Product Management Performance Reimagined: Embracing Collaboration Over Credit

Providing and receiving feedback is ideally a continual activity, best done with context as close to the moment as possible. Some HR tools and organizations are pivoting in this direction, encouraging individuals to provide comments throughout the year.

Putting aside variations in timing and frequency, at the core of the performance cycle is company culture, which informs what characteristics are rated most highly. At the base level, it often comes down to credit (an individual did XZY) vs collaboration (a group did XYZ). As you can likely guess if you’ve been following this newsletter, I fall on the side of favoring collaboration as being a key area of focus for performance reviews.

In a credit culture, toxic people or those with extremely difficult or rigid working styles who deliver at high levels can receive top ratings. Their approach, and the frustrated people left in their wake, is overlooked or considered “necessary” in the pursuit of “excellence”. You’ll also witness only the loudest, most extroverted in a group given credit for their collective progress.

In a collaboration culture, how the work was delivered rises above who delivered it. Performance is considered at a team, scrum or project level. How effectively the group achieved the desired outcome together is the focus of the rating. Introversion or extroversion are irrelevant as its the work of the team that does the talking. Tolerance for toxicity is low, reminiscent of the ‘no brilliant jerks’ call out in Netflix culture statement.

I’ve written previously about cultures of competition and the damage such an environment brings, not just to the organization but to the individuals in it as well. In a collaboration culture, individuals are encouraged and motivated to work together as the same rating is given to the entire team. For this reason, the following quote from Jared Hecht of USV Ventures stood out to me.

In this newsletter, we’ll explore the theme of credit vs. collaboration further including the impact it can have on hiring, leading, and general well being.

Hiring for collaboration not cutthroat

In a collaboration culture the team rows together. When a new individual joins it is understood that it will take time to get into the rhythm with members who have a longer tenure. Hiring for soft skills, including approach and behaviors, rises in importance as you are looking for individuals who want to be part of, and contribute to, a team’s performance.

You might be wondering, aren’t all product managers wired for collaboration as partnering with other functions, such data, design and engineering is a regular - and beneficial - occurrence. I’ve found it isn’t always the case. For example, there are individuals and companies who have drunk from the ‘PM as CEO of the product’ Kool-Aid and forgotten the importance of humility. Such a stance negatively impacts cross functional partnerships. Information is shared with a select few, directives are given instead of discussions held, and people are left scrambling when alignment is required to reach a milestone.

I find such an attitude ironic as technology is always changing. We are constantly learning new skills (tip of the hat to ChatGPT), re-establishing product market fit due to a new competitor, or facing changing market dynamics (remote, hybrid, back to the office). Times of change require you to cross a moat of low status, a period of time where you are actually bad at the effort or fail to know things that in the future will be obvious.

While one or more functions are learning, others are stepping up. There are times a PM leads, there are also times when data, design, engineering or other functions lead - all of which are equally important to product success. You might wonder if the coming of artificial general intelligence (AGI) will change the power dynamics. As AI mingles with all facets of our lives, a future of work study by Microsoft, called out the importance of collaborative skills will only rise.

Sticking with the Microsoft theme to close out this section, the company used to be known for its cutthroat stack ranking system which promoted people who took credit and stifled innovation. Satya Nadella, Microsoft's CEO, changed that practice and instead encourages employees to collaborate instead of compete.

Think about your current company. Where does it fall on the credit vs. collaboration spectrum?

Cultivating talent beyond individual roles

You’ve hired talent that seeks out and thrives in a collaborative environment. Now it’s time to consider on which project to place the individuals. In order for the new hire to thrive (and others too), consider the makeup of the team. Each person has a superpower, some which mix well and others that don’t. For example, if you have someone who is incredibly outgoing and a quieter star, it’s likely the outgoing person will command the stage. It’s ok to shift people around to create the optimal team.

In environments where credit is the performance vehicle of choice, there is a tendency to favor specialization at the expense of collaboration, shared responsibility and even customer outcomes. If individual A steps out of their functional lane to help individual B, it is seen as a fault of individual B that help was needed. A product practitioner named Emily Webb borrowed a term from healthcare - professional protectionism - to describe this behavior. People feel overprotective of their contributions at the expense of collaborating and sharing with others.

In order to be truly multidisciplinary, recognize the value a diverse range of disciplines and skills brings. Put aside hierarchy and silos. Instead celebrate when a product manager steps in and helps with a user research study or a designer codes a prototype to accelerate development. When people's roles overlap, creating a more blended group, team members are encouraged to exchange skills and learn new ones, all contributing towards a common goal and getting s**t done together.

When aligning teams to focus on collaboration, you may find some leaders and individuals getting uncomfortable. Isn’t a bit of competition a good thing? Don’t we all try harder when there is a friendly rivalry? It’s the standard product answer of “it depends”. In a credit culture, the rivalry could appear friendly above the surface. Then when you look below, you may find people feel threatened. Humans often compare themselves to others. In a credit culture, execs look the other way as stepping over or on colleagues is accepted in the race for status and promotion.

