The product manager role is a mistake
Critiques of the “product manager” role center on how it is often filled by underqualified, non-technical people who add bureaucracy, dilute accountability, and wedge themselves between engineers, customers, and leadership without clear value. Many engineers and managers argue that the underlying work—understanding users, setting priorities, and aligning teams—is essential, but should be done by skilled, product-minded leaders (sometimes engineers or designers) rather than a generic PM layer. Others counter with experiences where a strong PM was a major force multiplier, suggesting the real problem is organizational design, unclear role definitions, and a shortage of genuinely capable product managers, not the role itself.
Overall reaction to the article
- Many see it as overgeneralized: really about “bad leaders in powerful roles,” not inherently about PMs.
- Others say it matches their lived experience in “product‑led” orgs where process, OKRs, and committees dominate.
- The “great man” framing and list of visionary geniuses is widely criticized as unrealistic and hero‑worshipping.
Value of Product Managers (when good)
- Multiple commenters report that a single strong PM was a major force multiplier: better focus, smoother execution, more impact.
- Good PMs are described as: deeply understanding users and market, prioritizing ruthlessly, shielding engineers from politics, and aligning stakeholders.
- Some founders and engineers in PM‑less orgs say key PM work (customer research, roadmap, coordination) simply doesn’t get done.
Common PM failure modes
- “Cargo‑cult PM”: status meetings, PowerPoints, backlog grooming, but no real product vision or customer contact.
- Acting as gatekeepers between engineers and customers, adding latency and mangling communication.
- Optimizing for executives’ pet projects and metrics theater instead of user value.
- Having power but little accountability; blame rolls to engineering, sales, or support when things fail.
Role confusion: product vs project vs program
- Many note that companies conflate product, project, and program management into one “PM” blob.
- In some orgs, “PM” is really a project manager or clerical scheduler; in others it’s supposed to be strategic product leadership.
- Lack of clarity about who owns “what vs how,” roadmap vs delivery, and customer vs internal coordination is a recurring complaint.
Alternatives and org models
- Some advocate strong tech leads or senior engineers owning product decisions, especially in small teams or dev‑tools.
- Others report that without dedicated PMs, engineers or managers are overloaded and inter‑team work falls through the cracks.
- A recurring theme: PM responsibilities must exist somewhere; success depends more on individual competence, organizational design, and incentives than on the job title itself.