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Hello Reader,

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As Product Institute enters its 10th year in 2026, I've been reflecting on nearly a decade of training over 20,000 product managers, most of them at Fortune 100 companies whose products you use every day.

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Here's what I've learned: training isn't just about teaching frameworks. It's about fundamentally changing how people think, work, and make decisions together.

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With AI making it easier than ever to build fast, getting the fundamentals right matters more, not less. We can't afford to move quickly in the wrong direction. Training gives teams the foundation they need to align, focus, and actually deliver impact.

Here's what works when you're training product managers at scale:

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Start with a shared language. The biggest breakthrough happens when everyone starts speaking the same language. I don't care if you call your high-level goals "Strategic Intent," "Boulders," or "Big Hairy Objectives”. What matters is that your company defines these terms clearly and uses them consistently.

When teams have shared vocabulary, everything gets easier. Decisions make more sense. Cross-functional collaboration actually works. People can hold each other accountable without endless clarification.

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Use your training as the baseline, then adapt the language to fit how your company actually works.

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Give practice the time it needs. Here's the reality: a course sparks learning, but mastery takes months. I typically see it take 6-12 months of applying frameworks in real situations before the lessons truly stick and you can see a big shift in the way people work.

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But here's something that might surprise you: not everyone who starts this journey wants to finish it. At one company, we discovered that about 30% of people wanted to opt out once they truly understood what product management entailed. The constant ambiguity, the need to make decisions with incomplete data, the relentless focus on evidence over opinion—it's not for everyone. And that's actually a good outcome.

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Stop treating training like a checkbox. It's the starting line, not the finish line. Give people space to experiment, fail, learn by doing—and yes, sometimes realize this isn't the path for them.

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Layer different ways of learning. Not everyone learns the same way and multiple approaches can help: structured content to build knowledge, external coaches for fresh perspective, peer discussion groups to share context, and hands-on practice to apply it all internally.

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But here's what works best: focus on your own context. Transformations get stuck when people can't visualize how things will actually work in their environment. That's why internal examples are gold.

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In our coaching sessions, the magic happens when teams share stories about applying frameworks within their own company. These hit differently than generic case studies. They help bridge the gap between people who can immediately see how theory translates to practice and those who need more concrete proof that it works in their specific context.

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When someone says, "Here's how we used outcome-based roadmapping in our area," suddenly everyone can see the path forward. You're not just teaching frameworks anymore. You're building belief that change is actually possible.

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Train leaders first, not last. Transformations die when leaders get left out. Leaders don't need to know how to create perfect prototypes or write acceptance criteria, but they absolutely need to understand the frameworks and language their teams are using.

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When leaders get it, they set better objectives, choose the right problems to solve, and give their teams the clarity they need to succeed. Leaders have their own level of product management, setting product strategy, and that requires the same thoughtful approach to learning that we give their teams.

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Train leaders to guide strategy, not micromanage the craft.

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Track what matters - both short-term and long-term. Yes, customer satisfaction and business growth are the ultimate proof points. But those take time. You need earlier signals that training is actually working:

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• Better decisions rooted in evidence, not just opinions
• Problem definitions that actually connect to outcomes
• Faster learning cycles with smaller, smarter experiments
• Real alignment between strategy and what teams build

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Watch for these through roadmap reviews, team rituals, and cross-functional feedback. Then layer in those long-term outcomes.

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Culture is your multiplier. Training only sticks if the organization supports it. If teams can't experiment, talk to customers, or make real decisions, they'll slide right back to old habits. I've seen this happen countless times.

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Training plus culture equals capability. Without culture, training fades. With culture, it compounds exponentially.

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The bottom line: Product management fundamentals aren't optional, especially now. AI is lowering the cost of building while raising the stakes of building the wrong thing.

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When you do training right, you create a shared language, give teams tools to practice with, align leaders around strategy, and build a culture where product thinking actually thrives.

That's how training becomes a lasting capability. That's how you transform organizations, not just individuals.

See you soon, Melissa Perri Founder Product Institute, Board Member, and Teacher

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P.S. Interested in training your teams? We'd love to help. We can guide you through these best practices and provide the online training foundation to get you started.