Running Towards Product Culture Green Flags
Key Questions to Ask Before You Join a New Product Organization
The idea of “running towards” something vs. “running away” from something has come up a lot over the past week.1 And given its a consistent topic at Product Leader breakfasts, I’ve been thinking about what defines a good product culture.
I recently wrote about Product Culture Red Flags and we know that good culture2 is so important, but how do you suss out good product culture when you’re weighing a new opportunity?
What are the right questions to ask to identify those red flags?
And how can you tell when there’s an opportunity in front of you to be running towards?
Here’s a breakdown of how I advise my clients on what to ask—and why it matters.
Ask about how products are built
Before joining a new company, try your best to understand their product development process. Don’t just rely on surface-level answers. Push your interviewers to tell you how things really work day-to-day.
A disclaimer before we dive in: It’s not a dealbreaker if a company isn’t fully empowered and product-led—transforming a team’s product autonomy can be a rewarding and worthy challenge! However, you should be clear-eyed about what you’re walking into and you should try to minimize surprises where you can:
Ask: Where do ideas come from?
Who decides what gets built? How are changes made?
✅ Good answer: "Ideas can come from anywhere—teams, customers, leadership. We have a system for prioritizing them."
🚩 Red flag: "The CEO or investors dictate what we build."
Why it matters: This question reveals how empowered teams are to contribute ideas and drive product decisions. It’s also a way to gauge whether the company is led by an overbearing founder or if it has a healthy balance of leadership and team input.
Pro tip: Ask your interviewer to walk you through a specific product idea from start to finish. How did it evolve? How did teams handle any pivots along the way? This can reveal a lot about the organization’s flexibility and team dynamics.
Ask: How do you take a product from discovery to delivery?
Is it collaborative? What frameworks do they use (i.e. agile vs. waterfall)? Is the answer the same across functions?
✅ Good answer: "The product team (design, engineering, product) is involved from start to finish, and we iterate together across discovery, design, and development collaboratively."
🚩 Red flag: "The PM writes requirements, then hands them off to the engineering team."
Why it matters: This helps you assess whether the company’s product teams have true autonomy or if you'll be facing an uphill battle to involve key stakeholders. It’s also a great way to understand where collaboration happens—or doesn’t. If a team lets their engineering team sit in with customers or participate in discovery, you’ll want to know it!
Pro tip: Ask about the roles each person plays in the process. What challenges have they encountered, and why do they think those exist? This will give you a window into the company’s product pain points and how much appetite and space there is for improvement.
Ask: How do you set goals within the organization?
How closely are the goals tied to the overall product vision? How involved are teams in setting their own objectives?
✅ Good answer: "Leadership sets high-level objectives, and teams define their own key results based on those objectives."
🚩 Red flag: "Leadership sets all the OKRs, and teams are expected to deliver on them."
Why it matters: If teams aren’t empowered to set their own key results or frequently miss their targets, you may be entering a high-pressure environment where alignment and execution are out of sync. Aka watch out for burn out.
Pro tip: Ask about the planning process. Ask about how often goals change, and how they evolve over time? Have teams historically been able to meet their goals? These questions will help you understand the company's flexibility and whether they set realistic expectations.
Ask about Your Growth Potential
It’s not just about the product process—you also need to consider the role you’re stepping into and the bigger picture of the organization. Whether you’re a product person or not, you should always be asking about your growth potential in a new role.
Most importantly: Do NOT skip backchannel research ….
Ask: Who was responsible for this work before, and why are they hiring for this role now?
If you're stepping into a brand-new position, it’s important to understand why the company created it now and who previously handled the responsibilities you’ll be taking on.
Why it matters: Often, if you’re the first Product leader, you’ll be taking over from the founder. This handoff can be delicate. It’s crucial to understand whether the founder is ready to truly hand over control, or if they’re just looking for someone to execute their ideas. Here are some tips on how to handle the handover..
Pro tip: Ask why they’ve decided to create this role now. This can provide valuable insights into the company’s growth stage, recent fundraising, or other key business milestones.
Ask: Who was in this role before, and why did they leave?
If you're stepping into a role that someone else held, try to learn why they left.
Why it matters: Understanding the reasons for your predecessor’s departure can help you identify potential blockers that may still exist. Whether its personal or professional, its best to get as much info as possible if you can.
Pro tip: If possible, try to connect with the previous role-holder for a candid conversation. Back channeling can be incredibly helpful in surfacing issues that may not come up in formal interviews. This is where you need to USE your network as much as possible!
Ask: What does success look like for this role in one year’s time?
I love this question because it really shows you’re thinking about the long haul. It shows you are ready to play. #putmeincoach
Why it matters: Often you’ll see a hiring manager have a very clear or very vague answer here. It’ll help you see how much they’re thinking about team topology and personal growth and will be a huge indicator for the type of manager they might be. Are they expecting you to perform miracles, or are they setting achievable and realistic milestones?
Pro tip: Dig into the details of their answer. What are the specific goals or projects that will define success? Again, a manager with a clear answer here will help you see how long term oriented they are.
It’s a wild world out there so spend time asking the right questions so you can run towards something exciting!
Hi - I’m Jori and I’m a Product Coach. Here’s how to work with me ↩️
I work with Product Leaders and their teams to unlock their biggest career moments. If you’re looking for support - drop me a note, I’d love to connect. 🤝
I co-host Product Leadership Breakfast NYC, a monthly product breakfast series to bring together curated groups of PM leaders to connect and share learnings and insights over casual breakfast. If you live in NYC or find yourself passing through, join us! ☕
I also just love it as a principle and have coached many friends and clients to run towards!
Loved Ha Nguyen’s latest piece on culture as a mirror!