Provide options, not arguments. Getting into a yes–no battle of wills is a surefire path to a defensive position. But giving stakeholders multiple options gives you the opportunity to evaluate and explore several different pathways without feeling like you are in a position to “win” or “lose” an argument. There’s been a lot of talk about how saying no is key to product management, but the best product managers I work with never have to say no—they just provide a set of options and help their teams (and especially their team and company leadership) choose the best one according to their goals
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