Making Bad Product Decisions

We all do it at some point. We make a poor product decision.

They stem from rushed launches, weak market validation, or misaligned priorities. But, they can have long-term consequences for your product and company.

As a product manager, every decision you make influences your company’s growth, customer satisfaction, and competitive edge.

Some bad decisions are minor missteps, but others can derail entire products, erode trust, or burn significant resources. Knowing how to spot potential pitfalls early can save you from the painful consequences of poor choices.

Most PMs fail to recognize bad decisions in real-time because the immediate effects aren’t always visible. Instead of seeing an obvious failure, you might notice lower engagement, higher churn, or an unexpected drop in revenue.

By the time the full impact is clear, it’s often too late, or too expensive to fix. The best product managers develop an ability to anticipate potential failures before they become major issues.

Bad product decisions are a compounding problem that grows more expensive over time.

Let's break down how to recognize and avoid these costly mistakes.

Takeaway 1: The Real Cost of a Bad Decision Isn’t Immediate

When a bad product decision is made, the initial reaction might be relief:

"At least we shipped something!"

This is a misguided, false sense of security. The real impact often reveals itself much later.

Bring on the Technical Debt! A rushed feature launch may introduce architectural flaws that slow down future development. In fact, nothing is more frustrating and painful than having a backlog filled with tech debt. It's like credit card debt. It'll never go away and it will completely ruin your ability to move forward.

Another major blow comes in the form of brand damage. A poorly thought-out redesign can alienate loyal users, reducing long-term retention. In other words, if you piss your customers off by making your product worse, it brings all the wrong kinds of attention to you. Both externally and internally.

But the one that really keeps me up at night is a missed market fit. Investing heavily in the wrong customer segment can result in wasted resources and missed opportunities. You can reduce the chances on this one with discovery and customer testing before you build, but you'll never truly know until you ship it.

The key lesson here? Decisions made at the moment can compound over time, making future innovation harder, not easier. Make sure to really do your homework and take the time to make thoughtful decisions. It's OK to tell engineers or stakeholders you need some time to think.

Takeaway 2: Shortcuts Lead to Long-Term Problems

Not all bad product decisions start with shortcuts. But as I'm sitting here writing this, I can't recall a single time taking a shortcut helped do anything but speed up a release. Every single one I can think of hurts the product and the company over time.

But most of us have taken them due to time constraints, leadership pressure, or limited data.

Here are some common shortcuts I've taken that have come right back to bite me in the ass every time.

The first is launching a feature without testing real user behavior. It's kind of surprising how many companies have "Product Managers" that NEVER talk to customers. Not shockingly, building products in these environments net you incremental wins at best and huge misses at worst.

The next is following the loudest voice in the room. Prioritizing stakeholder requests over actual customer needs has never worked for me. We all do it at some point. We all have a boss. But any time I have done this, it helps someone get promoted. It helps achieve some annual objectives.

But you know what I have never seen it do? Move the product or the company forward. Usually, it results in something customers don't care about or use regularly.

What's more, it always takes and insane amount of effort to build it, and resources are pulled from other priorities to finish the loud voice's work. Not only do customers not care about what you built, you missed the chance to build other things they may have care more for.

But nobody ever goes back to look because the loud voice got promoted and is on their way to go waste time and money on some other half-baked idea.

These types of shortcuts often feel efficient in the moment, but they usually end up making everything else take longer down the road.

Takeaway 3: Misalignment Between Teams Leads to Bad Outcomes

A product decision shouldn’t happen in isolation. You should have the final decision and be held accountable for making it, but your perspective that leads to the decision should be an informed on. It should consider inputs from engineering, design, marketing, and customer success.

If these teams aren’t aligned, a well-intentioned decision can quickly turn into a disaster.

Engineers build what they assume is needed, rather than what is actually required.

Sales teams overpromise features that aren't on the roadmap, causing churn.

Marketing positions a product incorrectly, leading to confused customers.

The solution? Cross-functional collaboration before major decisions are made. If you skip a group or fail to align people properly, you will end up making a decision that can have unintended negative consequences in your company.

Takeaway 4: Course Correction Is Possible, but Harder Over Time

Not all bad decisions are permanent, but the longer you wait to fix them, the harder it gets.

If something isn't working, it isn't working. The longer you wait to speak up, the more money you spend, and the more time you take from doing other things. It just gets worse.

Acknowledge mistakes early. The best PMs are willing to say, "This isn’t working. Let’s pivot."

Use data to guide the fix. Look at usage patterns and customer feedback to adjust your approach.

Involve leadership strategically. If a bad decision is already public, work on a communication plan rather than pretending it didn’t happen.

Fixing a bad decision is always easier than ignoring it.

In Conclusion

Your going to make bad decisions. It’s unavoidable. The difference between great product managers and average ones is that great ones spot bad decisions early, minimize their impact, and learn from them.

The best way to avoid costly mistakes?

Slow down, validate, and make sure every decision aligns with real customer needs. Because in product management, what you choose not to build is just as important as what you do build.

Thanks for reading. See you next week.