just occurred to me that part of the product managers job is to frame decisions in a way that actually INVITES disagreement, dissent, challenge.

let me explain

it is easy to frame things that ppl will agree with (1/n)

..lots of successful product managers are good at this. The problem is that they aren't inviting other perspectives. They frame it up -- nice consultant like -- in order to sell the direction.

Nods all around. YES. But months later...

(2/n)

That approach gets things in motion quickly, but it doesn't lead to the best decision quality.

Now other people are so vague that neither support or dissent are possible. There's nothing to go on. No rationale whatsoever.

UM. I guess so?

This is helpful either...(3/n)

The alternative is really putting the assumptions up there. Inviting others into the conversation. Leveraging different perspectives.

Don't sell. Catalyze and guide.
Don't over-simplify. Tell progressively more detailed stories.
Invite productive dissent

(4/end)