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

 

3 objectives for product management and 3 tools for achieving them. Whether you are the first product manager in an organization or the 200th, you need to provide (1) prioritization, (2) clarity, and (3) user insight. You can do that using (1) vision roadmaps, (2) customer councils, and (3) dual track agile. Read about each of these at http://www.mindtheproduct.com/2017/08/taylor-wescoatt-first-product-manager/

How product managers can be more effective by “choosing to” instead of “needing to.” I came across a research article about weight loss a few weeks ago. It shared that people who say “I can’t” in response to how they eat, such as “I can’t eat that dessert” versus those who say “I won’t” or “I choose not to” don’t lose as much weight. The “I won’t” and “I choose not” people appear to have greater self-control. The same may apply to product managers and how efficient you are with your time. Read the perspective at https://medium.com/@bdehaaff/product-manager-try-this-to-change-your-thinking-795e6ae7cc2d

Your cross-functional work will make you a better product manager. Marketing, sales, product management, development, QA, and support are the core functions for a software company. What are they for your company? Each group has valuable insights about your customers. Learn how to leverage these insights to be a better product manager. Read https://www.inc.com/young-entrepreneur-council/how-wearing-multiple-hats-can-make-you-a-better-pr.html

Moving from product manager to product leader. Product managers always need leadership skills. As a product manager, you have no real authority but must use influence to accomplish your objectives, which is leadership. But, when moving from individual product manager to officially leading a team does require different thinking, which is explored in this article … https://tpgblog.com/2017/08/01/reconciling-product-management-and-product-leadership/

How Gatorade used “complementary innovation” to reverse a decline and how it can improve your business. Gatorade was losing market share to Powerade. They had exhausted the traditional line expansion approach by adding new flavors. To reverse the trend, a new CEO focused on their core customer, serious athletes, creating complementary products that also resulted in increased Gatorade beverage sales. Learn about the approach at https://www.strategy-business.com/article/A-Goldilocks-Approach-to-Innovation

The profile of an open innovation manager. Researchers reviewed the profiles of all “open innovation managers” on LinkedIn. They discovered that the average open innovation manager had 15 years of tenure with their organization, they work in open innovation roles for 7 years, and 40% had a background in R&D. See more findings at http://blog.hypeinnovation.com/profiling-the-open-innovation-manager

The very real role of failure in innovation. There are many notable “failures” that became value-producing innovations. Post-It Notes is one of the better-known products, which resulted from a failed attempt at creating a stronger adhesive. I would argue a more important role of failure in innovation is the learning that it produces. Simply stated, failing is learning. Read about multiple perspectives of failure at https://www.forbes.com/sites/karenhigginbottom/2017/08/03/why-the-ability-to-fail-leads-to-innovation