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

6 steps to product-market fit. (1) Determining your target customer, (2) Identifying underserved customer needs, (3) Defining your value proposition, (4) Specifying your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) feature set, (5) Creating your MVP prototype, and (6) Testing your MVP with customers. Details and video at http://blog.mural.co/how-to-achieve-product-market-fit-in-six-steps

Liberal arts as a path to product management. While many product managers come from a marketing or engineering background, half or more come from other disciplines. Liberal arts is one that provides a broader perspective beneficial to product managers. Read several people’s paths to product manager in this article https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurencebradford/2017/10/15/how-majoring-in-liberal-arts-can-help-you-succeed-in-ux-and-product-management/

From building products to building people – the path to leadership. Product managers, with the proper experience and training, are well-suited for leadership roles. However, the transition is something to prepare for, and self-awareness is needed to understand the path that is right for you. More at https://herbigt.com/product-management-career-paths/

Considerations for creating a digital product roadmap. Three areas are unifying customer experiences, transforming business operations, and evolving your digital strategy. The short read is at http://blogs.perficient.com/integrate/2017/10/17/liferay-product-roadmap/

Ideation has moved to the theater. Ideation is the start of innovation and part of the product manager’s toolbox. You know that the term and tools are going mainstream when it becomes the topic of a new play by the same name, Ideation. The play doesn’t teach us much about ideation, but its existence indicates the prominence of innovation and product development in society… https://whyy.org/articles/ideation-might-lead-theatre-exile/

5 lessons learned scaling product management in an organization over 4 years. Going from 5 to 40 product managers over a four year period is significant growth in an organization. Rapid growth in product management and products created and managed provides many opportunities for learning from mistakes. Read the five key lessons at https://brainmates.com.au/contributions/5-lessons-growing-5-40-pms-just-4-years/

Walter Isaacson’s next book detailing innovators – Leonardo Da Vinci. After writing about what makes innovators including Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, and others tick, he examined Da Vinci. He was a keen observer of what existed, which fueled his ability to “see” what did not yet exist. Read an interview with Isaacson about his new book including his advice for your career… https://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2017/10/16/walter-isaacson-what-we-can-learn-about-innovation-from-leonardo-da-vinci/