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

8 elements of a robust product launch strategy. “Launching a product is a huge and risky undertaking. The risk is part of what makes it so exciting. Here are the eight tips you need in order to launch a product successfully.” Read more at Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/neilpatel/2015/03/16/8-elements-of-a-robust-product-launch-strategy/

10 critical ways product managers provide value to organizations and CEOs. “Do you have a product manager on your team yet? If not, you might be missing a major opportunity to improve your company’s efficiency–and your tech team’s ability to meet major milestones.” Read more at Inc. http://www.inc.com/young-entrepreneur-council/10-things-a-product-manager-can-take-off-your-plate.html

The 6 fingerprints of disruptive innovation. “In a new book, Disruption by Design, by the renowned innovation consultant Paul Paetz, I found a list of common patterns and recognizable attributes that I like, called disruption fingerprints.” Read more at Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/martinzwilling/2015/03/19/will-your-business-innovation-disrupt-the-market/

The hot innovation topic this week – getting to ‘yes’ from Steve Blank. “Lessons Learned: Innovation by design, not by exception, Execution organizations now manage both execution and innovation, Innovation teams write their own process and procedures, Innovation policy, process and procedures get written as needed, one at a time, Over time a set of innovation processes are created from the bottom up, Bias for immediate action not perpetual delay.” Read more at Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-blank/getting-to-yes-for-corporate-innovation_b_6885264.html

Presentation posted – creating a culture of innovation and breakthroughs – Peter Diamandis. “Dr. Peter H. Diamandis is an international pioneer in the fields of innovation, incentive competitions and commercial space. In the field of Innovation, Diamandis is Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, best known for its $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for private spaceflight. Today the X PRIZE leads the world in designing and operating large-scale global competitions to solve market failures.” Watch at IEET http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/diamandis20150314

3 steps to regain control over the innovation portfolio. “Innovating with purpose requires a clear strategy that aligns with business goals. Easier said than done. Here are three pragmatic starting points for an innovation strategy that delivers on growth expectations. Read more at http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2015/03/15/regain-control-over-your-innovation-portfolio-three-steps-to-a-practical-innovation-strategy/

Top 10 reasons innovation does not happen in companies. “His comment, and the absolute certainty with which he delivered it, made me wonder if there might be times when INNOVATION IS A DUMB IDEA. The CEO’s rationale was that his predecessor had spent freely chasing bright shiny technology objects to the detriment of the business’ core technology infrastructure.” Read more at Innovation Excellence http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2015/03/15/top-10-reasons-not-to-innovate/

4 lessons from warfare that apply to innovation. (1) When a new technology first appears, we have no idea what to do with it, (2) second are often smart might just want to , (3) push decision-making downward, and (4) quantity has its own quality read more at Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2015/03/14/4-innovation-lessons-from-the-history-of-warfare/

Still Important – Product Management Flash from the Past

4 steps for creating a Lean process. “Upwards of 80% of the cost (and hence, waste) is committed for a new product or service by the time product and process designs get locked-in during development before operations even builds one part. Instead, many leaders still choose to focus the majority of their improvement efforts where 80% of the cost is incurred—the operational value stream, post-launch.” Read more at http://www.lean.org/LeanPost/Posting.cfm?LeanPostId=320

Hiring milkshakes and using the Jobs-to-be-done perspective to develop products people need. “The problem is that consumers usually don’t go about their shopping by conforming to particular segments. Rather, they take life as it comes. And when faced with a job that needs doing, they essentially ‘hire’ a product to do that job. To that end, Christensen suggests that companies start segmenting their markets according to ‘jobs-to-be-done.’ “ Read more at Harvard Working Knowledge http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6496.html