Business Results Are the Only Thing That Matters

Recently, I spoke with Valeria Rozova (WANNABE team), Polina Oparina, Anya Podobrazhnykh, and Kamilla Samokhina. We discussed product management, shared how our thinking has evolved, and explored real-life cases. We got straight to the point, skipping any unnecessary preamble.

In this post, I want to emphasize an important idea that emerged during our discussion:

Product management is all about business, not frameworks or “beauty.”

Early in my career, I was a staunch advocate for various approaches, structured processes, methods for managing backlogs, etc. However, over time, it has become increasingly clear that the specific tools a product manager uses are far less important than the outcomes they achieve. Ultimately, results are the only thing that truly matters in this field.

Yes, tools and methodologies are part of a product manager’s hard skills, and it’s essential to understand them. But these skills are secondary. Results must always come first.

When people ask me what I focus on when promoting employees — especially in product management — my answer is always the same: performance, responsibility, and ownership. These qualities are indispensable, regardless of whether someone is a junior employee or at the C-level. The better someone demonstrates these traits, the faster their career growth will be.

So, let’s think like shareholders and focus on getting things done.You can find our recorded discussion (in Russian) here.