If you are active on LinkedIn or have ever tried searching for product mentors or influencers online, you must have noticed the myriad of self-proclaimed pioneers, experts, copycats, and unique specialists (or even my Substack). I am not sure if I could categorize myself into any of these groups, but I am quite certain you don’t need advice on how to write user stories.

You might be thinking, “well, I’ve seen lousy user stories, so maybe we should talk about those.” True. However, it’s a topic discussed so often that it’s a waste of time to write about it. Instead, I want to discuss a quality all companies desire but not all appreciate when displayed daily: thinking outside the box.

If you are a product enthusiast, you probably dream about building or influencing a product in a way that makes both a large corporation and your mom proud, even if to your neighbors, you are still just “the computer guy.” The ugly truth is that you are unlikely to build your own thing unless you are a startup founder or wealthy enough to play around. Alternatively, if you prove to be a top-notch product professional, you might revolutionize an entire industry one day. But, among thousands of product people, the chances are slim. However, you can still pave your path and become a brilliant product expert who knows the trick.

What trick? The trick is in the balance – you will never know all the tricks and will always have to learn new things.

Why the box? Because thinking outside the box is part of the balancing act. If you think outside the box too often, it might become a habit that either makes your colleagues or team dislike you for bringing too much to their table, or it makes the company expect more from you. Or both. If your colleagues start hating you, they might try to get rid of you, and if they succeed, you’ll just be another ex-employee. However, if the company is happy and starts expecting more, you’ll have both colleagues who dislike you and a company pushing for more. Even if only the company pushes for more and you have a strong team, you’ll still end up in a box, just a larger one. And that’s the catch – you’ll have a box you can’t think outside of.

Consider the experience of a friend who constantly pitched innovative ideas. Initially, their creativity was celebrated. But over time, their team felt overwhelmed, and the company’s expectations skyrocketed. Eventually, they found themselves stuck, unable to balance innovation with practicality.

The point of my short article is that we set our own boundaries and expectations. These expectations can get too high if we push too much, leaving us with pull-up bars where we can’t do more than a round of pull-ups. Again, the key is in a balanced approach. Think outside the box when you feel like it, but don’t overdo it unless you are sure about your ideas and confident that you’re the next Elon Musk or something. I am not discouraging you but trying to help you assess your limits and comfort zone better. If you don’t, you might end up ruining your mental health by being stressed out all the time when all you’d need is to be a bit more tactical – which is another crucial quality of amazing product people.

What are your thoughts on balancing innovation with practicality in your own work? Do you tend to innovate all the time or do you follow a proven pattern most of the time? Reflect on this, and remember: balance is key.