Dedicated time for exploration is a luxury most PMs can’t afford. Under constant pressure to deliver immediate results, most rarely have even an hour for this type of strategic work — the only way many find time for this kind of exploratory work is by pretending to be sick. They are so overwhelmed with executive mandates and urgent customer requests that they lack ownership over their strategic direction. Furthermore, recent layoffs and other cutbacks in the industry have intensified workloads, leaving many PMs working 12-hour days just to keep up with basic tasks.
This constant pressure also hinders AI adoption for improved execution. Developing robust testing plans or proactively identifying potential issues with AI is viewed as a luxury, not a necessity. It sets up a counterproductive dynamic: Why use AI to identify issues in your documentation if implementing the fixes will only delay launch? Why do additional research on your users and problem space if the direction has already been set from above?