Camille Fournier

The things engineers are desperate for PMs to understand | Camille Fournier (author of “The Manager’s Path,” ex-CTO at Rent the Runway)

Source 0482024-09-1515,212 words

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Opening
Lenny Rachitsky (00:00:00): I'm curious what it is that PMs do that annoy engineers most. Camille Fournier (00:00:04): Hoarding credit. PMs, they tend to be the front-facing person for initiative. Engineers sometimes think that they don't get the credit for their work because the PM takes all the glory and all the credit for the project that they really worked very hard on....

The opener starts with biography before advice. That order makes the guest legible as a person before the listener extracts tactics.

Accept praise cleanly
Camille Fournier (00:02:23): Thank you so much for having me. Lenny Rachitsky (00:02:25): It's my pleasure. I want to start by asking you a question...

Accepts praise without shrinking from it or turning it into a performance.

Name the work
Camille Fournier (01:20:51): Yes, so with the weird state of social...

Names a concrete strength, artifact, or contribution instead of offering generic praise.

Return warmth
Lenny Rachitsky (00:30:13): That's awesome. I appreciate you sharing that. I don't know if this is exactly an example of this, but on that podcast levels, I forget his actual...

Matches the guest's warmth and keeps the social temperature generous.

Low-ego framing
you're having to often say, "Let me get back to you, let me get back to you, I don't know, let me get back to you." Maybe the person you're talking to is asking the wrong level of questions of you....

Uses we/us, uncertainty, or learner framing instead of performing authority.

Accept praise cleanly
Lenny Rachitsky (01:22:42): I feel the same way. Thank you for agreeing to...

Accepts praise without shrinking from it or turning it into a performance.