The article discusses the rise of "product dictators" - executives who exert excessive control over product development and decision-making. It identifies three key underlying factors that drive this behavior:
Anxiety and fear: Product dictators respond to external pressures by tightening their grip on control, creating bottlenecks and micromanaging their teams.
Lack of leadership skills: Many product dictators lack the capabilities to effectively set strategy, develop organizational structures, and communicate effectively. Instead of addressing these gaps, they double down on dictatorial behaviors.
Over-reaction: Product dictators often justify their approach by pointing to previous "distributed disasters" in their organizations, seeing dictatorship as the only alternative to complete chaos.
The article also suggests a fourth, underlying factor - the cultural glorification of the "dictatorial genius" leader, which has become ingrained in how we train and perceive product leaders. This has led to the rise of high-profile examples like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, whose successes have been used to justify and perpetuate ineffective leadership patterns.
The author argues that while these leaders have achieved remarkable results, their dictatorial approach has likely limited the potential of their organizations. The article encourages readers to question the prevailing cultural narratives around product leadership and consider alternative, more balanced approaches that empower teams and foster sustainable progress.
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by Judd Antin at medium.com 04-04-2024
https://medium.com/onebigthought/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-product-dictator-27faf8ca6c9bDeeper Inquiries