Every product manager faces the same challenge: balancing long-term vision with short-term execution. The other day, I had a conversation with one of the best engineering managers I know. He was frustrated. “I’ve told the product manager what I need, but i don’t know how to get them to give it to me.”
It’s a challenge I come across a lot. Product managers often think about the big picture—how the product will revolutionize the market or solve deep customer pain points—but when it comes to breaking that vision down into actionable steps for the team, they can’t let go of the future.
As a product manager—or designer, or AI/ML leader—you need to have a long-term vision that inspires leadership and stakeholders, showing them how your product will serve customers and achieve business goals. But at the same time, you need to break that vision down into manageable pieces, so your team knows what to work on today and tomorrow.
What Happens When It Goes Wrong?
Engineering: The team is confused, progress stalls, meetings drag on, and you often end up with overbuilt or overly complex solutions.
Design: Designers, who are trained to think holistically, get stuck in a loop of rework, struggling to reconcile their grand vision with the constraints of the sprint.
Leadership: Endless debates arise about priorities and scope, and it starts looking like the product manager doesn’t have a handle on things. Leadership loses trust, wondering why the team isn’t delivering like it used to.
AI/ML Efforts: The opposite issue occurs. Leaders often want fast results, pushing teams to hit unrealistic milestones without understanding the complexity of the work.
What Success Looks Like
When things are working, there’s a noticeable difference:
Engineering: The team is focused, questions are getting answered, and progress is steady. You can look at your test environment and see positive changes.
Leadership: Stakeholders understand and support the product vision. The roadmap clearly communicates how you’re going to meet business goals, which takes the pressure off you to constantly explain and defend decisions.
Design: Designers have the space to explore high-level concepts while delivering practical, tangible designs that the engineering team can implement in the next sprint.
AI/ML: Teams work on high-value, strategic priorities without being forced into an unrealistic delivery cadence.
When it’s all aligned, there’s energy, confidence, and the sense that, yes, we can do this.
So, How Do You Get Better at This?
Adopt a growth mindset
In all my years, I’ve never seen anyone who naturally mastered the art of balancing short-term execution with long-term vision. It’s a skill you develop on the job, by watching others, getting feedback, and practicing. So, give yourself grace. Understand that this takes time to get right.
You also need to recognize your competing commitment. This concept, borrowed from Lisa Lahey and Robert Kegan’s Immunity to Change, describes the internal force that pulls you away from the very change you’re trying to make. Often, it’s hidden.
A client of mine was fixated on building the perfect data infrastructure for a product that would revolutionize healthcare. Their hidden commitment was the belief that rework was unacceptable. That commitment led them to burn through resources without generating enough revenue, ultimately sinking the project.
To move past competing commitments, you need to identify the hidden assumptions behind them, question them, and start experimenting with new approaches. This takes time but produces powerful change.
Shift Your Perspective
When I was studying sculpture, I learned that you need to look at things from different angles—up close, to see the details, and from far away, to see the whole. As a product manager, you need to do the same.
A helpful tool is the steel thread or thin slice approach. Start by finding the simplest version of your product—a feature that works end-to-end. For example, if you’re building a retail inventory management system, a steel thread might be monitoring one item, recognizing when it needs restocking, and placing an order. Over time, you can add more complexity, but this thin slice allows your team to deliver value incrementally while keeping the big picture in mind.
Create Clarity and Momentum
Take a look at your meeting cadence. Which meetings are for “now,” where you focus on immediate tasks, and which are for “later,” where you think about strategy and long-term goals? Make sure your team feels safe to clarify which time period you’re discussing, and encourage them to challenge you if you start drifting into the wrong focus. Something as simple as someone saying "is this a now thing or a later thing?" can refocus you.
Another powerful approach comes from military planning: focus on intent. Instead of telling your team exactly how to do something, tell them what needs to happen. For example, rather than dictating how a calendar feature should be built, say, “We need a way for users to easily schedule meetings.” By focusing on intent, you open the door to creative problem-solving and give your team ownership over the solution.
Mantras for Success
Sometimes, simple reminders help keep you and your team on track:
“Clarity creates speed.”This mantra reminds you to focus on delivering clear, actionable tasks to your team, especially in “now” meetings.
“We’ll get there, one step at a time.”Use this to reassure stakeholders pushing for rapid progress. With regular releases and incremental progress, the pressure will ease.
Make the Story Yours
Balancing long-term vision with short-term execution is one of the hardest parts of being a product manager, but it’s also one of the most rewarding when done right. Remember, this isn’t about perfection; it’s about progress. By adopting the right mindset, refining your approach, and fostering collaboration, you can create momentum and lead your team to success.
Challenge your assumptions, build systems that support you, and get vulnerable with your team. Let them keep you accountable, and together, you’ll craft a story of progress, clarity, and shared success.
Image: I really love the simplicity I was able to get here
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