Product managers can't get business approval for critical items
18 posts across 5 communities in the last 60 days; 72% from r/ProductManagement.
“I was same abut wanting to be PM i think what want mostly is just influence at a minimum. sadly in most orgs influence stops at the pm [re: The problem with 2026 product management...]”
“I hate to be so pessimistic but I honestly think most leaders outside Product & UX do not care about what breaks or what users are upset, unless you can show evidence that something another team is doing would have a meaningful negative impact on revenue. Executives and board…”
“Like others I agree, but this is hardly reality. Where I am most of the company has a degree of politics but the technology side of the business was mostly politics-free. That is until my current manager joined and then took over the department. The problem is that she has her…”
Product managers struggle to secure stakeholder approval for high-priority features, with repeated delays and lack of responses despite persistent follow-ups. This blocks roadmap progress and creates frustration.
SOURCES (35)
“I was same abut wanting to be PM i think what want mostly is just influence at a minimum. sadly in most orgs influence stops at the pm [re: The problem with 2026 product management...]”
“Mostly with thoughts and prayers. Accelerated some BOM revisions that cut COGS in areas we can, increased procurement and supply chain headcount. But it’s really messed us up - product in development for three years is now no longer viable at our target margin. Even if we take the pressure it’s punchy, people won’t pay for it. So we’re forced into compromising product.”
“The domain expertise I had built over the years is trash now as AI can write a requirement document in few minutes. It really will become managing Jira tickets at some point. Or worse even that will be managed by AI.”
“Having just joined a new company I can say not every product culture has this rejection autonomy. Sounds obvious to you but trust me, you have no idea. And you’re assuming the slop comes from below or adjacent but it can also come from the C-level. I’ve tried to gently say no so the execs pushing their “obvious ideas” don’t get their feelings hurt but the reply leads me to believe they subconsciously see AI as unlocking any idea and they can’t be told no anymore.”
“I hate to be so pessimistic but I honestly think most leaders outside Product & UX do not care about what breaks or what users are upset, unless you can show evidence that something another team is doing would have a meaningful negative impact on revenue. Executives and board members all over have drank the koolaid and heavily invested in AI, they want to see their investments “paying off” and are favoring anything that makes it look that way. So you are witnessing a combination of nobody ha”
“I left my company due to this frustration., not worth it as people dont understand basics are in leadership role and all they want is "Yes" to all their stupid comments and directions.”
Why not just let them stay listed just don't spend anything on them
“I’ve been in the same position. But, still need to show the consequences of choices. If at least for your own sake.”
“I think world would be a better place if product people could give qualified review/feedback to other products and the whole thing would be invisible to corporates/party poopers. Cause I'm fuming at bad product decision at many times.”
“I've had the only logical way forward held up for literal years because a very high level stakeholder felt that his way was the only way despite its non viability. The only power you have is what they give you”
“No because having worked in the real world I realize the decision probably came from someone with too much power and not enough product sense”
“lol. That’s the worst thing I personally have seen, where managers and sometimes top leaders just give you ambiguous advice or demand.”
“Like others I agree, but this is hardly reality. Where I am most of the company has a degree of politics but the technology side of the business was mostly politics-free. That is until my current manager joined and then took over the department. The problem is that she has her favorites, then we have expanded significantly. I now sit in a very political organization. In many ways it sucks because decisions are made with zero regard for my input, in my role I absolutely should have at least a rol”
“This is what I have in mind. I need to dig into company balance sheets and other financials and figure out how we estimate subscription fees, etc.”
“I think every one of us has had that shoved down our throats - this is a post for sympathizing w OP's grievances. No one is saying profit isnt what private sector companies care the most about. But, if remembering that makes your time better in Tech be my guest.”
“Product Management should be about making a profitable product. That is the whole thing. It should be P/L driven period. Of course solving real problems and delighting the customer help with sales and retention and revenue. But it has to be balanced against cost and time to money (market). Without this balance you aren’t building a product, you’re navel gazing and wasting resources.”
“Yes. By management who are incompetent and don’t know about product marketing as defined by Kotler or by Koezler in Upstream Marketing.”
“This is spot on. They gate keep the conversations, but then when customers come complaining or with a concrete question they tell you to go talk to the customer and only then you find out that everything they’ve told you about what the customer wants is wrong.”
“My biggest pain is receiving 90 pages of AI slop of business requirements for highly technical project with a note „please review today and organize meeting with devs and stakeholders about its content”. I was a happy Product Designer before, now I feel like burnt out accountant and AI babysitter.”
“This attitude reeks of either a weak environment or a weak PM. If a PM can’t manage the stakeholders and simply passes requests along the end result is a bloated fragile product. It’s the exact situation a product org is supposed to protect from.”
“Ok? Some of us do work in feature factories and that’s… honestly fine. It’s ok if somebody is an IC PM and doesn’t want to burn themselves out trying to single handedly change a culture that doesn’t value validation or research. I’m perfectly happy to just collect a paycheck, my employer makes billions of dollars. I really don’t care if they make more money or not. In the many years I’ve worked for them they’ve also given pretty much zero signal that they care if my org meaningfully drives reven”
“lol preach, I feel like anybody whining that Product is supposed to be “inspiring” them must not have been working very long. Feel inspired by the goal of not getting laid off.”
“As a small company operating in some highly regulated sectors, I’m a little sceptical about a product in the financial services sector and a paragraph heading “No regulation”…”
“It was entertaining reading this post knowing the important topic that was inevitably going to come up: prioritization. Figuring out what to build, why, and when is a vital piece of ownership for a product manager. That alone can justify a dedicated role.”
LOL so these companies will need CPOs but not PMs?! lol good luck.
“What you describe sounds less like “people don’t understand product” and more like nobody has really defined which product decisions belong to whom. If everyone can call themselves the PM, “ownership” becomes a territory argument. The experienced PMs then end up doing the invisible integration work that keeps everything together, which sounds a lot like what you mean by being the secret PMs. I probably wouldn’t start by trying to convince everyone what “real product management” is. Take one prod”
“I thought this would be more of a situation where a project champion may chime in, not sponsor? Maybe my org is set up differently tho, ime sponsors only get involved if something is off the rails, major decision needs made that has conflict etc.”
“This stuck me in my soul…. But requirements are not where the problem starts for me. It’s a solid description of the business problem/opportunity that’s missing. Whats the point of doing requirements when someone cabt even explain why they want to do something. As for having to exploan the difference between requirements (business, functional etc), im close to a corporate manslaughter charge.”
“Every product needs to create some kind of benefit, for someone. Basic list of benefits for products (of any type are): - saves time - saves money - makes money - comfort or convinience - durability - reduces risk (or increases safety) - prestige/ego gratification (pride of ownership) Of course, there's a difference between the customer (who pays) and the user (who does not) on platforms like Tiktok; the user gets ego gratification, the company gets analytical data and advertising space to s”
“I thought we were to always tell them "yes" and then immediately ask what they'd like to increase, the cost, time to finish, or the shittification of the result?”
“What type of company are you at? Big tech, finance, mid size insurance/govt?”
“Mostly agree, but I’d be careful with requiring a straight line to revenue. Retention and foundational work often make money indirectly, and both can get starved when every roadmap item needs an immediate revenue story.”
“yeah I have stopped trying to care so much of course I care about self improvement but there are just too many opinions conflicting points of views and ways of doing things that I’ve stopped worrying about it. Only thing I get excited about is the 15th and 30th of every month now and stashing away as much $ as I can lol”