The Importance of Cognitive Flexibility In Product Management

Matt Hicks

2 years ago

The Importance of Cognitive Flexibility In Product Management – Cognitive flexibility is the ability to adapt your thinking and approach to situations based on new information or changing circumstances. As a Product Manager, cognitive flexibility is essential for success. You must continuously evolve your perspective on product direction and features based on new user data, market conditions, and business goals. The power to pivot and delete features is just as important as the drive to execute your ideas. Being mentally agile, rather than rigidly attached to your assumptions and previous decisions, empowers you to build products that solve real customer problems.

This blog post will explore the importance of cognitive flexibility In Product Management. We’ll discuss common biases like the curse of knowledge and overconfidence that can cloud judgment and lead to costly missteps. By leveraging the power of the delete button and avoiding sunk cost bias, you can hone the invaluable skill of being able to start over when needed. With psychological safety and a culture that rewards flexibility, product teams can thrive. Adaptability and willingness to change allow product managers to act in the customer’s best interest, rather than pushing their own agenda.

The Curse of Knowledge and Overconfidence

As product managers gain experience and knowledge, they can fall into some common cognitive traps. One of these is the curse of knowledge, where they struggle to see things from a beginner’s perspective. When you become an expert on a product, its features, and customer research insights, it’s hard to step back into the shoes of a new user. You forget what it’s like to lack all that domain knowledge. This makes it challenging to design and explain things in a way that resonates with beginners.

Overconfidence is another bias that PMs must be wary of. After working on a product for months and gathering customer feedback, it’s easy to become overconfident in your ideas and predictions. However, research shows we systematically tend to overestimate the accuracy of our judgments. For example, when asked to give a range that they are 90% confident contains the right answer, people are actually correct only about 70% of the time. We are often much more unsure than we think.

Both the curse of knowledge and overconfidence can lead product managers astray. If you are convinced your solution is perfect based on your expertise, you may not see obvious flaws a beginner would notice. And if you are overly sure of your assumptions and predictions, you can end up heading down the wrong path. Many products have failed because PMs were too rigid in their thinking and unable to see alternatives.

For example, Knight-Ridder was a successful newspaper publisher for over a century, but they were eventually acquired at a huge loss. The company’s leaders were aware of the looming threat of digital news, but they assumed print would remain dominant for a long time. They were overconfident in their judgment and unable to envision a flexible business model that embraced online news.

As another example, Kodak invented the digital camera but failed to capitalize on the new technology. They were too committed to their highly profitable film business and couldn’t pivot quickly enough to digital. Their deep industry knowledge actually clouded their judgment in the face of disruptive change.

Cognitive flexibility requires challenging your own assumptions, seeking diverse perspectives, and recognizing the limits of your knowledge. By leveraging the power of the delete key, product managers can escape rigid thinking and create something customers truly want. We’ll explore strategies for starting over without bias in the next section.

The Power of Deleting and Starting Over

One of the most vital skills for a product manager is knowing when to persist with a product or feature, and when to delete it and start over. This willingness to reset is a manifestation of cognitive flexibility. Rather than throwing good money after bad or falling prey to sunk cost bias, adaptable PMs are ready to ditch what isn’t working and try a new approach.

This aligns with a core Agile principle – fail fast and iterate. By releasing minimum viable products, conducting validated learning, and pivoting as needed, you can incorporate user feedback efficiently. As Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn says, “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” Beginning with a rough draft can surface flaws quickly so you can correct course.

There are many examples of products that found success only after deleting previous versions and starting fresh. Twitter’s first prototype Odeo was a podcasting platform that floundered. But the founders saw the kernel of an idea in status updates and rebuilt Twitter from scratch. Flickr began as a multiplayer online game called Game Neverending. The photo-sharing features proved more popular, so the company made a flexible pivot. Slack was born out of the failure of the multiplayer game Glitch. The team realized their internal chat tool for collaboration was the winning idea.

In each case, the founders were willing to discard months or years of work to explore a new direction. There was no attachment to the time already invested. This delete key mindset can be employed for individual features too. If analytics reveal a capability is not getting traction, get rid of it and try something new. Listen to user feedback and remain open to changing course.

Avoiding Sunk Cost Bias

Closely related to the persistence vs. pivot decision is the concept of sunk cost bias in economics and psychology. Sunk costs are previous investments of time or money that cannot be recovered. They should not influence future decisions, but unfortunately, they often do. Sunk cost bias causes us to irrationally invest more resources into something we have already put effort into, even if signs say we should abandon ship.

