Many moons ago I took a product management course at the pragmatic institute and the trainer shared one of their favorite sayings that has stuck with me through out the years: “Your opinion, although interesting is irrelevant”.
Now this has more to do with taking a more holistic approach with your product strategy than than it does with trying to stifle your ideas. A holistic approach demands that you validate your strategy against multiple factors including the fundamental customer voice.
Organizations need to realize that driving great product strategy is more about an established framework than it is about Some individual with industry experience.
Industry experience alone is not enough to drive strategy. Especially when dealing with some personality types with egos that are attached to their opinions, there is a high risk of going left with product strategy.
Your framework which factors in the customer voice, budget, operational execution and R&D amongst other things is what holds your strategy owner accountable and helps mitigate the risk of implementing the wrong strategy.
Focus on building the framework that protects how you navigate and win in the market. It will either make or break you.
