Earn Real Decision Authority

Welcome and Introductions

Kenny Krenler | 00:00:00 – 00:03:20
Hello everybody and welcome to our webinar, our Productside webinar on how product managers earn decision rights. We’ll get started in probably a couple of minutes or so. In the meantime, you can go put into chat where you’re dialing in from today. Always good to see where folks are coming from.

Kenny, I learned early in my career if you just even chat your name, it’s actually a lot easier to ask a question later. And we love to make sure that these webinars are as interactive as possible because it’s not for us. It’s really for you.

Kenny Krenler | 00:03:21 – 00:05:10
All right. Excellent. Well, welcome everybody. We’re going to dive into our webinar on how product managers earn decision rights. We’re going to talk about a value-risk framework for you to enable and have strategic influence.

I’ll introduce myself. I’m Kenny Krenler. I’m a principal consultant and trainer at Productside. My anniversary of seven years is coming up. Prior to that, I was a product manager, product director, VP of product, chief product officer at places like Amazon and Microsoft. I actually started my career in product management at Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Rina, you want to introduce yourself?

Rina Alexin | 00:05:11 – 00:06:10
Yeah, sure. Thanks, Kenny. And hi everyone. My name is Rina Alexin. I’m the CEO of Productside. Really excited to be here today to talk about how product managers earn decision rights.

In my background, I’ve held positions at McKinsey and MetLife before coming to Productside and turning this into a transformation partner for product management leaders. I’m coming today with more of an executive perspective, but excited to be here.

About Productside and Session Setup

Kenny Krenler | 00:06:11 – 00:11:00
Before we dive in, I want to welcome you and give you a little introduction to Productside.

We know it’s hard to be a product manager and deliver products that people not only use but actually love. That includes aligning stakeholders, figuring out customer needs, and managing endless backlogs. We’ve seen it all, and we’re here to be your outcome-driven product partner.

We don’t just provide solutions—we tailor them to your unique challenges. From assessing where you are today to building advisory and training solutions and helping with implementation, we work alongside you.

We also want to keep this session interactive. Use chat or Q&A to ask questions. And yes, this session will be recorded and shared afterward.

We also encourage you to connect with us on LinkedIn using the QR code. It’s more than a page—it’s a community where you can learn, share, and connect with other product professionals.

With that, I’ll hand it over to Rina.

Agenda: How PMs Earn Decision Rights

Rina Alexin | 00:07:12 – 00:08:39
Great. Thank you, Kenny.

So what are we going to cover today? I don’t like to bury the lead. Our goal is to talk about how to earn decision rights.

Decision rights are built off having clarity on value and discipline around risk. That’s how you create pull in your organization.

The key questions are:

• Are we solving the right problems?
• Are we managing risk well?
• Will we succeed in the market?

There’s no silver bullet. Product management is hard. But today I’ll break it down and help you understand how executives view decision-making so you can operate as a product leader—even if your title is product manager.

Poll #1 – Where Do You Have the Least Influence?

Rina Alexin | 00:08:39 – 00:09:20
We’re going to kick off with a poll.

Which decision do you feel you have the least influence over?

• Business outcomes
• Problems to solve
• Solutions to prioritize
• Launch or end-of-life decisions

Take a moment to think about it.

Kenny Krenler | 00:09:20 – 00:10:09
Looks like business outcomes and solution prioritization are leading—which isn’t surprising.

Rina Alexin | 00:10:09 – 00:11:09
Exactly. And we’re going to walk through all of these.

Also, what we’re discussing today—gathering context to make decisions—is actually the core of product management and very hard for AI to replace. So this is critical for your future as well.

Value ÷ Risk: The Core Framework

Rina Alexin | 00:11:09 – 00:15:45
Executives think in terms of value and risk.

• Value = what’s the ROI?
• Risk = what uncertainty or execution risk exists?

And I want to emphasize: value comes first. If something has no value, it doesn’t matter how safe it is.

If you’re overwhelmed by outputs and not driving impact, start here—understand the value of what you’re doing.

We’ll also use the Productside Blueprint. The key idea is that product decisions happen at specific checkpoints, and those are where risk increases as investment increases.

Your job is to bring context and make the best decision at each checkpoint.

Poll #2 – What’s Blocking You from Achieving Outcomes?

Rina Alexin | 00:15:45 – 00:16:30
Second poll: what’s your biggest roadblock?

