Clarifying Product Ownership: Melissa Perri Highlights Decision Rights on LinkedIn

In a recent LinkedIn post, Melissa Perri addresses a common point of friction in many product organizations: the ambiguity surrounding who truly owns product decisions. Perri uses insights from a podcast discussion with Kate Towsey to illuminate how a lack of clarity on decision rights can lead to breakdowns in alignment across research, design, marketing, and roadmap planning.

Perri emphasizes that the confusion often stems from not explicitly naming who holds the ultimate say in product direction. She relays Towsey’s perspective that product managers (PMs) sit “at the top of the pile” in a specific, crucial sense – they are the ones tasked with making the final decision about where a product is headed. This doesn’t diminish the vital roles of other functions, but rather clarifies their contribution to the decision-making process.

“Product managers, in her words, are ‘at the top of the pile’ in one specific sense. They’re the ones making the decision about where the product goes. Designers make design decisions. Researchers don’t research to decide; they research to enable others to decide. Marketing and product need to align on direction. Each function owns a different layer of the call.”

The Root of Alignment Breakdowns

Melissa Perri argues that the fundamental issue often lies upstream of where teams typically look for solutions. Without clearly defined decision rights from the outset, processes can become inefficient and misaligned. Perri illustrates this common organizational failing:

“What goes wrong in most orgs is upstream of any of this. Nobody named the decision rights in the first place. Research happens for its own sake. Design is asked to weigh in too late. Marketing gets surprised at launch. The PM is somewhere in the middle, hoping it all comes together.”

According to Perri, this lack of upfront clarity means that crucial functions operate in silos or reactively. Researchers may conduct valuable work that isn’t directly tied to a specific decision need, designers might be brought into the process too late to influence core direction, and marketing teams can be left scrambling to understand the product’s trajectory close to launch. The product manager, in this scenario, becomes a coordinator rather than a strategic decision-maker, trying to bridge gaps that shouldn’t exist.

Defining Roles for Effective Product Strategy

Perri highlights Towsey’s careful framing of the “top of the pile” concept. As Perri explains, this designation is specifically about final authority on product direction. Other teams’ contributions are essential for informing that decision, but the ultimate call rests with the product manager. This distinction is critical for establishing clear accountability and efficient workflows.

The Importance of Documenting Decision Rights

To combat these recurring issues, Perri poses a direct challenge to her audience: when was the last time their team formally documented who owns which decision? This simple act, she suggests, can be a powerful tool for preventing the misalignments and frustrations that plague many product development cycles. By making decision ownership explicit, organizations can foster better collaboration, ensure that all functions are contributing effectively to the product’s success, and empower product managers to truly lead the product’s strategic direction.

Perri also points to a compilation episode on Product Operations featuring insights from Trisha Price and Jessica Soroky, suggesting further resources for teams looking to improve their operational effectiveness.