Training vs. Coaching

Key Takeaways:

• Training ≠ Coaching. Training builds foundational knowledge and skills. Coaching helps you apply them in your unique context.

• Skill building takes structured practice. Reading a book isn’t enough—people need reps, feedback, and guided experiences.

• Coaching is most valuable when teams already have baseline skills and face org-specific blockers.

• You don’t need to be a certified coach to be effective. Experience in the craft and knowing how to support others in real-world contexts is often more important.

• Leaders need targeted learning, too. But leadership-specific product training is still hard to find.

Resources & Links:

• Follow Teresa Torres: ProductTalk.org

• Follow Petra Wille: Petra-Wille.com

Mentioned in the episode:

• Becoming a Product Coach (svpg.com/becoming-a-product-coach) by Marty Cagan
SVPG

• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (gdpr-info.eu)

• Opportunity Solution Trees: Visualize Your Discovery to Stay Aligned and Drive Outcomes (producttalk.org/2023/12/opportunity-solution-t…) by Teresa Torres

• Drowning in Product Content? Here’s How to Focus and Thrive (petra-wille.com/blog/how-to-focus-and-thrive) by Petra Wille

• Continuous Discovery Habits (amzn.to/3hGkNYT) by Teresa Torres

• Story-Based Customer Interviews Uncover Much-Needed Context (producttalk.org/2024/04/story-based-customer-i…) by Teresa Torres

• Continuous Interviewing Course (learn.producttalk.org/continuous-interviewing) by Teresa Torres

• Communities of Practice: What They Are, What They Do, and What I’m Hoping to Learn (petra-wille.com/blog/communities-of-practice-w…) by Petra Wille

• Coaching for Product Leaders/Executives (petra-wille.com/coaching-packages) by Petra Wille

• Why Agile Coaches Can’t Be Product Coaches (petra-wille.com/blog/why-agile-coaches-cant-be…) by Petra Wille