Communities of Practice - All Things Product Podcast with Teresa Torres & Petra Wille

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In this episode of All Things Product, Teresa Torres and Petra Wille explore how product people can intentionally design their own communities of practice—and why it matters for long-term learning and growth.

Teresa shares her introvert-friendly approach to continuous learning: curating a personal learning network (PLN) filled with people she wants to learn from. Petra contrasts that with her more collaborative style of learning with others through small peer groups, hackathons, and local meetups. Together, they unpack how each approach supports curiosity-driven development, how to find your “definition of good” when starting something new, and the habits that make learning a deliberate practice.

Whether you’re an independent product coach or part of a product org shifting toward continuous discovery, this episode will help you rethink how you learn—and who you learn with.

Key Topics:

  • What a “community of practice” really means in modern product work

  • The difference between learning from people vs. learning with people

  • How to find like-minded peers for collaborative learning

  • Building your Personal Learning Network (PLN)

  • Personal knowledge management as a product skill

  • Why curiosity-driven learning builds stronger product intuition

  • How committing to talks, books, or courses drives deeper learning

Favorite Quotes:

“Nobody on that list knows they’re in my personal community of practice.” — Teresa Torres

“Sometimes you don’t know your new definition of good until you start learning.” — Petra Wille

Resources & Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

Petra Wille