The Pantry Cooking Trap
by Ian McAllister • Senior Director of Product for Vehicles at Uber
A veteran product leader with 12 years at Amazon, where he created Amazon Smile and led Alexa International. He also served as Director of Product at Airbnb and is the author of the legendary blog post 'What Separates a Top 1% PM from a Top 10% PM'.
🎙️ Episode Context
Ian McAllister breaks down the core competencies required for product managers at different career stages, distinguishing between junior execution and senior strategy. He provides a masterclass on Amazon's 'Working Backwards' process, explaining how to implement it correctly and avoid common pitfalls like solution-first thinking.
Problem It Solves
Identifies when a team is falling into 'solution-forward' thinking rather than 'problem-backward' thinking.
Framework Overview
A metaphor for the mistake of looking at existing internal assets (ingredients in the pantry) and trying to combine them into a product, rather than shopping for what the customer needs.
🧠 Framework Structure
Ingredient Bias: Just because you hav...
The Combination Fallacy: Avoid saying...
Force the Problem Paragraph: If you c...
When to Use
When reviewing roadmaps or new feature ideas that seem technologically driven rather than user driven.
Common Mistakes
Assuming that efficiency for the company (using existing tech) equals value for the customer.
Real World Example
The 'ASIN to ASIN linking' project at Amazon was built because the data existed, not because shoppers wanted it. It was eventually shut down.
If you say 'we could' and it's not grounded in a customer problem... you're adding the problem after the solution.
— Ian McAllister