This blog is all about making product developers, managers, and innovators more successful and their organizations successful with them. As I do each week, below is a roundup of articles around the web with insightful product development, management, and innovation practices, tips, and examples – and sometimes controversial ideas.

Around the Web

Innovators – You must know when it is not all about the customer. “The customer knows what their needs are today – or yesterday. It’s the product team’s job to innovate and build for the future. For the next need.” Read more from Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenrosenbaum/2014/07/17/the-ceo-pivot-puzzle/

Another look at the recent disruptive innovation debate. “Most of us who’ve studied or lived through them find Mr. Christensen’s work to be a useful explanation and organizing framework for understanding technology-based disruptions. I’ve often used his ideas when discussing the creative destruction aspects of innovation, such the near-death experience that IBM went through about 20 years ago.” Read more from the Wall Street Journal http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2014/07/11/disruption-innovation-revisited/

6 tips for improving an innovators creativity. “Fostering your creative juices takes the same focus and hard work as anything else. Creativity isn’t a birthright, but rather a learning process that can be developed.” Read more from Entrepreneur http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/235505

Using Hackathons to spur innovation – an example. “The participants usually have 24 hours to come up with an idea and prototype for each project, and a winner is awarded at each event.” Read more from Adweek http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/att-s-hackathons-help-foster-digital-innovation-158851

Google design sprints do in a week what others do in months. “For our teams, one of our most important tools is the design sprint,” which compresses a typical product design process of months or years into one made up of a week or less…” Read more from eWeek http://www.eweek.com/developer/google-is-racing-to-speed-up-designs-for-new-products.html

Which of these 3 reasons is killing your product launch. “Worried you will quickly find yourself in that 66 percent of companies that fail within two years? Fearful your product launch is already taking some poor turns?” Read more from B2C http://www.business2community.com/product-management/three-reasons-product-launch-failing-0937724#rasf4lqFImDwXP8K.99

4 questions about creating an innovation culture. “Innovation has to happen at two levels in an organisation – at a day-to-day business level and in the long term, which takes several years to build and grow.” Read more from Business Standard http://www.business-standard.com/article/management/innovation-that-takes-years-to-build-and-grow-is-sacred-thomas-schoenwaelder-114071300592_1.html

Just in case you missed it – another brief analysis of the attach on Disruptive Innovation. “It’s more than a little ironic that Lepore slams Christensen for his lack of scholarly rigour and cherry-picking of examples when Lepore’s piece is riddled with convenient elisions and cherry-picked examples.” Read more from Irish Times http://www.irishtimes.com/business/disruptive-innovation-theory-proves-divisive-1.1863223

Not just about soccer – innovation lessons from the World Cup. “What can you take away from the 2014 World Cup and apply to your business to bolster your innovation efforts?” Read more from Innovation Excellence http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2014/07/14/my-innovation-lessons-from-the-world-cup/#sthash.rRbjOfQC.dpuf

Why everyone needs to learn product management, not coding. “A 50-person Brooklyn-based dev shop called Happy Fun Corp thinks the pressure to program should be replaced by something else. Don’t just learn to code, HFC says–learn to make products.” Read more from Fast Company http://www.fastcolabs.com/3033050/why-you-should-learn-product-management-instead-of-coding

Cut product development time without losing control – examples from two companies. “Here is a quick look at how Google and HubSpot have managed to achieve remarkable speed in product releases while simultaneously reducing risk.” Read more from Harvard Business Review http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/07/speed-up-your-product-development-without-losing-control/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

From this Blog – The Everyday Innovator™, official blog of Product Mastery Now

Netflix Teaches Us More than Binge-Watching: Product Development and Innovation Lesson from the News. “Born in an era dominated by video rental storefronts like Blockbuster Video and Hollywood Video, Netflix exemplifies several innovation practices.” Read more from my blog http://www.productmasterynow.com/blog/netflix-teaches-us-more-than-binge-watching-product-development-and-innovation-lesson-from-the-news/

 

 

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