Product Work Is Relationship Work

In this episode, we cover:

• Why product management is fundamentally relationship work

• The difference between transactional vs. relational collaboration

• How stakeholder alignment breaks down (and how to fix it)

• Why curiosity is a critical product skill

• The difference between advocating your view vs. exploring perspectives

• How “yes, and” can improve team conversations

If stakeholder alignment, team dynamics, or product “politics” slow your team down, this conversation offers a practical reframe.

Resources & Links:

• Follow Teresa Torres: ProductTalk.org

• Follow Petra Wille: Petra-Wille.com

Mentioned in this episode:

• Petra’s Coaching Packages (petra-wille.com/coaching-packages)

• Work by Chris Argyris (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Argyris) on organizational learning and dialogue vs. discussion (infed.org/dir/welcome/chris-argyris-theories-o…)

• The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (amazon.com/Fifth-Discipline-Practice-Learning-…) by Peter Senge (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Senge)

• Improv principle “Yes, and”: Saying “Yes, and” — A principle for improv, business & life (medium.com/improv4/saying-yes-and-a-principle-…) and Yes, and … (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes,_and_…)