Product Leadership in Transition: Appreciating the Work Behind the Curtain
How change management can facilitate the way you do product.
Joining an organization that’s grown organically, operating in a fluid way where people move from one goal to another, working on whatever initiative seems most urgent, and shifting scopes from quarter to quarter, can sound like a dream for some. After all, who doesn’t like flexible, high-autonomy environments?
But as a startup transitions into a scale-up, there comes a time when that way of working doesn’t scale. You can’t continue with the same improvisational structures and expect predictable outcomes. That’s when the real question arises: how do we grow up without losing what made us great?
The answer often lies in evolving the operating model. That doesn’t mean abandoning creativity or flexibility—it means anchoring them in systems that support scale. It means building deliberately instead of constantly reacting. And doing that well requires something many overlook: strong product leadership.
When I joined eduki, we were right in the middle of that shift. A new product leader had been brought in to build the foundations of the product organization—not just to hire PMs or create roadmaps, but to transform how we build.
And that’s what inspired this post.
A Quiet, Complex, and Crucial Role
In less than a year, our team went from a loosely organized product function to one with clearer focus, ownership, and operating rhythms. But that transformation didn’t happen overnight—and we are just starting— and it certainly didn’t happen just because the PMs started doing things differently.
What I’ve witnessed is the immense and often invisible effort that goes into leading a product team through change. It’s not just about introducing rituals or OKRs. It’s about guiding an entire organization through a cultural evolution.
It starts with the leadership layer
One of the most important shifts was aligning leadership and the rest of the company on the value of product management—both in theory and in practice. That’s no small task when you’re bringing in multiple PMs who are new to the company and the product. It requires building trust, clarifying roles, and redefining how planning, communication, and execution happen.
Then comes operational grounding
Teams were given clearer mandates, with ownership over specific parts of the product—not just floating from one project to another. That meant forming new squads, establishing cadences, and giving product managers space to embed, learn, and start shaping direction. It often felt like building a new company from scratch.
But the real magic wasn’t in the frameworks or rituals. It was in how our product leader navigated the emotional and practical complexity of change. Change is destabilizing. Even when it’s necessary. And managing that change well is the work.
What PMs Might Not Always See (But Should Appreciate)
This is something that I was not seeing at the beginning, because most of this work is being doing in forums where I’m not part of on a regular-basis. Therefore this post isn’t about day-to-day product management. It’s about recognizing that when a company is evolving, some of the most valuable work is happening behind the scenes:
Articulating a new product vision and getting buy-in at all levels.
Creating new structures that help people focus without micromanaging.
Introducing new cadences and ways of working that balance speed with clarity.
Shaping the culture so that product thinking becomes second nature—not a function, but a mindset.
That takes time, diplomacy, resilience, and a strong sense of direction.
In the age of AI memos and organizational reinvention (Shopify, Box, and others are leading examples), this kind of leadership isn’t just important—it’s essential.
Here is a great conversation about this topic and how to navigate this new AI wave of change management:
A Few Things That Help Along the Way
Every company will approach this transition differently, but there are a few principles I’ve observed that seem to make a big difference:
Overcommunicate the “why” — When a new team forms or ways of working change, people naturally wonder: What’s the point of this? Explaining intentions and goals helps everyone stay aligned.
Listen more than you talk — Especially early on, understanding the culture, context, and history helps avoid missteps.
Be patient, not passive — Change takes time. Rushing it rarely works. But that doesn’t mean standing still. Introduce change deliberately and thoughtfully. I’ve written about this before when I was consulting:
Work together — No single person can drive change alone. Collaborating across teams—engineering, design, data, and beyond—ensures stronger outcomes.
Show, don’t tell — One of the most effective shifts we made was letting impact speak. Presenting well-researched proposals grounded in data, feedback, and testing showed the value of product thinking better than any presentation could.
Educate in every interaction — Every meeting, message, or brainstorm is a chance to reinforce the product mindset. Whether it’s thinking in MVPs, connecting outcomes to user problems, or using data to challenge assumptions, these small moments add up.
Closing Thought
This post isn’t a playbook on change management. It’s a note of appreciation.
To the product leaders helping shape new ways of working: the impact may not always be visible day-to-day, but it’s deeply felt. You’re building foundations that let teams thrive, scale, and move with purpose.
And to the PMs on the ground: if it feels like someone is moving pieces around while you’re just trying to build — that’s probably true. But those pieces matter. They create the space for you to do your best work.
So if you’re lucky enough to have a product leader guiding that change?
Help them. Learn from them. And say thanks.