Help Teams Ship the Right Thing

The PM job is to help teams ship the right thing at the right time in the right way

Brandon Chu
Brandon Chu on product management, writing, and Shopify's culture

Help Teams Ship the Right Thing

"Your job is to help teams ship the right thing at the right time in the right way. And it really comes down to two main concepts. There's help teams. So it's like servant leadership. You're not necessarily the CEO of the product. You're not dictator. Everyone's responsible for product thinking and you're there to help the team get to ultimately the right thing. And that is what you are accountable for." - Brandon Chu

What It Is

This is Shopify's one-liner job description for product managers that reframes the PM role from "CEO of the product" to servant leader. It breaks into two core concepts: "help teams" (your approach) and "the right thing" (your accountability).

The framework acknowledges that product thinking isn't exclusive to PMs—engineers, designers, support staff, and others all contribute product insights. The PM's job isn't to have all the ideas or make all the decisions, but to facilitate the team's collective intelligence toward the right outcomes.

At the same time, while the PM helps and facilitates, they remain accountable for whether the team ultimately ships the right thing. This is the tension: influence without authority, yet full accountability for results.

How It Works

Component 1: Help Teams

  • Servant leadership, not dictator
  • Everyone at the company is responsible for product thinking
  • PM facilitates rather than dictates
  • Focus on getting the most out of the people around you
  • Create conditions for creative, motivated teams

Component 2: The Right Thing

  • What to build (solving real customer problems)
  • At the right time (market timing, technical readiness)
  • In the right way (quality, scalability, maintainability)
  • PM is accountable for these outcomes

How It Scales:

  • Junior PMs: More emphasis on balanced decision-making across functions (UX, engineering, product)
  • Director+: More emphasis on strategic direction where the PM leads—"We need to go there and my ass is on the line for us going there"

How to Apply It

  1. Check your ego at the door - If you're trying to be the smartest person in the room or have all the answers, you're doing it wrong. Your job is to extract the best thinking from everyone.

  2. Create space for others to contribute - Engineers often have the best product ideas. Support teams hear customer problems first. Make it easy for anyone to surface insights.

  3. Facilitate, don't dictate - In discussions, focus on asking questions, synthesizing perspectives, and driving toward clarity rather than pushing your own solution.

  4. Own the outcome anyway - Even though you're not dictating, you're still accountable. If the team ships the wrong thing, that's on you.

  5. Know when to step up - At senior levels, there are moments when you need to make a call and own it. The humble facilitator role doesn't mean you never lead.

When to Use It

  • When defining your role on a new team - Set expectations that you're there to help, not control
  • When facing tension with eng/design - Refocus on shared accountability for outcomes
  • When coaching junior PMs - Help them understand the balance between influence and authority
  • When evaluating PM performance - Ask: Did the team ship the right thing? Not: Did the PM have all the ideas?

Source

  • Guest: Brandon Chu
  • Episode: "Brandon Chu on product management, writing, and Shopify's culture"
  • Key Discussion: (11:15-12:10) - Shopify's PM job description and its two core concepts
  • YouTube: Watch on YouTube

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