The Quintessential Truths: Leading a Product with Bad Foundations

Every seasoned Product Manager has faced it at some point: stepping into a role where the product has been initiated on shaky, even disastrous, foundations. Whether it’s a case of poor development practices, a lack of clear product direction, or simply a culture of misalignment within the company, you are now tasked with salvaging something that seems unsalvageable. And make no mistake, this is no easy feat.

Stepping into a product that has been mismanaged or misdirected can feel like being handed the wheel of a sinking ship. The temptation to abandon it is strong, and many do. But for those brave enough to take the challenge head-on, it can become a defining moment in their career. Let’s dive into the quintessential truths and strategies I’ve developed for how to effectively lead a product that started off with bad foundations—and how you can turn it around.

1. Understand the Business Goal: Without the ‘Why,’ You Can’t Find the ‘How’

The first step in addressing a troubled product is gaining a crystal-clear understanding of the business goals behind it. Often, when a product goes off track, it’s because no one took the time to align the team with the broader vision. Worse, leadership itself may not fully grasp what they want from the product. In these cases, it’s critical for the Product Manager to seek absolute clarity from the higher-ups.

If the business goal isn’t clear, your team will be misaligned, and efforts will be wasted on features that don’t matter. Without a clear "why," every "how" will feel directionless.

Early in my career, I assumed that leadership always had the correct answers regarding product vision. I was wrong. It wasn’t until I asked the tough questions and encouraged management to articulate the business goal that I could steer the product effectively. Don’t be afraid to push for clarity, where everyone benefits from it.

2. Be Honest: Sugarcoating Will Only Delay the Pain

When dealing with a product built on poor foundations, it’s imperative to be honest with the stakeholders. As a Product Manager, you are responsible for showing the reality of the situation, no matter how painful it may be. Sometimes, the company’s leadership doesn’t fully understand the product or its market, and that ignorance has led to the current predicament. It’s your duty to expose these gaps, but tactfully, so you can get buy-in for the massive changes needed to turn things around.

Being truthful about the product’s shortcomings allows you to align decision-makers with reality, securing their support for the necessary overhaul.

There was a time when I sugarcoated a product’s problems to avoid conflict with upper management. That decision came back to bite me when the issues became undeniable. Lesson learned: early transparency builds trust and sets the stage for meaningful change.

3. Address the Culture of Bad Practices: Correcting the Dev Team's Habits Without Fear

More often than not, products in trouble were built with poor development practices. Teams that skip documentation, rush to code without proper planning, ignore processes, and avoid code reviews are a recipe for disaster. As a Product Manager, you need to confront this head-on. However, confrontation doesn’t mean creating enemies—it means working with the team to build a culture of accountability, where process and standards are non-negotiable.

Without changing bad practices, even the best product ideas will crumble under the weight of technical debt and avoidable issues. Consistent, documented processes are key to stability.

I once inherited a team that viewed documentation and testing as “optional.” It took time, patience, and a collaborative effort to shift this mindset. When we finally instituted a culture of documentation and review, the quality of our output increased tenfold.

4. Establish Proper Communication Channels: The Foundation of Collaboration

Bad products often suffer from a lack of communication between departments. Product teams, development, QA, and even customer support might be operating in silos. As a Product Manager, you must break down these barriers and establish clear communication channels. This includes weekly updates, regular stand-ups, and cross-functional syncs to ensure everyone is aligned.

Poor communication leads to misalignment, duplicated work, and missed opportunities. Proper communication ensures transparency, efficiency, and unified direction.

One of the worst experiences I had was managing a product where the dev team didn’t communicate with QA. Features were coded and pushed to production without ever seeing a test environment. The result? Countless production bugs and an unhappy client. Once communication was formalized between teams, things started to improve.

5. Implement Standards: Define the "How" in Every Corner of the Development Cycle

When teams have been operating with no clear standards, it’s your job to put some in place. Whether it’s ensuring proper CI/CD pipelines, introducing unit tests, enforcing code reviews, or implementing QA automation—standards ensure consistency, reliability, and scalability. It may feel like you’re slowing things down at first, but in reality, you’re laying the groundwork for long-term success.

Lack of standards leads to inconsistent results and an unstable product. Implementing standards ensures that every release meets quality expectations.

I’ve been in teams where code reviews were seen as “optional,” leading to poor-quality releases. By enforcing strict coding and deployment standards, we were able to reduce bugs and improve the overall reliability of the product.

6. Get Buy-In From the Top: Leadership Needs to Be an Ally, Not an Adversary

One of the toughest challenges is dealing with leadership that doesn’t understand software development. When you’re in a company where decisions are made without proper consultation, it can lead to disastrous product choices. Your job as a Product Manager is to educate leadership, not by lecturing them, but by showing them the tangible outcomes of their decisions. Your goal is to turn them into allies—leaders who understand the complexities of software and will support your strategy.

Without buy-in from leadership, you’re swimming against the current. Transforming them into allies ensures that your strategy has the backing it needs to succeed.

I once worked with a boss who demanded new features without understanding the technical debt we were accruing. It wasn’t until I showed him the long-term risks of his decisions (and the data to back it up) that he started to trust my recommendations and became a partner in turning the product around.

7. Don't Fear Change: Sometimes, Legacy Code Needs to Go

One of the biggest hurdles in rescuing a product is the attachment some team members have to legacy code. They’re familiar with it, and changing it feels risky. But the reality is, keeping outdated, unstable code for the sake of comfort only makes things worse. A good Product Manager must understand when it’s time to sunset the old and embrace modern solutions.

Clinging to legacy code that no longer serves the product’s needs only delays inevitable failure. Modernizing ensures that the product can evolve and meet current market demands.

I inherited a product that was built on outdated technology because the original developers were too comfortable to explore alternatives. Once we made the painful decision to refactor and adopt newer technologies, the product became far more stable and scalable, paving the way for future growth.

8. Handle Resistance With Empathy, Not Force

Change is hard, especially for teams that have been doing things a certain way for a long time. As a Product Manager, you’ll face resistance from team members who don’t want to adapt. Instead of forcing them to change, approach them with empathy. Understand their concerns, work with them to show the benefits of new practices, and make them feel part of the solution.

Resistance to change stalls progress. Approaching change with empathy fosters collaboration and eases the transition to better practices.

I’ve learned the hard way that forcing change rarely works. When I took the time to understand the fears and concerns of the team, I was able to introduce new processes more smoothly, gaining their trust along the way.

9. Create a Clear Roadmap: Strategy Over Chaos

For a product to succeed, especially one that’s had a rough start, it needs a clear roadmap. This roadmap should not only address immediate fixes but also outline a vision for the future. As a Product Manager, it’s your job to create this roadmap, get buy-in from stakeholders, and use it to guide the team through the transformation.

Without a roadmap, you’re steering the product blindly. A clear roadmap aligns everyone toward common goals, ensuring that efforts are focused and strategic.

One of my most successful turnarounds happened when I introduced a clear, actionable roadmap that addressed both short-term fires and long-term goals. It gave the team direction, calmed stakeholders, and created a sense of purpose.

Final Reflection: Resurrecting a Failing Product is About Strategy, Empathy, and Resilience

Turning around a product with bad foundations is one of the toughest challenges a Product Manager can face. It requires clear-eyed honesty, strategic thinking, empathetic leadership, and a willingness to make hard decisions. The path is not easy, but with the right approach, you can transform a troubled product into a success story.

For every Product Manager who’s walked into a sinking ship, remember: this is your chance to show your resilience, your leadership, and your ability to drive meaningful change. Stay focused, stay transparent, and never stop advocating for what’s best for the product and the people behind it.

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