Why can't I get product, design, and eng to align?
Each team you work with has its own right answer. Product has one. Design has one. Engineering has one. You are not failing to convince them — you are trying to referee without a whistle. No one made you the decider. That is true, and it will stay true. Waiting for someone to hand you authority is a way of avoiding your real job. Your job is to build a process people agree to follow — even when they disagree with the outcome. This is not about being liked, or about being right. It is about choosing the structure — the meetings, the decision points, the cadence — before the disagreement even starts. Choose it, and ask each team to commit to it.
No one handed you a baton, so stop waiting for one. Alignment isn't agreement — it's a rhythm you build and ask others to join. Choose the cadence. Name the decision points. Ask each team to commit to the process, not to your opinion. That part is within your power.
What changes unlock by starting
- You stop re-litigating decisions, because the room agreed on the process in advance.
- Each team knows when their input matters and when it has already been heard.
- Disagreements get resolved faster, because people are arguing inside a structure, not outside one.
- You carry real authority — not because someone gave it to you, but because you built the thing everyone relies on.