As product managers grow in seniority, the biggest change they need to make is not learning more frameworks or tools. It’s changing where they start.

Many PMs still start with inputs:
customer feedback, sales requests, NPS comments, leadership opinions, and competitor comparisons. They gather more data, and hope to synthesize all of it to come up with ideas.

PMs should start with the decision. This is also called “Right-to-Left” thinking. Here is a quick set of questions to get you started:

Before looking at any input, ask the following:

• What decision are we trying to make?
• Is this about retention, expansion, or acquisition or other business outcomes?
• Are we fixing a real problem or creating long-term leverage?
• What risk are we trying to reduce?

Inputs in this case becomes evidence, and should not dictate your decision or thinking.

Customer feedback shows where users feel pain. And as a product manager our job is to go deeper to find the root cause.
It’s the same with other inputs like – Sales input, Usage data, Market research.

A senior PM’s job is to connect these signals, look for patterns, and make a clear recommendation that supports business outcomes.

The reason this helps is now a PM can be intentional about what inputs should he/she look for.

This is also what separates execution PMs from product leaders. Product leaders are not better because they have stronger opinions. They are better because they frame decisions clearly, explain tradeoffs, and use evidence thoughtfully.

If you want to operate at a Principal or Director level, this shift is essential.