Ask Mathias: How do I influence my product peer?

7 minutes

Building a relationship and influencing product as an engineering leader comes with many moving parts. Here’s how you can navigate them.

I’m a director leading a team of 40 engineers in developing a software solution for a government customer. Every 2-3 years our product owner departs and is replaced by someone new. Our current product owner has no apparent vision and no desire to cast one. Their decisions are strictly tactical. I’ve trialed a few influencing techniques to push them beyond this, but these tactics have been unsuccessful. How could the team try to help them help themselves?

Thanks,

— Issa

Hi Issa, what immediately stands out in your challenges is your desire to “help them help themselves.”

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