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

Notes from attending Stanford’s Design School Boot Camp. “Upon returning to d.school, we met in a group of six students, plus our mentor Rich, and “unpacked” all of our observations. Each team of two interviewers shared a couple of their most interesting subjects. There were some really cool characters that people met, but after some discussion, the whole team decided that Raging Ray was a really compelling user to design for.” Read more from Wired http://www.wired.com/2014/10/d-school-rapid-iteration-innovation/

McDonald’s has an innovation center? Yep, I was surprised too. “Welcome to the Innovation Center in Romeoville, where the world’s largest fast-food operator studies, dissects and tweaks current routines as well as proposed ideas that could quicken the operations at some 34,000 McDonald’s restaurants worldwide.” Read more from Chicago Tribune http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-mcdonalds-innovation-1019-biz-20141017-story.html#page=1

Reinvention and innovation – 6 aspects for improving the enterprise and what Drucker new. “Sadly, judging from the way most of our institutions are run, we are still struggling to catch up with the reality Drucker foresaw. How should managers alter their approaches to fit the times? Here are six aspects of running an enterprise that should now be front-and-center…” Read more from  Harvard Business Review http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/10/what-peter-drucker-knew-about-2020/

5 steps to validate your product idea-start with the customer hypothesis. “The process of validation can be outlined in 5 steps. Each step generally follows this meta-pattern: Formulate hypothesis, Test hypothesis, Analyze results and learnings, Decide to pivot or persevere, Repeat.” Read more from Street Smart Product Manager http://streetsmartproductmanager.com/2014/10/16/validate-product-idea-5-steps/

Follow these 7 steps for analyzing your new product concept. “Following a concise idea assessment strategy will save you thousands of dollars in misguided assumptions. Here are the top seven tools that can help validate your next product.” Read more from Entrepreneur http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/238425

Career mistakes you should never make. “You never know when you might lose your job, or when a better opportunity will show up. Be ready by avoiding these potentially disastrous career mistakes.” Read more from Inc. http://www.inc.com/peter-economy/5-career-mistakes-you-should-never-make.html

Supporting your product  needs social media. “There’s more to running a successful business than having an incredible product or service. Those things may generate revenue, but to attract – and retain – loyal customers, you need to provide impeccable customer support.” Read more from Duct Tape Marketing http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2014/10/23/social-customer-support/

Changes constantly occur in the business environment, yet companies are not changing. “It’s definition of the word insanity. People and companies who do the same thing over and over should actually expect different results—results that achieve less and less over time.” Read more from Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidsturt/2014/10/23/not-everything-needs-to-change-but-one-thing-should/

 

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