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

Awesome infographic – timeline of the failures and successes of famous founders. “How did the greatest entrepreneurs start out? What were their biggest successes? What failures did they have to overcome along the way? We’ve charted the careers of 33 inspirational company founders, from the man behind Heinz beans to the woman behind Ultimo bras, to show that there’s more than one path to success.” Find it at https://fleximize.com/careers-of-the-founders/

Learn from the innovation failures at Microsoft, Xerox, EMI, HP, IBM, and others. “Herein are the ‘Dumbest Innovation Mistakes Ever’ — and the lessons they can teach us.” Read more at http://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallphelps/2015/11/14/the-dumbest-innovation-mistakes-ever/

3 qualities of great product managers. They have product vision, ability to execute, and leadership. Read more at Product Charles http://productcharles.com/2015/11/10/these-are-the-3-qualities-of-a-rockstar-product-manager

Interview the president of the Xerox innovation group. “Sophie Vandebroek has been with Xerox for 25 years, and in that time has seen tremendous change.” Read more at Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterhigh/2015/11/16/the-president-of-xerox-innovation-group-discusses-her-methods-and-workplace-diversity/

Wow, how the country of Australia is creating an innovation mandate. “Australia suffers from an outdated ‘fear of failure’ mentality that impedes risk-taking and must be shaken off if the country is to create the jobs of the future, according to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s new innovation czar.” Read more at http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/bill-ferris-fear-of-failure-is-holding-back-australian-innovation-20151116-gl07q0.html

Disruptive innovation in mature companies. “Innovation is not just about creating new markets. It extends product life cycles, improves cost margins and has the ability to transform the competitive landscape. Today few companies can escape the all-pervasive impact of digital disruption as it reshapes business relationships, overhauls logistics processes and revolutionises markets across every sector.” Read more at INSEAD Knowledge http://knowledge.insead.edu/strategy/disruptive-innovation-in-mature-industries-4367

How MasterCard is using startups for innovation. “That’s Stephane Wyper, Global Lead for MasterCard’s Start Path program talking about why the global payments network decided in 2014 to identify and partner with startups from around the world.” Read more at PYMNTS http://www.pymnts.com/news/2015/mastercards-path-to-innovation/

New study – only one in five people working in the UK feel confident in their organization’s ability to innovate. “Culture (33%), education (30%) and departmental silos (25%) are cited as being the main barriers to innovation within in UK business. The research indicates that marketers are more attuned to these issues compared to the UK average, and are more likely to agree that organisational culture and confidence are the biggest barriers to innovation in their business.” Read more at http://www.digitaldoughnut.com/blog/blog/culture-is-the-biggest-barrier-to-uk-innovation

Tips for 10X innovation from Cisco. “Igniting innovation is one of our company’s highest priorities as we transform from a hardware product company into an end-to-end solution provider delivering business outcomes to customers in vertical markets.” Read more at Cisco http://blogs.cisco.com/innovation/catalysts-for-10x-innovation-part-1

Why smart people struggle to be innovative. “You, as an expert, always need to be seen to know the answers – but in doing so you tend to repeat, recycle and upcycle things that you’ve done before and that you know will work.” Read more at Innovation Excellence http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2015/11/17/why-smart-people-struggle-to-be-innovative/