Most product managers spend majority of their time solving problems that don’t exist.

Not because they’re lazy.

Not because they don’t care.

But because building feels like progress.

You launch a feature. You point to it and say, we shipped this. Everyone feels happy.

Uncovering real problems doesn’t feel that way.

It feels slow. It feels uncertain. It feels like doing nothing.

It forces you to admit you don’t yet know what matters.

But skipping this step is expensive.

Every sprint solving the wrong problem is a sprint stolen from solving the right one.

To fix this, you need to spend most of your energy uncovering real problems. Testing them. Validating them. Until they’re undeniable.

Then, and only then, build the solution.

Because building isn’t progress.

Building the right thing is.

Until next time—Sid