Lenny's PodcastCamille Fournier: Why PMs lose engineers to credit hoarding
Through ideation invites and shared-credit launches, Camille Fournier: ends 'telephone' loops; rewrites should yield to staged platform migrations.
At a glance
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Engineers Reveal What They Need Most From Product Managers, Leaders
- Camille Fournier shares what most frustrates engineers about product managers—credit hoarding, dismissing technical details, playing communication “telephone,” and shutting engineers out of product ideation—and offers concrete fixes. She explains why full system rewrites are usually a costly trap and suggests evolutionary, staged technical change instead. The conversation then moves into engineering leadership: when to move into management, how to stay credibly technical, how to use (fewer) one-on-ones well, and how to create a high-output culture without overwork. In the latter part, she unpacks how to build and work with platform teams, emphasizing that platforms are products, need PMs, and succeed only when they measurably improve developer and business outcomes.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasStop hoarding credit; put engineers in the spotlight.
Engineers often feel PMs take all the glory because they’re front-facing. Great PMs explicitly share credit and regularly let engineers present launches and technical achievements themselves.
Respect technical details even if you don’t fully understand them.
When PMs wave away implementation details or complain about estimates without curiosity, engineers read it as a lack of empathy and respect. You don’t need to know every detail, but you must show that details matter to you.
Avoid playing ‘telephone’—connect people directly when questions get too detailed.
Acting as a constant intermediary between stakeholders and engineers wastes time and garbles information. If you frequently find yourself saying “let me get back to you,” it’s a signal to get the right people in the same room or channel.
Invite engineers into ideation to reduce over-engineering and resentment.
When PMs try to own all the ideas, engineers look for creativity in tech choices—often over-engineering infrastructure or pushing for rewrites. Involving them early in problem framing and solution brainstorming channels that creativity into the product.
Treat rewrites as a last resort; prefer staged evolution.
Teams systematically underestimate migration time, hidden legacy behavior, and the need to support old and new systems in parallel. Instead of “going away for a year,” isolate components (e.g., recommendations, billing) and uplift them incrementally while continuing to ship value.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesThe best PMs are the ones that talk the least and encourage other people to do the presenting.
— Camille Fournier
Engineering, done successfully, really is all about the details.
— Camille Fournier
When you take people out of the creative loop entirely, they’re going to find that creative outlet somewhere else—and that’s usually technology choices.
— Camille Fournier
If you don’t challenge yourself, if you don’t take risks, you’ll never grow.
— Camille Fournier
Platforms are products, ultimately. You can’t just leave that to engineers and hope it works out.
— Camille Fournier
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