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Why these statements cause friction
Product managers and engineers often see different parts of the same feature. A request can look simple in a meeting while involving unfamiliar code, service dependencies or decisions that have not been made yet. And a requirement that seems settled before anyone uses the product may change after a client sees it in practice.
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The seven examples below come from Ben Abdallah’s article, “7 Lies PMs Tell Engineers”. The label is deliberately provocative: the point is less that PMs are lying than that teams should make uncertainty and tradeoffs explicit.
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1. “It’s just a tiny update. It should take 15 minutes.”
A short request can hide work in API or service dependencies, testing, or legacy code that the engineer has not encountered before. The request’s size is not enough information to establish its effort.
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Better move: Treat the time estimate as unknown until an engineer has had a chance to understand the change. If the work has not been assessed, say so rather than presenting a guess as a commitment. The engineer can then explain what needs investigation and give a more grounded estimate.
2. “We can add it quickly. It’s basically the same feature.”
Two features can look alike to a user but differ in validation, endpoints, permissions, data relationships, error handling or edge cases. Similarity at the surface does not guarantee that the implementation can be reused without extra work.
Better move: Describe what should be the same and what must be different. Ask the engineer to check the relevant constraints before calling the change a quick extension.
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3. “The client definitely won’t change their mind.”
Clients may revise a request after seeing and using an implementation. That does not mean the original conversation was dishonest; it may mean people understand the need differently until there is something concrete to react to.
Better move: Frame the request as the current understanding, not a guarantee that it will stay fixed. When that understanding changes, update the team’s shared record and discuss the effect on the work.
4. “We don’t need to worry about edge cases yet.”
Relevant edge cases can include empty or unusually long inputs, repeated clicks, a lost network connection or legacy data. Ignoring them entirely can leave a feature behaving badly in ordinary situations. On the other hand, not every small change needs an elaborate process or exhaustive handling of every imaginable case.
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Better move: Agree on the cases that matter for this feature and include them in a realistic definition of done. The goal is sensible coverage, not process for its own sake.
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A request kept only in someone’s memory is hard for the rest of the team to find, clarify or revise. That becomes especially risky when details change or other work competes for attention.
Better move: Put the request in the team’s shared tracking place, even if it is small. Record enough context for people to understand what is being asked, then revise it when the requirement changes.
6. “It’s urgent.”
Urgency changes the order of work; it does not make existing work disappear. If the team does not say what moves, an urgent request can quietly create conflicting expectations about delivery.
Better move: Ask, “Okay, what should I pause to work on this?” Ben Abdallah suggests this question to make the priority tradeoff explicit. The answer should identify the work that will wait.
7. “This will be the last change.”
Feedback may continue after a client sees a feature. Calling an addition the last one before its scope is understood can obscure its effects on time and cost.
Better move: Describe each added change plainly and discuss how it affects scope, timing and cost. Do not treat a new request as already included just because it follows feedback on the existing work.
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The examples point to a practical habit for both roles: distinguish what is known from what is assumed. A PM may not know the technical dependencies; an engineer may not know how firm the client’s request is or which other work can move. Saying “I don’t know” creates room to ask, investigate and make a decision together.
- For product managers: present estimates and requirements with their uncertainty visible, capture requests in a shared record, and name the work that must pause when priorities change.
- For engineers: explain which dependencies or unanswered questions prevent a reliable estimate, and identify the edge cases that matter rather than treating every request as either trivial or a major process exercise.
- For both: revisit the shared understanding when feedback changes a feature, and state the implications before treating added scope as a settled commitment.
Ben Abdallah’s article is a set of humorous examples and personal observations, not a study of how often PMs make these statements. Its more useful lesson is that collaboration improves when neither role has to pretend to have certainty the other needs to hear.
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