| Hi! So these are two different questions. But I think that the only viable answer to both is that whether you're making a decision based on your competitors or something else entorely, you should always use a decision-making framework. Here's a pretty common framework a PM at Facebook shared at a Product School interview. (You can also read the full article over here: https://bit.ly/33f93ER) Firstly, work to identify what the criteria for success are. These are what you’ll measure your various options against. The main question you wanna ask is: “If there’s an option that satisfies all criteria, would we be happy with that solution?” If the answer is yes, you got your criteria. I would highly encourage you to validate these criteria with leadership first. Secondly, map out all the various options that you can think of. If you struggle to find options and can only think of one, think again. Look at the opposite spectrum and then find a 3rd option that is a middle ground. Assess your options against your criteria. Write a clear explanation of how each option meets your criteria. Traffic light it! Use 3 colors, red, green, and amber. I normally have the criteria in the columns and the options in the rows so that you have a nice table to color. Make sure that green means good across all criteria, otherwise it’s hard to read Make a decision, just do it. Make a recommendation based on the colors you identified. Is there a clear decision with all greens? Are there disagreements with other functions that you need to highlight? This is the place to do it. |