Product management is the practice of facilitating problem solving. The simplest mental model I’ve used is to divide this into two domains - the problem space and solution space.

In the first, you are operating in the problem space. In this space, the goal is to create the right product, with as much possible data in a reasonable time frame. This can involve user interviews, existing data, and other forms of research. The more you operate in this space, the better you understand the problem, and the more you can rely on your intuition to build the right thing.

In the second step, you’re operating in the solution space. The goal here is to create the product right, again with limited resources and timeframe. This involves multidisciplinary skills like design and development, and is the most visible part of product management. Too often companies get stuck in this space, spending too much time to figure out the right approach to something. I’ve also seen the opposite - companies getting too caught up in the problem space and never taking the time to build scalable solutions to the problems that they already deeply understand.

As a product manager, your goal is to osscilate your and your teams attention between these two phases. There is no right balance - only that the wrong balance is ignoring one phase altogether.