Spotify uses small cross-functional teams called squads, which are grouped into tribes. The squads have a lot of freedom and are supposed to decide how to solve the problems they’re working on. PMs are part of the squad, but they are not really the boss of everyone. This connects to LeMay’s point that PMs often have a lot of responsibility but little authority. The downside is that too much independence could make different teams go in different directions.
Airbnb is more centralized. The company uses a functional structure and Brian Chesky is very involved in product decisions. Design also has a really strong role in deciding what gets built. PMs still matter, but they seem to have less independent authority than they would at Spotify. This probably helps Airbnb keep the product feeling consistent, but it also means a lot of decisions depend on leadership at the top. I would keep the strong design direction, but give individual teams more authority once the overall direction is clear.
Zappos took a very different approach with Holacracy. Instead of relying on normal managers, people work through specific roles and circles. Authority comes from the role someone holds, not just their job title. I think that can make ownership clearer and reduce friction when building something, but the system also seems harder to understand and probably takes more effort to run.
I’d probably choose Spotify because it seems like the best balance between structure and freedom. Teams still have clear goals and a system for staying organized, but they also have enough independence to make decisions and figure out the best way to solve problems. That feels similar to the startup I worked at this summer, where I had a lot of ownership over my decisions as a product designer.
Sources:
https://engineering.atspotify.com/2020/8/how-we-improved-developer-productivity-for-our-devops-teams
https://www.figma.com/blog/config-brian-chesky-airbnb
https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organization/our-insights/safe-enough-to-try-an-interview-with-zappos-ceo-tony-hsieh
