We've all been there - leadership routinely pushes back the launch days or weeks before a big launch. How do you address this with leadership?

Early in my career, this was one of the most frustrating challenges I faced. I felt beholden to product timelines. Dates kept shifting, the GTM work was done, and none of it seemed to matter. Launches would push weeks, then quarters. It took me a while to realize that the solution wasn't to fight the timeline shifts. It was to change the framework entirely. What I've learned to do is separate the product-ready date from the launch date. They are not the same thing. The product-ready date is when ...Read More

The most important thing with shifting launches and leadership whiplash is to assess impact. I typically run through a series of questions to better understand the context around any decision to shift a launch. What is the primary reason for the shift? Is it a hard requirement or a desired outcome? What is the business impact for the shift? Often days and weeks has very little impact, unless the launch is tied to an event that cannot be moved. What are the trade offs of keeping the plan of recor ...Read More

You have to articulate the cost. And specifically the cost to the business, not just the cost to your department. For the most part, I cant say I've worked for many leaders that would value the human element (wasted time on your part) over the business value to a last minute shift to a launch (potentially because of alignment to another launch/bundle or product readiness, etc.). While there is an opportunity cost in terms of what you cant get to because youre still focused on the launch that cou ...Read More

Shafiq's framework of decoupling product-ready from launch-ready is the right mental model. Lara's impact assessment approach is also important. What I'd add is the credibility dimension that makes both of those work in practice. The reason launch delays are hard to push back on isn't usually that leadership is wrong. It's that PMM doesn't have enough standing in the room to make the business case stick. Product teams and engineering leaders have technical authority. If they say the product isn' ...Read More