Product Management in Practice: A Practical, Tactical Guide for Your First Day and Every Day After

by Matt Lemay

Now, let’s imagine a second meeting that operates under the rules of “disagree and commit”: each person in the meeting must provide specific, affirmative commitment before a decision is made, and each person is responsible for raising any questions or disagreements that might stop them from providing that commitment. After thoughtfully walking through competitive analysis, usage projections, and revenue goals, you conclude with a strong recommendation that the feature be included in the free tier. “OK,” you tell the assembled stakeholders, “we’re going to try doing something a little bit different this time. This is a big decision for the team, and I want to make sure that we’ve gotten all the information that y’all have out on the table. So I’m going to go around and ask each of you, one by one, to say ‘I commit’ if you’re committed to moving forward with the approach we’ve outlined. And if you can’t commit, tell me why, and we’ll figure out what to do from there.”