In a recent LinkedIn post, product management expert Melissa Perri challenges product teams to critically examine their motivations when making roadmap decisions. Perri highlights a common dilemma faced by Product Managers: choosing between shipping a large, potentially risky feature driven by stakeholder demands, or releasing smaller, incremental features to build internal momentum. She frames this as a critical juncture where internal politics can overshadow genuine customer outcomes.
Prioritizing Internal Politics Over Customer Value
Perri directly addresses the tension teams experience when pressured to “build momentum and success in the eyes of stakeholders.” She poses a pointed question that cuts to the core of product development philosophy: who is the team ultimately trying to serve – their superiors or their users?
“When teams say they need to ‘build momentum and success in the eyes of stakeholders,’ I usually ask: who are you really trying to serve? Your boss or your users?”
While acknowledging that demonstrating delivery capability is sometimes necessary, Perri emphasizes that shipping itself is insufficient. The true measure of success, according to Perri, lies in delivering value. She warns against the temptation to prioritize short-term political wins over long-term customer value, a strategy she has observed leading to detrimental outcomes for many teams.
The Danger of ‘Building Theater’
Melissa Perri distinguishes between genuinely valuable smaller features and those that merely serve as superficial appeasements. If incremental releases address real user problems and facilitate goal achievement, they are a valid path. However, Perri cautions that if these smaller features are merely cosmetic, designed to placate executives while more significant solutions languish in the backlog, the team is effectively engaged in “building theater.”
“If those smaller features solve real problems and let users accomplish their goals, start there. If they’re just window dressing to keep executives happy while the real solution sits in your backlog, you’re building theater.”
This concept of “building theater” underscores Perri’s concern that some teams may be prioritizing the appearance of progress over tangible impact for their customers. She advocates for a more introspective approach to roadmap planning.
Informed Decisions: Learning and Validation
To navigate these complexities, Perri suggests a strategic questioning process focused on learning and validation. Before committing to a large, comprehensive solution, teams should ask themselves what they are trying to learn and what they already know. This involves validating whether users actually desire the proposed large solution, rather than proceeding based on assumptions driven by stakeholder pressure.
“The best approach? Ask yourself what you’re trying to learn and what you already know. Have you validated that users want this big comprehensive solution? Or are you guessing based on stakeholder pressure?”
Perri’s advice encourages a data-driven and user-centric approach, urging product leaders to be clear about their ultimate goals. She concludes by prompting a fundamental question for any product team:
“What’s driving your roadmap decisions? Politics or customer problems?”
By framing the choice in this stark manner, Melissa Perri aims to guide product professionals toward prioritizing genuine customer value and problem-solving over the often-illusory wins of internal politics.
📝 About This Content
This article is based on insights shared by Melissa Perri on LinkedIn.
📅 Originally posted on November 14, 2025 | View original post on LinkedIn →