When I started my first PM role, I was lucky enough to work for a boss/mentor who had the same mindset. As a dev for most of my career before moving into PM, it made sense to me:
“If things go well, dev team gets the credit. If things go poorly, PM takes the blame”.
This is fundamental to building trust with the dev team and gaining the respect of leadership.
This made it possible to guide the product in directions the dev team wasn’t immediately comfortable with, because they knew it was my ass on the line. And when those decisions led to good outcomes, it further reinforced the trust relationship.
I haven’t countered many PMs who live by this, but it sure makes a big difference.
“If things go well, dev team gets the credit. If things go poorly, PM takes the blame”.
This is fundamental to building trust with the dev team and gaining the respect of leadership.
This made it possible to guide the product in directions the dev team wasn’t immediately comfortable with, because they knew it was my ass on the line. And when those decisions led to good outcomes, it further reinforced the trust relationship.
I haven’t countered many PMs who live by this, but it sure makes a big difference.