I think this is really the heart of it -- if you're working on a product together, all you have to worry about is whether your work is improving the product. Y

I think this is really the heart of it -- if you're working on a product together, all you have to worry about is whether your work is improving the product. You can get other people to help you as long as it also helps the product. It's a lot easier to be productive when you don't have to worry about whether team X will be on board or whether executive Y will like what you're doing.