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

Product Innovation Tips Around the Web

How to increase your innovation confidence. “Instead of looking outside for guidance, trust your own customer insight, and combine it with a deep understanding of what new technologies can deliver. Perhaps most important, foster an internal culture of experimentation, giving people the freedom to fail. On its own, each imperative may seem simple. But together they provide a powerful approach to innovation, enabling you to improve your customer experience and differentiate yourself from your competition—and maybe even redefine your industry.” Read more from Strategy+Business http://strat.bz/Ct4RPzi

Unsexy innovation in large companies can be successful – Dish Network example. “Our goal is to deliver something that works for our customers, and then pivot to launch something bigger next time…” Read more at Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathansalembaskin/2015/03/28/innovation-at-dish-network-try-but-verify/

Create balance across the organization to make innovation happen. “For innovation to thrive in an organization, there is a need for all elements of the system to operate at an equally high level.  Of course at various points in any organization’s life cycle certain features may dominate, especially in start-up situations.  But in general, it is critical that organizations seek balance across all domains as outlined in the Scorecard process.” Read more at Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/henrydoss/2015/03/28/status-quo-leadership-is-the-biggest-impediment-to-innovation/

The history of Lean product development for Defense before it was known as lean. “In World War II the U.S. government reengineered its approach to building weapons. In a major break from the past, where the military designed all its own weapons, 10,000 scientists and engineers from academia worked in civilian-run weapons labs (most headquartered in universities) in an organization called the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD).” Read more from Steve Blank http://steveblank.com/2015/03/31/hacking-for-defense-in-silicon-valley/

The fuzzy front end vs the final rugged terrain on innovation – how to get to the end. “To travel the final ‘rugged terrain’ of innovation execution I believe requires fortitude, stamina, belief, a healthy dose of courage and as much commitment from the whole organization engaged in the innovation process as any ‘front end’ or driving it through the pipeline, yet we often fail to recognize that.” Read more at Innovation Excellence http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2015/03/30/innovations-last-five-yards/

PM’s – learn the difference between strategy, implementation, and execution. “There are meaningful distinctions between strategy, implementation, and execution that are helpful to running a company or business in the real world. Ignoring, blurring, or getting them wrong creates sloppy thinking, deciding, and doing at all levels of an organization.” Read more at Harvard Business Journal https://hbr.org/2015/03/defining-strategy-implementation-and-execution

50 popular business books summarized in one sentence each. “[In the list] you’ll find nuggets of insight from game-changing executives, hard-charging startup founders, and ground-breaking researchers.”
Read more at Business Insider http://www.businessinsider.com/famous-business-book-summaries-2015-1

Stanford lecturer describes CEO’s influence on innovation and comments on Apple’s lacking innovation. “Then he introduces a thought-provoking idea — that between their rapid growth and maturity phases, companies have what he calls the moment of maximum optionality. At that point, the company can essentially milk its success — which it will do if its CEO is operationally-driven – or apply the capital and talent it has attracted to attack new market opportunities — the likely approach of an opportunity-driven CEO.” Read more at Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2015/04/01/stanford-lecturer-on-apples-innovation-drought/

Federal workforce survey indicates innovation in government sector decreasing for 4th consecutive year. “The Partnership for Public Service said in a report on Wednesday that the government’s overall innovation score in 2014 dropped to 58.9 points out of 100, representing the fourth consecutive year of decline and the lowest total since the index started in 2010.” Read more at Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2015/04/02/obama-administrations-innovation-score-hit-new-low-in-last-worker-survey/

More innovation is being accomplished through partners – 10 factors to consider when forming strategic partnerships. “During the initial talks with a potential partner, there must be three opportunities available: leverage, scalability and incremental revenue.” Read more at Entrepreneur http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/244539

Still Important – Product Management Flash from the Past

Does your company need to innovate like a startup? See how GE is did it. “In this world, customers expect their suppliers to surround their products with data services and digitally enhanced experiences. This means that many organizations and their leaders are running as fast as they can to quickly build their software capabilities. How can these companies overcome the inevitable leadership, organizational, and cultural challenges involved?” Read more at Harvard Business Review https://hbr.org/2015/01/building-a-software-start-up-inside-ge