Each week I scour articles, wading through the dogs, and bringing you the best insights to help product managers and innovators be heroes.
Product managers must become product leaders – learn from this advice. Participants in an Innovation Festival shared the most essential lessons they’ve learned in their careers. Read the advice at https://www.fastcompany.com/3066381/the-fast-company-innovation-festival/whats-the-best-leadership-advice-you-ever-received
The most important thing Dropbox did to scale product management. As Dropbox grew in size, product managers and leadership got out of sync. Leaders had less time to be involved in product management. They created a simple 3-phase review process, sometimes using a fourth phase – not unlike a stage-gate process. Read about it at https://medium.com/@slynch/the-most-important-thing-dropbox-did-to-scale-product-management-fed90e30697e
The two questions a product manager resume must answer – not what you think. Resumes need to convey a person’s character and address two key questions reviewers ask: (1) Can I trust this person and (2) Can I respect this person? Details at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-de-haaff/how-smart-product-manager_1_b_14083230.html
Product management interviews that are just fishing trips. Sometimes interviews are not used to find the ideal product management candidate but to get information. The interviewer may be looking for information about a competitor (clearly unethical) or insights into specific processes that were used to make a successful product. Read one account here http://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2017/01/08/no-i-wont-work-for-free-before-im-hired/
The 3 R’s to better control innovation strategies. (1) Replay, (2) Rethink, and (3) Reprioritize. Read about how these play out at Cisco… https://blogs.cisco.com/innovation/its-time-to-rewind-your-innovation-strategy
How experimentation can build an innovative workplace culture. Innovation means doing something new, which means learning is required. We all get nervous doing something we have never done before, but approaching “new” as an experiment changes that. Experimentation removes the resistance to the change that is innovation. Read about experimentation at http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2017/01/10/how-to-build-an-innovative-workplace-culture-with-experimentation
The need to innovative innovation. Many company leaders want their organizations to be more innovative, but they have yet to innovate how they do that. A great quote from this article is, “This is the difference between buying fish and learning how to fish.” Read the details at http://www.forbes.com/sites/chunkamui/2017/01/10/abcs-of-innovation
New Podcast Episode: TEI 106: Jobs to be done – with Tony Ulwick
Weekly interviews for product managers and innovators. Avoid failures and create successes. Interviews for Product Managers and Innovators.
The primary responsibilities for an organization are product management and innovation. They deliver value to customers. They're also exciting responsibilities for those properly equipped. That is my job - equipping product managers and innovators. 