Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value by Melissa Perri

In my journey building software and managing technology teams, I've often witnessed the allure and danger of what Melissa Perri aptly names the "Build Trap." 

It's an endless cycle where teams become so fixated on delivering features that they forget to question whether those features deliver real value.

Perri highlights that the "best practice" product management isn't about churning out endless features; it's about deeply understanding the customer's real problems and continuously delivering solutions that address them

Too many companies fall victim to a feature-factory mindset, believing productivity equals building more stuff. This mindset inevitably results in cluttered, unfocused products that fail to resonate.

Melissa emphasizes a strategic shift: instead of focusing solely on outputs, effective product managers concentrate on meaningful outcomes. They foster strong, cross-functional teams empowered to ask the critical questions: "Why are we building this?" and "What value does it deliver?"

The book resonates deeply with my approach of combining technical rigor with empathetic leadership. I nurture the growth of my team members while ensuring our efforts align with overarching business goals. This thoughtful and disciplined approach transforms product teams from order-takers to strategic thinkers, historically driving customer satisfaction and company growth.

Escaping the Build Trap reminds us that authentic product leadership is about intentionality, curiosity, and strategic clarity. It’s not just about building—it’s about creating real value.






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My favorite quotations..


“A man should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”  by Robert A. Heinlein

"We are but habits and memories we chose to carry along." ~ Uki D. Lucas


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