Frameworks: The Safety Blanket for PM Anxiety
Let’s be honest — frameworks are comforting. They promise a way to reduce ambiguity, provide structure, and help you sound very smart in meetings.
“Why did we drop that feature?”
“Well, it only scored a 4.2 on the ICE matrix, while the AI-powered toast detector scored 7.8.”
Ah, the sweet sound of rationalization wrapped in numbers no one fully understands.
But here’s the thing: frameworks can disguise indecision just as easily as they can clarify it. When you’re unsure about your vision, slapping a matrix on the wall won’t help. It’s like using a ruler to measure the smell of a burning house — methodical, but completely missing the point.
The Problem With One-Size-Fits-All
Frameworks are tools, not commandments. The issue arises when we treat them like gospel — applying the same prioritization grid to a bleeding-edge B2B platform as we would to a meme-sharing app for Gen Z.
A senior PM once told me, “We used RICE scores for everything. Then the CEO said, ‘I want this feature next,’ and suddenly RICE meant ‘Reprioritize Immediately, CEO’s Emotions.’”
Sound familiar?
Frameworks are supposed to surface the best decisions, not be held hostage by HiPPOs (Highest Paid Person’s Opinions) or used to kill debate. But in reality, they often get weaponized — either to shut down ideas (“it didn’t score well”) or justify poor ones (“it scored well, somehow”).
The Illusion of Objectivity
One of the biggest fallacies in product management is that frameworks make us objective.
Let me break it to you gently: every input into that beautiful matrix is subjective.
- Reach? Based on projections, a.k.a. guesswork.
- Impact? Gut feel with a blazer on.
- Confidence? How confident are you that you’re confident?
- Effort? Ask three engineers, get five estimates.
So when we average them together and generate a shiny score, we’re not being scientific — we’re just giving our bias a spreadsheet to wear.
When Frameworks Work (and When They Don’t)
Let’s not throw the baby out with the framework. They’re still useful — especially:
- For facilitating team alignment
- For forcing structured thinking
- As starting points for discussion
- When you’re drowning in ideas and need a quick triage
But they fall flat when:
- You’re solving deeply strategic questions
- You lack a clear product vision
- You use them to avoid conflict (“The spreadsheet made me do it!”)
- You treat the output as decision gospel instead of conversation fuel
Strategic Clarity > Structured Confusion
What separates a great PM from a good one isn’t how well they use a framework — it’s knowing when to ignore one.
Great PMs ask:
- “What’s the strategic narrative here?”
- “What’s the real opportunity cost?”
- “What would we regret not doing six months from now?”
- “How would our users, not just our matrix, score this idea?”
They understand that frameworks are decision-support tools, not decision-making engines. When product leadership leans too hard on frameworks, it’s often because they don’t trust their team’s judgment — or worse, their own.
So… Should You Ditch Frameworks?
No. Just don’t marry them. Date casually. Use them to explore your options. But don’t let a RICE score decide your roadmap any more than you’d let an astrology app decide your hiring.
Remember: behind every successful product was someone who took a calculated risk that no framework would have greenlit. Airbnb’s “let strangers sleep in your house” would’ve scored very low on confidence.
Final Thought: Intuition Isn’t a Dirty Word
In our quest to be data-driven, we’ve vilified intuition. But guess what? Intuition is pattern recognition powered by experience. It’s not magical thinking — it’s your brain doing agile retrospectives at light speed.
The best PMs know how to balance structure with instinct. They know that no amount of framework finesse can replace strategic clarity, real user empathy, and the courage to make a call.
So the next time someone asks, “What does the framework say?”
Smile, shrug, and say, “It says: think harder.”