Why Building High TQ is Essential for Product Leaders
Amp up your adaptability and leadership skills by taking the 10-question Transitional Intelligence (TQ) assessment, learn more about your strengths and growth areas.
I recently spoke at Productized in Lisbon on ‘turning stress into success’. Why this theme? Because, as product managers and leaders, we’re stressed. 88% of product managers feel stressed often or all the time. What are the contributing factors?
52% of product managers time is spent on unplanned activities.
56% of product managers feel their team lacks necessary skills or experience.
44% of product managers struggle with building and maintaining high-performing teams.
Then add all the other “typical” product manager responsibilities. Or, as I describe us, the Product Manageropus.
Don’t forget our friends AI and ML. As Tiffany Price notes in Product Mastery Now, their impact depends on the implementation approach. Currently we’re seeing organizations mentioning AI and ML alongside one layoff after another.
The New York Times found it took 12–18 months for engagement to rebound after layoffs. For 2023 layoffs, the recovery looks longer, at 18–24 months, and only if you hire new employees to backfill essential roles.
… layoffs could actually set your company back a year or more on engagement and morale, something many businesses can’t afford in times of uncertainty and in a highly competitive employment environment.
What are the alternatives? Insights from Productized offer a glimpse into what will distinguish leaders and organizations in the future. Picture this:
Hiring ambitious junior product managers eager to learn and navigate new ways of working, bringing energy and fresh perspectives to an organization.
Creating a culture where disagreements lead to innovation, not conflict, because your team knows how to challenge ideas without attacking individuals.
Partnering humans and AI to increase experiment velocity by up to 20x, giving companies more attempts at success through rapid MVP iterations.
Moving beyond the outdated 'mini-CEO' product mindset and embracing the sharing of knowledge and insight.
Listening to your values and knowing when it's time for a change. If you no longer find joy in product management, it's okay to leave.
Intrigued? Let’s explore how to become future ready by building our TQ muscle!
In times of great change, the learners will inherit the Earth while those attached to old certainties will find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists. - Eric Hoffer
What Does Transitional Intelligence (TQ) Mean for Organizations
To thrive in today’s ever changing landscape, organizations and leaders must develop what Chip Conley calls Transitional Intelligence, or TQ. It is the ability to recognize different stages of transitions, perceive them as opportunities for growth, and navigate them with compassion, clarity, and curiosity.
If IQ is about processing information and EQ is about understanding emotions, then TQ is about surfing the waves of change. We’re facing big ones, big enough to create a “lifequake.” A "lifequake" is a period when multiple significant transitions occur simultaneously. The concept began with life transitions, such as moving to a new city, starting a new job, beginning a family, or caring for parents and applies to the working world as well.
Today is perfect for a lifequake. Why?
Rapid technological changes and shift to hybrid work: The transition to remote / hybrid work, then back to the office, has mixed up communication, collaboration, and work-life balance. We need to adapt to “new norms” and use soft skills to help ourselves and others manage the uncertainty.
Global events and crises trigger multiple life transitions. Major ones like COVID, economic instability, and other global events serve as a wake-up call, forcing us to reassess our priorities and seek new meaning in today’s reality.
Personal growth and self-reflection: The prior two points push us out of our comfort zones and force us to personally take responsibility for our development as companies won’t. This can lead to multiple life changes as we seek new definitions of success, career shifts, and creative pursuits.
Organizations and individuals with high TQ are better equipped to surf today’s lifequake. They’ve learned to be adaptable, embrace community, and promote positive coping strategies. As a result, they can navigate:
Emerging Ending: Recognizing when current practices are becoming obsolete and preparing for change.
Messy Middle: Embracing experimentation, learning from failures, and iterating quickly.
New Beginning: Successfully implementing and scaling new practices across the organization.
What’s the opposite of a high TQ organization? Picture “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” at the top of the org declaring “Expelliarmus” - disarming all other viewpoints. Sound familiar?
Organizations with low TQ will struggle due to the following characteristics:
Ignoring or fearing change, relying on borrowed approaches from unrelated sectors, derived for different times and applied without soul.
Lacking a sense of ownership, burning out people by ignoring cut throat and toxic behaviors, limiting employee motivation and contributions to the organization's future.
Retaining inflexible structures and culture applies default processes that hinder adaptation to new pressures and changes in their - and their customers’ - environment.
How Leaders Should be Thinking About TQ
As Scott Belsky describes it, we’re now in a time of “scaling without growing.” Imagine having an AI-powered marketing whiz, a tireless customer service rep, and a data analyst that never sleeps – all without adding a single person to your org. That’s the power of the new AI-native tech stack. It’s like having a team of skilled wizards; instead of capes, they wear algorithms.
