Why great product managers think like therapists

Therapists work in complex environments where they help people change behavior, navigate system constraints, and continuously adapt based on real-time feedback. Sound familiar? That is exactly what product managers do every day, too. 

Like many product managers, I did not follow a traditional path into product management. But product is a field where diverse perspectives thrive, and I quickly discovered that the core skills I developed as a therapist, including active listening, prioritization under constraints, and structured goal-setting, are exactly what makes a great product manager. 

If we want to build products that truly solve problems, we need to think like therapists.  

When therapists sit down with a patient, they don’t jump to solutions. Instead, they listen carefully, patiently, and intentionally to uncover what is really going on beneath the surface. The same is true for great product managers.

Users don’t always articulate their true pain points upfront. A stakeholder might say, “We need a reporting dashboard,” but the real issue could be a lack of trust in the data, a need for better visibility, or pressure from leadership for more transparency. If a product manager takes the request at face value, they might spend weeks building the wrong thing. 

Therapists use techniques like silence, labeling, and clarifying questions to dig deeper. Silence creates space for the other person to continue sharing. Labeling, saying things like “It sounds like you are frustrated with the current workflow,” helps validate emotions and encourages further elaboration. Clarifying questions like “Can you tell me more about why that is frustrating?” ensures that we are addressing the real problem rather than reacting to surface-level feedback. This kind of active listening is exactly what Teresa Torres emphasizes in her teaching on continuous discovery. To build great products, we need the ability to uncover the “why” behind user behavior rather than just documenting feature requests.

Listening deeply helps great product managers extract insights that others miss. For product managers looking to hone this skill, I often recommend they start with one of the skills I have found to be the most critical: Silence. By allowing for even more silence, reflection, and time for the user to fully express their thoughts, I often uncover the most valuable information. Research suggests that the best interviewers talk only twenty percent of the time and listen eighty percent. Some popular interview transcription tools will give you reports afterwards to let you know how much time each participant spent talking. It’s a great (and gamified) way for you to keep track of how your skill with silence is progressing. 

For a product-agnostic way to improve interviewing skills, FBI negotiator Chris Voss also offers some invaluable lessons from hostage negotiation, reinforcing the power of strategic silence, tactical empathy and other skills to uncover what people really mean beyond their words. While designed for high-stakes negotiations, many of the same principles apply to user interview and stakeholder management. 

Next time you are in a user interview, fight the urge to jump in. Take a sip of coffee, count to five, and let the silence do the heavy lifting. You might be surprised by what you hear.

Therapists and product managers both operate in environments filled with constraints. A therapist might have only six sessions with a patient, limited by insurance coverage, time, or funding. Yet they still need to deliver meaningful progress. Similarly, product managers work within engineering bandwidth, market realities, and competing business goals. The challenge for both is prioritizing the highest-impact solutions without sacrificing trust or effectiveness.

Lenny Rachitsky’s podcast often features product leaders like Shreyas Doshi who emphasize that constraints are not limitations, they are clarity drivers. When forced to make trade-offs, the best teams focus on small, high-impact changes rather than spreading themselves thin across too many initiatives.

Good prioritization is not about doing more with less. It is about making the right trade-offs. One of the biggest mistakes Product managers can make is assuming that adding more features equals delivering more value. But just like therapists know that prescribing too many exercises at once can overwhelm a patient, product managers must recognize that a bloated roadmap can dilute impact.

Instead, therapists often follow the minimal effective dose approach, focusing on the smallest intervention that will drive the most meaningful progress. Product managers should do the same by prioritizing small, high-impact changes rather than overloading their roadmap with complexity.

The next time your team is deciding what to build, instead of asking, “What should we do next?” try reframing the question. “What is the smallest change that would create the biggest impact for our users?” The answer might surprise you.

When a patient arrives at their first therapy session, often their goal is to feel better. But therapists don’t rely on this as the only goal to guide treatment. Instead, they break recovery into clear, functional, and measurable steps that are relevant to the patient’s life. A goal in therapy is not just “walk more.” It is “increase walking endurance from five to ten minutes within four weeks to be able to walk to the mailbox independently.” This ensures that goals are specific, meaningful, and trackable. It also creates focus, accountability, and motivation, exactly what product teams need to succeed.

Product managers are often tasked with important but vague objectives like “improve retention” or “increase engagement.” Without clear, measurable outcomes tied to real user needs, it becomes impossible to track progress or know if a change actually made an impact. Concrete goals not only provide a sense of direction but also streamline decision-making, allowing teams to move faster and more efficiently. When a team knows exactly what they are working toward, prioritization becomes clearer, and decisions can be made with confidence. 

Beyond efficiency, well-defined goals also help product managers inspire and align their teams. Just as therapists help patients see progress and stay motivated, product managers who communicate a clear vision empower their teams to stay focused, engaged, and excited about their work. When teams understand why their work matters and how it contributes to a larger purpose, they feel a greater sense of ownership and fulfillment, leading to higher performance and better results.

Another key lesson from therapy is that goals are not dictated to the patient; they are created with the patient. Therapists do not simply hand over a plan and expect compliance. They collaborate with the patient to ensure the goal aligns with their values, motivation, and current abilities.

Product managers should do the same when setting goals with their teams. Rather than imposing a top-down metric, involve the team in defining what success looks like. Ask, “Does this goal actually help our users?” and “Are we setting ourselves up for success with realistic, meaningful targets?” When teams co-create their goals, they take more ownership, feel more invested, and are more likely to achieve meaningful outcomes.

The best product managers don’t just manage roadmaps and ship features. They navigate complexity, uncover hidden problems, and guide teams toward meaningful progress. That is exactly what therapists do, too.

My background in occupational therapy gave me a different perspective on product management, but the core principles remain the same. Listen deeply, prioritize what matters, and set structured goals that drive real impact.

The best product managers borrow skills from everywhere. What unexpected career experiences have shaped the way you manage products? 

Check out these resources from Mind the Product to deepen your skills and connect with other product managers: