Video: Content Vs. Context
Every conversation has both content (what’s being discussed) and context (how it’s being discussed). This brief video examines how a better understanding of context can radically improve our work conversations.
Core Message
- Good leaders pay attention to the content of their business.
- Great leaders also pay attention to context.
Takeaways For Product Managers
The idea of addressing the context of conversations first, then the content, can apply to many situations and disciplines.
In trying to apply this idea to product management, here are three applications that occurred to me, in the forms of questions to ask myself in the moment:
- When I solicit feedback about my product roadmap, am I doing so to prove that I’m super smart – or is it to listen, learn, and adjust?
- As a product leader in this conversation, am I operating from a place of victimhood – at the mercy of time, resources, and scope – or do I take responsibility for where I am and lead us to a path forward?
- When other people are operating out of fear in a conversation, how can I help shift them – and the conversation – from a place of insecurity to a place of security and openness?
I feel like good product managers are able to subconsciously address those kinds of scenarios situationally as we mature in our craft.
But I wonder how much more effective we could be – I could be – if the process was more conscious and articulated.
