Insights from the Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth episode “Why cultivating agency matters more than cultivating skills in the AI era | Max Schoening (Head of Product, Notion)”, published May 3, 2026.
In "Why cultivating agency matters more than cultivating skills in the AI era | Max Schoening (Head of Product, Notion)" (Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth, May 2026), max Schoening, head of product at Notion, explains how AI is transforming product development by blurring the lines between designers, PMs…
In "Why cultivating agency matters more than cultivating skills in the AI era | Max Schoening (Head of Product, Notion)", It shifts the power dynamic from the developer to the user, allowing for a personalized computing environment. This matters because it creates a more efficient and satisfying user experience…
In "Why cultivating agency matters more than cultivating skills in the AI era | Max Schoening (Head of Product, Notion)", This is the primary differentiator for success in an AI-heavy world. Employees with high agency don't wait for permission or 'skill' validation; they build what needs to exist, effectively…
In "Why cultivating agency matters more than cultivating skills in the AI era | Max Schoening (Head of Product, Notion)", It serves as a North Star for product teams to prevent shipping mediocre features. When a feature is 'obviously good,' it means the team has stripped away the fluff and achieved a pure, valuable…
Max Schoening, head of product at Notion, explains how AI is transforming product development by blurring the lines between designers, PMs, and engineers. The core insight is that deep agency and mastery of materials—not just shipping speed—are what distinguish high-performing product leaders today.
“One day you wake up and realize the world is made up by people no smarter than you”
— Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth, “Why cultivating agency matters more than cultivating skills in the AI era | Max Schoening (Head of Product, Notion)”
“One of the biggest pitfalls is if you get into the loop of, if I just add one more thing to the product, it will be finally great. That never works.”
— Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth, “Why cultivating agency matters more than cultivating skills in the AI era | Max Schoening (Head of Product, Notion)”
