590: So-called “best practices” for organizational management will destroy your company – with Eric Ries
Product Mastery Now for Product Managers, Leaders, and Innovators · 2026-05-04 · 24 min
Episode notes
Product management practices to stay entrepreneurial as your company grows Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode of Product Mastery Now, I'm interviewing Lean Startup pioneer Eric Ries about his new book, Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad and How Great Companies Stay Great . We discuss the friction that arises when established organizations try to innovate like startups, the underlying management and governance forces at play, and practical frameworks for protecting trust and fostering sustainable product innovation. Introduction You build a product your customers love. Then, the pressure mounts: You're asked to cut costs, raise prices, hit this quarter's numbers, and sacrifice trust for a quick win. If you have ever been told by leadership, "We need to act like a startup," only to find the corporate structure makes it impossible, or if you have been pressured to alter a roadmap just to hit end-of-quarter metrics, you know something about this friction.