y posting, The Product Manager as MVP, offered my perspective on the potential for the professional in this role to have a material impact on a firm’s success. I truly believe in the power of this function to shape firms, and for individuals and teams of Product Managers to serve valuable formal and informal leadership roles in organizations.

I’ve also seen some remarkable wholesale failures in Product Management—at the team and individual levels. Truthfully, these failures often have their root causes at the top of the team or even elsewhere in the leadership or organizational design structure. Nonetheless, the symptoms become visible in Product Management.

While we all love studying and reading about best practices and successes, in my experience, most of the best lessons come from studying the train-wrecks. Consider these as cautionary tales.