Product Management Lessons from Ted Lasso's Coaching Philosophy

If you're not already familiar with Ted Lasso, the hit television series on Apple TV+, it's time to lace up your boots and take the pitch. Beyond being a heartwarming and hilarious show, it offers valuable insights for product managers. Here are four key takeaways from Ted's coaching philosophy that can help you become a better product manager.

Build a Team Culture that Promotes Psychological Safety

Ted Lasso's unique perspective on teamwork as the new manager of AFC Richmond, a Premier League football club based in London, has a lot to offer product managers. He quickly learns that soccer is not only about winning games, but also about creating a strong team culture. Ted fosters a culture of collaboration, trust, and open communication. As he puts it, "We're not here to be right, we're here to get it right."

According to Google's Project Aristotle, which studied team effectiveness, psychological safety is the most important factor in creating high-performing teams. High-performing teams with high psychological safety outperformed low-psychological-safety teams by 5x.

How can you build psychological safety and create a strong team culture as a product manager?

• Create a collaborative environment where everyone has a voice
• Recognize and celebrate team successes
• Set clear goals and expectations, and ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities

Ted Lasso did the hard work early on in creating this culture, and it led to one of the most poignant scenes of the show, where Sam Obisanya feels safe enough to take a stand and look how it impacts the team around him.

Embrace Failure as a Learning Opportunity

Ted encourages his team to "Be curious, not judgmental." This attitude is also beneficial for product managers. Product development involves many ups and downs, and failure is a natural part of the process. Successful product managers see failure as a learning opportunity. By embracing failure and using it to fuel growth, you can become more resilient, adaptable, and innovative.

According to a survey by PwC, 81% of CEOs believe that an organization's ability to learn from failure is crucial for success. So, don't be afraid to take risks and learn from your mistakes.

Here a few tangible ways you can instill this idea of embracing failure:

• Encourage experimentation: Encourage your team to take risks and try new things, even if they might not work out.
• Celebrate learning: Celebrate the learnings that come from failures and encourage your team to share their own learnings with the group.
• Provide support: Provide support to your team members when they fail, and help them to identify the learnings that can come from the experience.

And sometimes, all it takes is one sentence, like 'Be a goldfish.'

Create an Open Feedback Loop

In Ted Lasso, open feedback is a core principle. Ted has an open-door policy and encourages his team to share their opinions and concerns freely. He knows that feedback is a critical tool for improvement and growth. In the same way, product managers must create an open feedback loop with their team and stakeholders. Gathering feedback from customers and team members can help you identify pain points, improve processes, and make better product decisions.

According to a survey by Qualtrics, 95% of employees are more likely to stay with an organization that listens to and addresses feedback. By creating a culture of open feedback, you can increase employee satisfaction, engagement, and retention. Additionally, getting feedback from customers can help you create products that better meet their needs and preferences.

Here are some ways you can create open feedback loops on your teams:

• Set up regular meetings with team members to discuss their progress, challenges, and feedback. This can be done weekly, biweekly, or monthly, depending on the needs of the team.
• Agile methodologies such as Scrum and Kanban emphasize regular feedback and retrospectives. Use these frameworks to encourage team members to share feedback and insights with each other.
• Use surveys to gather feedback from team members on specific issues. This can be done anonymously to encourage more honest feedback.
• Use collaboration tools: Collaboration tools like Slack, Trello, and Asana can be used to facilitate ongoing feedback and communication between team members.
• Lead by example and provide regular feedback to team members. This can encourage them to do the same with each other.

It isn't always just Ted who seeks feedback. Watch the scenes below where Ted's coaching staff comes together, becomes vulnerable with each other, and works together. Warning, colorful language.

Focus and Value Strengths

Ted Lasso is known for his ability to see the best in people and focus on their strengths. He brings out the best in his players by identifying their unique talents and finding ways to incorporate them into the team's strategy. This approach creates a team that is greater than the sum of its parts.

As a product manager, you can benefit from focusing on your team's strengths. Gallup's research shows that employees who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged at work. By focusing on your team's strengths, you can create a more engaged and motivated team, leading to better outcomes for your product.

How can you focus and value strengths?

• Conduct regular performance evaluations to identify strengths and areas for improvement
• Assign tasks that align with each team member's strengths and interests
• Encourage collaboration and knowledge-sharing among team members
• Provide opportunities for professional development and training to help employees grow and develop their strengths
• Recognize and reward individual and team accomplishments
• Provide regular feedback and coaching to help employees improve and build upon their strengths.

And, don't forget as a Product Manager, you have to value your own strengths. Perhaps you've played a lot of darts? Watch as Ted values his strength, is confident and competent, and has one of the most memorable performances in the show.

Believe

Ted Lasso has more to teach product managers than just these four takeaways. There is seemingly endless learnings in product management, leadership, and more.

Are you a endlessly curious? Don't miss out on the ITX Product and Design Conference if you're looking to learn more about product management and design. This two-day event brings together industry experts and thought leaders to discuss the latest trends and best practices in product development. It's an excellent opportunity to connect with like-minded professionals and take your skills to the next level. As Ted would say, "Believe in yourself, and you'll be unstoppable."