All Things Product with Teresa and Petra Product Work Is Relationship Work
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Apr 14, 2026 The conversation frames product work as relationship work and explains why collaboration beats transactions. They compare transactional vs relational approaches and show how misalignment arises. Tips include finding shared goals, using freed-up time to build connections, and applying curiosity and 'yes, and' to improve team conversations.
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Shipshape Process Still Fails Without Relationships
- Petra described coaching a product leader who built a flawless process but neglected relationship work, causing skip-level escalations and unhappy stakeholders.
- The leader's teams were transactional, lacked peer/exec trust, and missed early stakeholder networking leading to constant conflict.
Relational Work Prevents Slowdown From Conflict
- Teresa and Petra observed that transactional doing without relational work creates resistance, competing factions, and slows progress.
- A healthy organization needs a blend: relational collaboration to align people and transactional processes to deliver.
Find Shared Goals To Build Stakeholder Alignment
- Do find shared goals to build common ground by understanding how others are measured and rewarded and moving a level up to company mission or vision.
- Dig into incentives when org KPI trees aren't clear to explain stakeholder behavior.