If you’re coming from a credit culture and have the opportunity to incorporate aspects of collaboration, balance individual incentives with group ones. If execution (yes, I chose this word on purpose) is the only path to promotion, add a bit of collaborative spark to your team. Let people know how performance is measured, even 10% or 20% focused on collaboration is a start. Then highlight the importance of attitude and approach through your own efforts and shoutouts. Call on the teams that are collaborating effectively to share their story together. Remember from the last newsletter, you can be the difference, you can introduce change.

Our brains and LLMs share learning patterns

Just as you can train a large language model (LLM), I believe in the power of reshaping one’s mindset. For example, if you have a team member who dismisses junior colleagues, you can employ a technique known as reframing to help them think differently. By reinforcing the value of different perspectives and the importance of firsthand context for subsequent successful delivery, you can help them to start thinking differently - and begin to pave the way for better teamwork and less focus on individual credit.

Here are other ways can you reframe your brain:

1. IKEA effect: For those who see credit as the only way to promotion, remind them being a product leader or a product manager means you are intrinsically part of a team. By encouraging others to contribute, the team (and individual seeking credit) will benefit from the IKEA effect. Like the attachment many have for the IKEA furniture they put together themselves, involving others in decisions leads to more commitment. Team members will care more about the success of the project, and potentially the company, as a result.

1. Hear from multiple voices: On teams where one person constantly speaks up all in the pursuit of credit, ask questions. Provide opportunities for others to speak up. Even though, at the start, it might take more effort for the team to get to a decision, over time learning will occur. Decision making will accelerate, and likely be even stronger, as a broader perspective and multiple viewpoints are being considered. If your a product leader, remember you are not manipulating the team to make a decision you favor. Instead through inquiry, you are cultivating a culture of collaboration, encouraging learning, and motivating the team to reach a decision they’re more committed to achieve as they were involved in the process (what can I say, IKEA has a large reach).

2. Promote open knowledge sharing: With Amazon walking away from the purchase of iRobot; too many hurdles being put up for Adobe to swallow the Figma acquisition; and, Meta touting the open source nature of Llama vs OpenAI, we are are starting to see a shift in market dynamics. Yes, companies can get really big, but there is a limit to the silo’d growth. In the same vein, one person making all the decisions creates information walled gardens. Looking to technology trends, Chris Dixon reminds us of the power of collaboration. He sites Wikipedia which was disparaged at the start. Now the general consensus is Wikipedia can be a starting point for research, coupled with a critical evaluation of its content and a focus on cross-referencing with more authoritative sources.

3. Listen more than you speak: Depending on your spirit animal, you can side with Jimi Hendrix who said, “Knowledge speaks, and wisdom listens” or Chris Conley, the founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality and prior Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy for Airbnb, who touts owls as role models as they blend into the background so they can observe. Instead of seeking credit, take time to listen to your team. Atlassian is a champion of this practice. By listening more, you learn more and are likely to become more interested in the work and contributions of your team. You might see your thoughts shifting more strategy and less about tasks!

4. Focus on wellbeing: In the Human Side of Leadership, Douglas McGregor emphasizes collaborative leadership, focusing on employee development and strong workplace relationships. He advocates for continuous training and job rotations, fostering a versatile and connected workforce. The approach values work-life balance and encourages employees to mentor others as they advance, thereby nurturing a supportive work environment. Yes this method likely requires slowing down to some extent—but slowing down the craziness of constant work, not creating an excuse to delay. Riffing on Peter Senge in The Fifth Discipline, you have to slow down to go faster. As a team’s collective knowledge increases, they can concentrate their efforts and see greater impact down the road.

Lancaster is a fan of collaboration too, as you can see from a photo below of his latest adventure. But, first, here are three key takeaways from today’s newsletter.

1. Shift from Credit Culture to Collaboration Culture: Shifting from a traditional credit-based approach to a collaboration culture allows the collective achievements and how work is delivered to shine. This shift increases teamwork, reduces toxicity, and promotes inclusivity regardless of personality types (introverted or extroverted).

2. Importance of Collaboration in Hiring and Team Dynamics: In technology and product management, the only constant is change. Hiring for soft skills and collaboration is crucial for success as teams and individuals must be able to learn and adjust as the world evolves. Microsoft's shift from a competitive to a collaborative culture under CEO Satya Nadella is an example of a company acknowledging the value of teamwork over individual competition.

3. Leadership and Team Building Focused on Collaboration: To cultivate a collaborative environment, reframe team dynamics. For example when you foster a collaborative culture by valuing diverse contributions, promoting open knowledge sharing, and focusing on listening and wellbeing there is an opportunity for diverse perspectives in decision-making and employee development to become possible.