For example, say a product manager has invested six months in building a complex feature. Usage data shows barely any customers are engaging with it, and user interviews suggest it doesn’t address their core needs. But rather than cutting her losses and hitting delete, the PM keeps tweaking and optimizing the feature based on the mindset of “we’ve already put so much work into this.”

This stubborn persistence is dangerous, as it can lead to an escalating commitment to a losing proposition. Resources are wasted on a feature that should have been removed from the roadmap. A classic example is Kodak – despite inventing digital photography, the company remained committed to its traditional film business for far too long. They were unwilling to cannibalize their cash cow, even when the evidence was clear that digital was the future. Kodak went bankrupt as rivals pivoted faster.

Product managers must learn to ignore sunk costs, as difficult as that may be psychologically, and make decisions aligned with product vision and company strategy. If user data indicates a change of direction is optimal, you need to be flexible enough to make the hard call. Track progress based on leading indicators of future potential rather than lagging costs already incurred. This will enable you to avoid the sunk cost trap and build products customers value.

The Bias Towards Action

In addition to overconfidence in their own ideas, product managers often exhibit a bias towards action over inaction. There is a tendency to want to do something rather than sit back and observe. However, sometimes the best move is to gather more data before acting.

This action bias stems from the PM role attracting people with initiative and drive. There may also be pressure from stakeholders like executives and investors to drive progress and show traction. However, charging ahead to implement new features without properly validating assumptions can be reckless. Product managers must balance their bias to action with thoughtful deliberation.

For example, say usage metrics indicate that only 30% of users are regularly engaging with a core product feature. The PM feels compelled to make changes to try to improve engagement. But without further research into why people aren’t using this capability, any action taken is premature. It would be better to conduct user interviews and carefully diagnose the issue before moving forward.

Acting without sufficient evidence often leads product managers down the wrong path. They end up solving problems users don’t actually have. The discipline to wait, gather information, and resist the urge to follow your gut requires cognitive flexibility. Patience is just as important as drive.

Great product managers know when to deploy the delete key and when to hit the gas pedal. They understand the power of sitting and observing before acting. Rather than chasing every new idea or pivoting at the first sign of trouble, they take a measured approach anchored in data. Embracing inaction as a viable option alongside action is the mark of a balanced PM.

Building a Culture of Flexibility

While cognitive flexibility depends in part on individual capabilities, organizational culture also plays a big role. Product managers need an environment that encourages evidence-based decisions, constructive debate, and openness to changing course.

Often, company politics or biases instilled by leadership can hinder honest evaluation of product direction. A tendency towards top-down decision-making versus bottom-up input can also cause rigid thinking. PMs need to feel psychologically safe questioning assumptions and respectfully challenging ideas.

By rewarding prudent risk-taking and willingness to pivot when the data supports it, executives can foster cognitive flexibility within product teams. They should incentivize starting from scratch on some percentage of the roadmap every year to combat inertia.

Regularly revisiting product principles can help ensure the company avoids developing blind spots over time. Seeking input from frontline customer-facing staff beyond just PMs is also beneficial. This diversity of perspective combats the curse of knowledge.

Studying adaptable organizations like Netflix, Amazon, and Intuit reveals commonalities like decentralization, autonomy, and constant controlled experimentation. PMs are empowered to take risks and change course without lengthy approval steps. By embedding these cultural elements, companies can enhance collective cognitive flexibility.

Product managers should advocate for values like psychological safety, humility, and non-attachment to decisions. The goal is to arrive at the right product strategy, not defend egos or political turf. With the right culture, PMs can feel comfortable changing their minds given new facts. This willingness to pivot is crucial to building outstanding products that customers love.

Conclusion

Importance of Cognitive Flexibility In Product Management can not be over stated, as it allows product managers to continuously evolve their thinking and approach based on new learnings. By leveraging the power of deletion, avoiding sunk cost bias, and building a culture of adaptability, PMs can avoid rigid attachment to ideas. They must balance conviction with open-mindedness and willingness to pivot when the evidence supports it.

Great products emerge when hypotheses are tested and product direction flexes to meet real user needs. With the discipline to resist action bias and overconfidence, PMs can make decisions in the customer’s best interest, rather than their ego. The adaptable PM with cognitive flexibility will thrive.