• Outcomes unclear
• Unclear priorities
• Bogged down by outputs
• Misaligned stakeholders

Kenny Krenler | 00:16:31 – 00:17:20
Looks like unclear outcomes, too many outputs, and misalignment.

Rina Alexin | 00:17:20 – 00:17:31
Not surprising—and we’ll address all of these.

Step 1: Get Clarity on Business Outcomes

Rina Alexin | 00:18:00 – 00:26:07
If business outcomes are unclear, that is your number one problem to solve.

Product managers are the ones thinking about the future of the company. Without clarity on outcomes, everything else breaks—prioritization, alignment, execution.

The biggest issue is often not that leaders don’t know the strategy—it’s that context isn’t cascaded.

So what should you do?

Go ask.

Identify leaders who have the answers and request time. Come prepared with questions. This is your job.

I’ve seen product managers say they learned more in two hours with executives than in two years at the company.

This is also a great way to gain visibility.

Understanding Risk at the Strategy Level

Rina Alexin | 00:26:07 – 00:30:06
Once you understand outcomes, assess risk.

Use simple frameworks like Ansoff Matrix. The further you move into new markets or products, the higher the risk—and potential value.

Risk = uncertainty.

So structure your bets to gather information. Small experiments reduce uncertainty.

Decision 1: Are We Solving the Right Problems?

Rina Alexin | 00:30:06 – 00:31:26
The next decision point: are we working on the right problems?

Problems must be grounded in business outcomes.

To frame a problem, answer:

• Who has the problem?
• What are they trying to achieve?
• What frustrates them?
• What truly needs solving?
• How does it affect them emotionally?

If you can’t answer these, you’re not ready to move forward.

Kenny Krenler | 00:31:26 – 00:33:20
A common mistake is starting with a solution and looking for problems. That’s backwards.

Decision 2: Are We Solving It the Right Way?

Rina Alexin | 00:33:20 – 00:35:00
Now we move to solution and risk.

You need to:

• Identify risks
• Test them
• Discuss them regularly

Make risk a standing agenda item.

For high-risk ideas, run small experiments. In physical products, testing may be harder—but even more critical.

Kenny Krenler | 00:35:00 – 00:36:53
Example: skinless chicken at KFC. Great idea—but operational and safety risks forced major changes.

The PM Trap: Executive-Driven Solutions

Rina Alexin | 00:36:53 – 00:43:45
A common trap: being handed a solution.

Your job is not to say no. Your job is to:

• Break it into assumptions
• Turn them into hypotheses
• Test them

You’re given opinions—not validated risks.

If you don’t do this work, you risk building a bad product—which is far worse.

Kenny Krenler | 00:43:45 – 00:43:36
I’ve seen ideas fail because companies lacked the capability to execute—even if the idea was good.

Decision 3: Are We Ready to Launch?

Rina Alexin | 00:43:36 – 00:49:20
Next: go-to-market.

Bring go-to-market teams in early. If you wait until launch, it’s too late.

Success requires:

• Marketing readiness
• Sales enablement
• Support alignment
• Product readiness

Treat launch as a go/no-go decision.

If the organization isn’t ready, delay.

Kenny Krenler | 00:49:20 – 00:50:18
Launching unprepared guarantees failure. You only get one first impression.

Decision 4: Should We End-of-Life a Product?

Rina Alexin | 00:50:18 – 00:53:47
End-of-life decisions are often neglected but critical.

Costs include:

• Maintenance and support
• Opportunity cost
• Slowed innovation

This is a leadership move. If you can build strong business cases for sunsetting products, you gain trust.

Kenny Krenler | 00:53:47 – 00:54:13
Old products slow everything—testing, development, and sales.

Bringing It All Together

Rina Alexin | 00:54:13 – 00:59:38
To earn decision rights:

• Understand value
• Understand risk
• Own key decisions

Ask:

• Are we targeting the right outcomes?
• Are we solving the right problems?
• Are we solving them the right way?
• Are we ready to launch?
• Are we making the right long-term bets?

Closing and Q&A

Kenny Krenler | 00:59:38 – 01:00:34
While you’re thinking of questions, we have additional resources, training, and upcoming webinars—scan the QR codes or check the links.

We had a question about costs of maintaining old products. These include customer confusion, inventory, testing overhead, marketing costs, and human resources.

We’ve hit the top of the hour. Thank you all for attending.

Go make some good decisions.

Rina Alexin | 01:00:34 – 01:01:08
Thanks everyone. Bye-bye.