I’ve deprioritized due to lack of time?
- Are the gaps acceptable? For how long?
As in the previous step, write down what comes to mind.
Step 3: Competitor Analysis
Analyzing your competitors gives you a source of data, metrics, and comparison to benchmark how you are tackling the problem space.
Think about:
- What type of features are your competitors working on? Why would they prioritize them?
- What gaps do they leave open? Do you think it is on purpose, or just a prioritization issue?
- How do they address the risks you identified in the previous analysis?
Again, jot down your answers on a page. Analyzing competitors can add further clarity to your previous risk and gap analysis.
Step 4: Putting It All Together
It’s time to transform your bullet points into a proper document. The benefits are twofold:
- It helps you further clarify your thoughts
- It results in an easily shareable document
The risk analysis highlights that you anticipate challenges in the space.
The gap & opportunity analysis helps you think about long-term planning. It also shows how you tackle the problem space over a multi-year period.
The competitor analysis gives you a way to measure your progress through the problem space and your multi-year plan.
This should result in a document like a Product Blueprint, that I describe in more detail in this article.
Finally, distribute this document far and wide. Use it as a foundation to start alignment discussions with stakeholders. It’s your basis to communicate your product vision and get internal buy-in.
By following these steps, you’re not just improving your skills. You’re positioning yourself as a strategic thinker and future leader.
Take Action Today
Shifting from problems to problem spaces demands more from you – but also, your team.
As you hone this craft, you’ll want to help your team develop this same mindset shift. You need them to be ready to take ownership over existing problem spaces, to allow you to in turn take responsibility for even bigger problem spaces. This is how you grow from a Product Manager into a Product Leader.
So start now.
Take that first step with the risk analysis today.
Before you know it, you’ll be thinking and acting like the product leader you’re meant to be.