Big transition? You bet! Successful leaders will have high TQ to navigate the change. They’ll also be purpose-driven and human-centric. Why? AI excels at crunching numbers and spotting patterns, but it can't replicate the human spark that drives innovation. As AI takes over routine tasks, our human skills become more valuable: creativity, emotional intelligence, and navigating complex societal change.
While AI is writing your product PRDs (and formatting them better), you'll be freed up to focus on the big-picture strategy and crucial "human" moments with your team and customers.
What will set apart future leaders? Here are key traits of leaders (and companies) with high TQ.
Embrace Uncertainty: See change as an opportunity for growth and innovation.
Foster Psychological Safety: Create an environment where team members feel safe to experiment and voice their ideas.
Develop Adaptive Leadership Skills: Be flexible and ready to pivot when needed.
Prioritize Continuous Learning: Encourage skill development and knowledge sharing across your team.
Balance Technology and Humanity: Use AI to enhance human capabilities, not replace them.
Cultivate a Strong Support Network: Build relationships for guidance and support during transitions.
Practice Mindfulness: Develop techniques to stay grounded and focused amidst change.
Building Your Transition-Ready Toolkit
We’ve discussed the TQ readiness of your company and leader. What about you?
In this new landscape, it's not just about producing more content or products. It's about infusing your work with purpose, story, and meaning. Consumers crave authenticity and human touch more than ever.
How do you do that? Every provided a great post on Nashilu Mouen-Makoua, the head of storytelling at The Browser Company (makers of the Arc browser). She shared principles you can apply in your cross-functional scenarios to be TQ ready.
Focus on the human element in your product stories. As a product manager, center your narratives around your users and your team. Share the human stories behind feature development and user problems. This approach makes your product more relatable and engaging.
Embrace diverse meeting styles for innovation. Incorporate different formats into your workflow. Use open-ended sessions for gathering feedback on your ideas and broader brainstorming meetings for new initiatives. This variety sparks creativity and fresh perspectives.
Collaborate iteratively on product ideas. After group discussions, reflect on the most promising concepts. Return to your team with refined directions, seeking feedback. Be ready to commit to and champion the strongest ideas.
Challenge conventions in your product thinking. When preparing for meetings or presentations, don’t shy away from controversial topics or questions. Use “how,” “what,” and “tell me more” to embrace curiosity, encourage innovation, and differentiation.
Sound like too much? Don’t work at The Browser Company, which is challenging the status quo? No worries. Focus on what you can control: yourself.
Relying less on rigid feature specifications and more on collecting diverse examples of what good looks like is essential, as it isn't easy to distill everything down to core principles due to personalization and changing market dynamics. When briefing your design and dev teams, provide a range of successful outcomes rather than a single, prescriptive vision.
We need to shift from a laser focus on data to develop our product sense even more. Being able to accurately predict user behavior or feature success is never guaranteed, especially now. Yes, you can build models and use AI to forecast outcomes - yet, we’re going through a transition that we haven’t encountered before. Trust intuition more.
Shift from seeking explanations to prioritizing predictions. As AI enables us to build products that can't be defined by explicit rules, your intuition about user needs becomes valuable. Focus less on controlling details and more on setting the overall direction and ensuring alignment with user needs and business goals.
Transition is Not a Crisis but a Chrysalis
As we started with a Chip Conley reference, it seemed appropriate to end with one. We're all in a cocoon surrounded by change. With the right mindset and skills, we'll emerge stronger, more adaptable, and prepared to build the companies of the future.
Are you ready to boost your TQ and lead this new era? Take the quiz to determine your TQ score. Drop a comment below – I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Rate each statement from 1-5: 1 = Strongly Disagree 2 = Disagree 3 = Neutral 4 = Agree 5 = Strongly Agree.
I leverage technology to increase impact without growing team size.
Our company's mission resonates with employees and customers.
I prioritize human skills like creativity and emotional intelligence in my team.
I'm comfortable with collaborative approaches rather than top-down management.
We integrate learning and experimentation into our daily workflow.
Team members feel safe to take risks, voice opinions, and learn from failures.
I view change and uncertainty as opportunities for growth and innovation.
I'm willing to quickly pivot our approach when circumstances change.
We use AI and other tech to enhance human capabilities, not replace them.
I practice techniques to stay grounded and focused during change.
Scoring: Add up your scores for all 10 questions.
50-41: High TQ - You're well-equipped to lead in transition!
40-31: Moderate TQ - You have a good foundation, but room for growth.
30-21: Developing TQ - You're on the right track, but need to focus on building your transitional skills.
20-10: Low TQ - There's room for improvement in your approach.
TQ can develop over time. If your score isn't where you'd like it to be, focus on the areas where you scored lower and work on improving those skills.
Lancaster and I are here to help you build your TQ. Reach out with any questions or to schedule a discovery call.
