I won't lie. I wasted 3 years of my PM career.

I did everything I could to stay in control.

But developers were disengaged. Showed no interest in doing anything more than requested. And the quality sucked.

I tried everything:

• Creating procedures and work instructionsWriting detailed specifications with UMLs

• Testing software and coordinating releases

• Documenting everything, e.g., "the communication strategy"

• Defining 2-page long acceptance criteriaI was even fixing bugs as a former DEV

Even though I worked ~60 hours a week, I only worsened things. Customers were furious

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One day I attended a product conference. I started reading more and more about empowered teams. It gradually changed my mindset.

I understood that what was needed was precisely the opposite of what I was doing.

I started:

• Giving teams problems to solve instead of tasks

• Trusting more than I felt comfortable with

• Letting others work how they want

• Inviting them to co-create goals

• Discovering what to build next hand in hand

• Encouraging experimentation and learning from mistakes

• Making sure everyone can identify with our mission and feel confident we are going in the right direction

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My last teams worked on autopilot, with people stepping outside their roles, feeling a sense of ownership, proposing solutions, and innovating like crazy.

Finally, I was able to focus.

I wish I had known that before.

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I can't turn back time, but I can encourage you to learn from my mistakes.

Knowledge about what works is available for everyone. Not learning is by far the worst mistake PM can make.

Do you have a similar experience?

What are your thoughts?