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

In five days put Design Thinking to work with Lean Startup concepts sprinkled in to (1) understand, (2) conceptualize, (3) align, (4) build, and (5) validate a product concept and you have a Google Design Sprint. See more at http://innovationexcellence.com/blog/2018/03/26/what-is-a-google-design-sprint/

Product managers leaving and poor performing projects needing new leadership are just a couple reasons why at times product managers need to take over an unfinished product. Here are 5 steps for your first week: (1) define the goal, (2) rally the team, (3) focus on the future, not the past, (4) gather documentation, and (5) understand the customer problems to solve. Get the details at https://www.productpopcorn.com/software-product-management-all-posts/2018/3/23/taking-over-as-pm-on-a-half-built-product-the-first-30-days

The ideal metric to set the direction for the product team combines three elements: (1) measure customer value, (2) represent product strategy, and (3) leading indicator of revenue. Create a north star metric for your product by following this guidance… https://amplitude.com/blog/2018/03/21/product-north-star-metric/?utm_source=productmanagerhq.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pmhqnewsletter032718

If you want your organization to be more innovative, you need to measure the things that make that happen. Five metrics to use are: (1) participation and engagement, (2) feedback, (3) value and outcomes, (4) brand and thought leadership, and (5) cost of inaction. Read more at https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2018/03/26/how-to-measure-and-communicate-innovation/#6cebe48372bf

New Podcast Episode for Product Managers & Innovators: How to make product roadmaps not dangerous – with Bruce McCarthy