Thinking in Layers: The Most Undervalued PM Skill
Consider this article your north star for mastering the skill of thinking in layers, with tips on making smarter product decisions most PMs miss
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Now, let’s dive into today’s insights…
One habit I’ve consistently seen in strong product teams, and what sets them apart, is that they design across time horizons, not just feature lists. This trait is surprisingly rare among most product teams.
Typically, teams are built to execute quickly—and they do this really well. But they struggle to think beyond the now. Strategy becomes something to do once the backlog clears, the fires settle, and the quarter ends. However, that “perfect” moment rarely comes. And when it does, it’s usually too late.
If all your thinking is near-term, you’re not leading. You’re reacting.
The Cost of Thinking in Sequence
There’s a quiet failure that happens inside roadmap-focused teams: they move fast, but only on a narrow path. Short-term wins pile up, but long-term clarity gets deferred. Vision becomes something you revisit once a year at off-sites—or worse, only when metrics flatten.
The truth is, the future arrives either way- and instead of leading into it, most teams end up playing catch-up.
How To Prepare For The Future
Without a doubt, I have come to see great product management as a form of time orchestration. It’s not about forecasting the next big thing. It’s about preparing for multiple possibilities, while still delivering in the present.
Here’s the mental model I use:
Now: What we’re building today (Concrete problems; Clear outcomes).
Next: What we’re starting to test (Seeds of scale; Things with potential).
Later: What might shift the landscape? (Early signals; Strategic bets).
Each horizon demands a different kind of thinking. Treat them all the same, and you flatten your product’s potential.
My Approach: Dual-Track Time Rhythms
To design for both today and tomorrow, I’ve leaned into a practice I call Dual-Track Strategy. It’s simple:
One track is about delivery.
The other is about discovery.
The delivery track runs on familiar cadences—sprints, KPIs, feature shipping.
The discovery track runs in the background, sometimes asynchronously. It might look like design sprints, user research, concept testing, or provocations that challenge the status quo.
These tracks aren’t siloed. They connect—but intentionally. I’ve found that structured handoffs and regular cross-sharing create a rhythm that keeps both sides sharp, without stepping on each other’s goals.
What This Looks Like in Practice
At a past job, we carved out a few weeks each quarter for a small team to pause delivery work and explore long-term questions. We prototyped experiences that weren’t yet roadmap-ready- but could become defining bets if validated.
The result wasn’t just cool concepts- it was confidence. When the roadmap needed a bold shift, we weren’t scrambling. We had direction, artifacts, and user insights ready to go.
You don’t need everyone thinking long-term. You just need someone who is, and a system to bring it back.
Closing: Build Space Before You Need It
If you’re only solving for what’s immediately in front of you, you’ll eventually plateau. If you only solve for the distant future, you’ll never ship.
The best product leaders I know don’t make that tradeoff. They build systems that give both time horizons room to breathe. And as a result, they don’t just deliver—they evolve.
So ask yourself:
Who on your team is thinking about what's next?
Do they have real-time, or just wishful space?
And when the next wave hits—are you positioned to ride it or recover from it?
ICYMI: How do you become a better PM? By constantly exercising your product sense muscle, and it’s built through rigor and in-the-ring execution. These past issues show you how to develop that capacity.
It’s easy to spot an excellent PM from a regular one. The difference? It’s in the details. Whether you’re a PM learning to make sharper product decisions or a manager setting performance standards to separate stars from steady hands—this is for you. Read it here 👇🏾
Strategy is key in product management. How do you decide what problem to solve? And when do you ship versus dig deeper for a better solution? There’s no blueprint, rather a mindset to learn which outcome fits each moment. This article shows how to build an outcome-focused PM mindset.
