As product managers, we often get caught up in roadmaps, metrics, and frameworks. But after years in this role, I've realized something simple but powerful: the people around me have the biggest impact on my success. Working with the right team doesn't just make work more enjoyable—it completely changes what we can achieve together.
I've seen both sides of this. When I've worked with motivated, supportive teammates, ideas flow easily, problems get solved quickly, and we ship products that actually work. But when team culture is off, even the most talented product manager struggles to make progress.
It's about energy, not just fun
Good team culture isn't just about having beers after work or ping-pong tables. It's about the energy people bring to their work. In teams that work well:
- People tackle problems with curiosity instead of complaints
- Team members speak up when they see issues brewing
- Half-formed ideas are welcomed rather than shot down
- Everyone cares more about results than who gets credit
- People give honest feedback without making it personal
When this energy is missing, my job gets much harder. I spend more time convincing and cajoling than building and improving. It's mentally draining to constantly push against resistance, and it leaves less energy for the creative thinking that makes product management fun.
When your teammates aren't on the same page
One particularly tough situation is when you and your fellow product managers are motivated, but other teams aren't operating with the same mindset. I've been in situations where:
- Designers treated every mockup like a precious masterpiece that couldn't be changed
- Engineers defaulted to "that's impossible" before exploring options
- Project managers cared more about following process than solving problems
- Stakeholders were more worried about their department's goals than the product's success
In these environments, your effectiveness hits a ceiling. No matter how good you are at product management, you can't overcome a team that's fundamentally not aligned around solving problems together.
You can measure the difference
The impact of team culture isn't just a feeling—I've seen it show up in real results:
- Products ship way faster with aligned teams (sometimes 2-3x faster)
- Quality improves because problems get caught earlier
- Customer feedback gets incorporated more effectively
- People stay in their jobs longer, preserving valuable knowledge
- My performance reviews are consistently better when working with high-functioning teams
This isn't about individual talent—I've worked with brilliant designers and engineers in both great and dysfunctional teams. The difference is how that talent gets applied when the culture either amplifies or undermines everyone's contributions.
What you can do about it
If you find yourself in a challenging team culture, you have three options:
- Try to improve it: As product managers, we can influence team dynamics by modeling the behavior we want to see and creating space for different kinds of collaboration
- Find your people: Even in difficult environments, there are usually like-minded individuals who can form a pocket of positive culture
- Move on: Sometimes you have to be honest with yourself that the culture gap is too wide to bridge, and your talents would flourish elsewhere
I've tried all three approaches at different points in my career. While I've had some success with the first two, I've also learned that there's no shame in the third. Life's too short and product management too demanding to spend years fighting against cultural headwinds.
What to look for in your next team
When evaluating potential teams, I now look beyond the product and company to assess culture fit. Some signals I've found reliable:
- How do they talk about problems? Look for solution-oriented language
- Do they prefer action or endless discussion?
- How do they make decisions when they don't have all the information?
- Do they learn from failures or just celebrate successes?
- How do different team members talk about each other?
These signals have predicted my happiness and success far better than company size, product area, or even salary.
The multiplier effect
The right team culture doesn't just prevent the drain of fighting uphill battles—it creates a multiplier effect on everything you do as a product manager. Ideas get better through collaboration, execution speeds up through shared purpose, and the whole experience of building products becomes more rewarding.
In my experience, this multiplier effect is what separates good product outcomes from great ones. Technical skills and domain knowledge matter, but they're amplified or diminished by the people you work with.
So while I'll keep improving my product frameworks and methods, I've learned to put team culture at the centre of how I approach my role. Because no roadmap, no matter how brilliant, can overcome the drag of a misaligned team—and no product strategy, no matter how insightful, can match the power of a team that's truly working together.
