[putlake]

Perhaps it works at your organization. I've been a PM where engineers and UX had no sense of ownership nor business sense. A PM's role is to understand what is important, how to prioritize, how to validate ideas fast, and how to avoid the tail wagging the dog (the tail could be UX, tech or your VP). If you have engineers and UX folks who can do this, more power to you!

[ryanbrunner]

This is a bit of a devil's advocate argument, but perhaps the reason engineering and UX didn't feel ownership was because you were the PM. Not you specifically of course, but if the role of PM exists, and the culture is such that the "business" outside of eng / design treats the PM as the owner, it's natural that the engineers and design folks won't feel empowered to take ownership themselves.

[latch]

If the product is something engineers and UX use, then they'll probably _want_ to be a PM. If it's something they don't, you might need a PM.

Having worked in both situations, many times, I'm pretty sure this is the most underrated factor in success. Companies where the staff doesn't use the product are facing a huge uphill battle. Oftentimes, this is inevitable and I think the only solution is a huge salary premium - but more often than not, these are the companies on the lowest end of the pay spectrum (double whammy spells near certain failure).

[steve_gh]

> how to avoid the tail wagging the dog

Hahaha.

I once worked at a major telecoms equipment manufacturer. Our competition analysis group had two functions. One was to work out what our competitors were doing. But the really good people were tasked to find out what our engineering group was up to. Basically, they were powerful enough to do whatever they wanted, and screw the product managers and technical marketing folks who actually spoke to customers.

This company is basically no longer in existance.