Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

Jackie Bavaro on getting better at product strategy, what exactly is strategy, PM pitfalls to avoid, advancing your career, getting into management, and much more

June 16, 2022

AI Summary

5 min read

Jackie Bavaro, a seasoned product leader and co-author of Cracking the PM Interview, joins Lenny to unpack product strategy, common PM mistakes, and career progression paths. She draws from her experience at companies like Asana and Dropbox to explain how to think strategically as a product manager while navigating promotions and management.

Defining Product Strategy

Strategy starts with answering three questions: Where are we now? Where do we want to go? How do we get there? Bavaro stresses that it's not just a document but a shared understanding that guides decisions amid uncertainty. Effective strategies are simple, memorable phrases—like Asana's "From tasks to teams"—that rally teams without micromanaging tactics. The psychology here ties to cognitive load: clear strategies reduce decision fatigue by providing a north star, working best when revisited quarterly to adapt to new data.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **🎙️ Introduction: No Guest Featured**
2 (00:30) **Opening Discussion on Recent News**
3 (05:15) **Deep Dive into AI Developments**

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Jackie Bavaro is the author of the best-selling books Cracking the PM Interview and Cracking the PM Career. She was most recently at Asana, where she joined as its first product manager and later became the head of product. Earlier in her career, Jackie was a PM at Google and Microsoft, where she worked on high-impact products such as Google Search and Microsoft SharePoint.

In this episode, we cover:

1. How did Jackie become head of product at Asana? Start writing the best-selling PM books on interviews and the career ladder?

2. How and why to find a product coach.

3. What are the downsides of being a manager? How do you know if you want to go into management?

4. Can you stay an IC vs. becoming a manager?

5. What is “strategy”? What are the 3 components of a strategy?

6. What makes a good/bad strategy?

7. What are some ways to get better at strategy?

8. When should you start to invest in building your strategy muscle?

9. What are signs that your strategy is off?

10. What’s Jackie’s best piece of career advice?

11. Why is it smart to join a big company?

12. What are some of the most common mistakes PMs make early in their career?

13. What is the one thing Jackie thinks every PM should do regardless of their level?

Where to find Jackie:

- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jackiebo

- Books: Cracking the PM Interview and Cracking the PM Career: https://amzn.to/3If6X9U

- Medium: https://jackiebo.medium.com

References:

- Jackie’s book rec: Getting Things Done, by David Allen

- Current favorite app, Paprika: https://www.paprikaapp.com

- Favorite Twitter: https://twitter.com/hels

- PEARL framework: https://jackiebo.medium.com/interview-tips-for-senior-pms-2424f7b7c967

- Eigenquestions: https://coda.io/@shishir/eigenquestions-the-art-of-framing-problems

Thank you to our amazing sponsors:

* Flatfile: www.flatfile.com/lenny

* Amplitude: www.amplitude.com

* PostHog: www.posthog.com/lenny

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