Human beings are constantly faced with a barrage of decisions, ranging from the mundane to the monumental. A decision requires a choice among a set of alternatives and inevitably, carries consequences, both positive and negative. In product management, decision-making is a critical component of the job requirements from product visioning to features prioritization and from making trade-offs to creating evolutionary solutions. Effective decision-making fuels product innovation, solves complex problems, and yields positive business outcomes. In this blog post, we will explore the insights on decision-making presented by Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Blink, and how it applies to product management.
1. Expertise
Gladwell highlights the importance of expertise in decision-making. Expertise is the result of prolonged practice and experience within a specific domain. Many successful decision-makers, such as doctors, sports coaches, salespeople, and firefighters, are experts in their fields. Their expertise allows these individuals to make decisions effortlessly. This is often done with great precision without being able to explain their decision-making process. We sometimes say that these people have “the eye for it”. This is clearly depicted by a few experts that Gladwell pointed out in the book, one of which is Vic Braden, a tennis coach. By looking at a player’s form, Branden can accurately predict whether the tennis playe is about to make a mistake or score an Ace. When asked how he does it, he cannot tell you exactly what he saw, but with his experience, he can foresee the success rate of an athlete with such a high level of accuracy. In a product management context, incorporating expert perspectives lead to innovative products and services that may become market disruptors. Expertise could come from a blend of domain knowledge, market experience, and technical solution expertise.
2. Gathering Information
Gladwell also highlights the importance of gathering information before making a decision. A well-informed decision is based on relevant data collected from a variety of sources—only to a certain extent. One case study, presented by Gladwell, was from the Cook County Hospital ER in Chicago, which is ran by Dr. Brendan Reilly. Dr. Reilly promoted the use of the Lee Goldman decision tree algorithm to help diagnose a patient’s likelihood of having a heart attack (aka acute myocardial infarction). Comparing the results of doctors using this algorithm showed a faster and higher accuracy rate than the more conventional, and more costly, process of diagnosing a patient. When it comes to product management, gathering information involves conducting market research, taking feedback from customers, and gauging the competition. This Information provides the decision-makers with the latest trends and market changes. At the end of the day, it is the product manager’s responsibility to process the data and translate it to a tactical body of work that the teams can implement. The goal is to create products and services that customers will want and pay to have. In this digital environment, having good enough information is more valuable than waiting for the data to be perfect.
3. Instant vs Time/Space
In Blink, Gladwell emphasizes the importance of quick decision-making. He claims that decisions made in the blink of an eye can often be just as accurate as those made over an extended period of time. Gladwell’s focus on quick decisions is practical for product managers who often face high-pressure, time-constrained situations. That said, making quick decisions isn’t a universal rule. In some scenarios, taking time and creating space to think can lead to better decision-making outcomes. It’s important to strike a balance between speedy and well-thought-out decision-making and quick, blink of an eye decisions. To help with this balance, product managers who build products within an agile framework are allowed to work iteratively and switch between well thought-out vs. quick decisions. For example, each iteration is time-boxed to allow product management and the implementation team time to deliver value in small increments to their customers. This lends to shorter and faster learning cycles in which the team receives continuous feedback in each delivery. Feedback from customers’ comments and behaviors provide insight on whether to pivot or persevere on the current product/service development and delivery process. This saves time and monetary investment and allows the team to only focus on building products and services that the customers truly want. In Mr. Gladwell’s words, it’s important to strike a balance. There needs to be a balance between instinctive versus deliberate thinking.
4. Context Matters
Gladwell also explores the context in which decisions are being made. Decision-makers may fall into a trap of making decisions based on “not so accurate” information. The source and manner of which the data or how data was retrieved is crucial to the context it provides. Case in point is the Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi sip test. There was a time when Coca-Cola decided the need to create New Coke. Based on extensive sip tests in various cities across the US, the testers seem to prefer Pepsi over Coke. This led to the Coca-Cola company to think that they needed to sweeten their formula, which seems to be the deciding factor for sip testers. However, this product was a complete flop. Coca-Cola’s management team realized that the sip test did not represent how Coke’s original patrons normally drink the product. In fact, Coke is known for its extra fizzy content, which is only active during the first minutes of opening a can or a bottle. During the sip test, samples were usually sitting out in the open for a long period of time before the actual sip test was conducted. As a result, the sip test results provided a different context than how the customers actually consumed the product. This situation should hit home to the product discovery process, which is crucial to driving important decisions on what features and functionalities should be incorporated to existing products or if there’s a need to diversify with alternatives. Doing the Gemba walk is just one of the many techniques that product management can do to get solid information. This means product managers or their representatives observe, or even participate, in the customer’s experience in order to gain insights as to the nature of the customer’s work and the challenges or opportunities that the experience brings to light.
5. Not Bias, Not Prejudiced
Lastly, Gladwell talks about the negative effects of biases and prejudices in decision-making. Biases can cause a decision-maker to overlook certain facts or make a choice based on personal opinions rather than cold facts. Gladwell provides several examples of how bias and prejudices resulted in negative results, while the absence of it led to revolutionary changes. One of these positive changes was with the symphony audition. By doing screened auditions (musician’s identity is hidden behind the screen while auditioning) Abbie Conant, trombonist for the Royal Opera of Turin, and Julie Landsman principal French hornist at the Me were selected to be first chairs on previously considered as male-only instruments. In product management, removing bias from decision-making creates rational and objective product decisions. This is done by using a variety of techniques, such as Behavior-Driven Development (BDD), Design Thinking, Voice of the customer, and Canary Testing.. This promotes the creation of solutions that the customers really want rather than those based on what the product management thinks the customer wants. As an example, Behavior Driven Development (BDD) is a quality management approach used in software development. It is an extension of Test Driven Development (TDD). It promotes the creation of test cases before even building the solution. Initial tests will fail until the solution or body of work is completed and eventually passes the test based on the action/behavior that the customer expects from the solution. This aligns the solution with the customer’s needs rather than the developer or product manager’s expectations.
Conclusion
In conclusion, decision-making is an essential aspect of product management. Gladwell’s Blink provides insightful perspectives on how to make effective decisions in various contexts by using a five step approach. These five elements– incorporating expertise, gathering information, striking a balance between instant and time-consuming decision-making, considering the context, and ensuring that decisions are not bias or prejudiced– are all vital parts of effective decision-making. Ultimately, decision-making is not a one-size-fits-all approach, and product managers must tailor their decision-making strategies according to the specific product, stakeholders, and the ever-changing market landscape.
What’s the last book that left you thinking differently? Share your recommendations below! Be sure to take a look at our review of the book “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell.