[sambeau]

My metaphor for product leadership is a Jazz Band: step back and let your players shine.

[QuercusMax]

You still gotta call the tunes, though. Leadership vacuum is a real thing that can cause a lot of damage.

[sambeau]

Of course—that's how a Jazz Band works.

[cynicalsecurity]

Assuming you hired good players.

[sambeau]

No-one wants to listen to a Jazz band with bad players. A good band leaders hires great players and lets them shine.

[danielPort9]

But then you don’t need product managers at all, or at least not full time.

[ebiester]

How big is the jazz band? If you have a small jazz band, that's fine. If you have a big band, you need someone to organize logistics. Somebody to book events. And if you're trying to make a profit, you might even need to adapt your style or respond to customer needs, such as a particular attire for different events. You might even have someone in that particular role. If there is a tour, it might even be a full time role.

[hermanradtke]

Product managers can then think much farther out and/or can work across multiple teams.

[hinkley]

That sounds a bit like chess…

[sambeau]

Jazz Bands have band leaders, they choose the players, the tunes and lead the concerts.

[whstl]

So? If it works for both customers and developers, then this is a huge win.