Product Thinking Episode 242: Why Context Switching Slows You Down
22 snips
Sep 5, 2025 Discover the challenges of multiple product managers accessing a single development team and how it can slow down delivery. Explore the negative impacts of context switching on productivity, especially for small and growing companies. Learn about the importance of having dedicated developers to boost ownership and accountability. The discussion emphasizes rethinking the typical product manager to developer ratio and the necessity of tracking metrics for informed decision-making.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Context Switching Kills Developer Productivity
- Context switching imposes heavy cognitive cost on developers and slows delivery significantly.
- Developers lose deep knowledge, increasing delays, bugs, and poor ownership.
Product Context Enables Autonomous Decisions
- Product context matters: developers need user and strategic context to make in-the-moment decisions.
- Without it they'll ask many small questions and can't autonomously improve the product.
Ownership Drives Quality And Speed
- Lack of ownership reduces quality because no one invests in simplifying or fixing area-specific issues.
- Ownership creates accountability and deeper product thinking that speeds delivery.