Influence Without the Org Chart

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 09:00:00 -0600

Somewhere out there, a product team just shipped a roadmap that engineering will build to spec and no further. The PM had the authority to mandate it, so they did. The features will exist. Nobody will volunteer creative problem-solving on top of them.

Coming into product leadership from a technical background, the structural misalignment takes a while to register. You’re accountable for outcomes that depend on engineering, design, legal, and marketing — almost none of which report to you. You can request and occasionally mandate. What you can’t do is mandate your way to good outcomes in work that depends on judgment and discretionary effort from people who had no input in shaping what they’re building.

Organizational-Dynamics on David R. Longnecker - Converting Coffee to Code

Influence Without the Org Chart