Each week I scour articles, wading through the dogs, and bringing you the best insights to help product managers, developers, and innovators be heroes.

Why incremental improvement is the path to a company’s destruction – product managers need to 10X products. This is a short article that makes a good case for pursuing high risk product projects for real growth. It is accompanied by a 40 minute video on the topic from Ken Norton at Google Ventures – well worth watching. Check it out at https://www.mindtheproduct.com/2015/12/video-10x-not-10-product-management-by-orders-of-magnitude-by-ken-norton/

Look outside your own industry for real innovation. In this Forbes interview with technology futurist Brett King, Brett shared that 80% of banking companies had an chief innovation-type role but 40% had terminated the role later. The reason given was that they did not fit the culture of the organization. Wow! We expect and need innovators to think differently. Their statement basically says innovation is not part of the organization culture. Is your company like this?  Read the interview at http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterhinssen/2015/12/15/why-real-innovation-will-not-come-from-within-your-own-industry/

5 guidelines for using customer-led innovation. Consistent effective interactions with customers helps product managers understand their ever-evolving problems and the jobs they hire products for. The five guidelines include: (1) Customer-led innovations are critical to your customers’ strategic objectives. (2) Customer-led innovations are major factors in your customers’ decision to buy your offerings. (3) If you’re not doing it well, you’re at risk. (4) If your competition is performing better than you, you’re at risk. (5) Make sure you can pull it off.  Read the details at Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrymyler/2015/12/16/an-intrapreneurs-best-contribution-is-customer-led-innovation/

Everyone is capable of innovation – recognize these 6 misconceptions that might be holding you back. Innovation does not come from R&D, it is not driven top-down, and it is not an isolated activity. Read about these and other myths at Fast Company http://www.fastcompany.com/3054500/the-future-of-work/6-myths-about-innovation-that-hold-you-back

How the Alice v. CLS Bank ruling changes software patents for everyone. A case at the Supreme Court, referred to as Alice, has created ripples throughout software patents existing and in the future. Now it is much more difficult to get and protect software patents. As the article shared, “you’ve got to make sure you’ve got novel and non-obvious patentable subject matter directed towards an inventive product or process that’s significantly more than a routine innovation.” Read the analysis at http://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallphelps/2015/12/15/the-mother-of-all-innovation-challenges/.

Thinking about a career in Product Management? Read this. Product managers work at the intersection of business, technology, design, and customer experience. It is the perfect career for people like me who have an affinity for both hi-tech and business concepts. Read this short article to learn more http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2015/12/want-make-mark-tech-consider-job-product-manager/

6 questions to answer before building a corporate innovation lab. 2015 has been the year for companies reconsidering their innovation effectiveness (or too often, ineffectiveness)  and 2016 will be the year of creating internal innovation labs. Before doing so, consider these 6 questions from Steve Blank and Evangelos Simoudis: http://venturebeat.com/2015/12/12/before-you-build-an-innovation-lab-answer-these-6-questions/

Recording of Customer Experience webinar – how customer behavior is shifting. An effective customer experience results in higher product profits. This webinar discusses key issues and how customer behavior is changing: http://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2015/12/14/customer-experience-innovation-a-webinar-recording/

An oxymoron – be more creative by being constrained. Wharton School professor Rom Schrift shares that creative thinking does not best occur by “thinking outside the box” but by recognizing the constraints the box provides. Read about it at http://www.innovationinpractice.com/innovation_in_practice/2015/12/can-you-learn-to-be-more-creative.html