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

Product management teams need to create something unique, not perfect. This article shares three tasks product management teams need to do. #3 is most important. (1) Know what your target market wants. (2) Make sure your decisions fall within your core business strategy. (3) Develop your product into something unique but imperfect. Read about each at https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/285089

Calling Denver-based product managers – Product Tank Meetup Dec 13. Save the date to attend the Denver Product Tank meetup and mingle with local product managers. Hope to see you there. Get the details at https://www.meetup.com/ProductTank-Denver/events/235357819/

8 priorities for successful product management and marketing teams. (1) Strategic business planning, (2) Creating product strategies, (3) Establishing product requirements, (4) Developing and managing product life cycles, (5) Developing and monitoring go-to-market plans, (6) Providing product and market expertise, (7) Supporting sales enablement for the product, (8) Discovering and understanding new and existing market opportunities. See the post at https://telecomreseller.com/2016/11/15/seven-steps-to-marketing-excellence-step-two-product/

Breakfast discussion with product leaders that focused on leadership and organizational culture. A meeting of several product leaders in London discussed the shortage of knowledgeable product talent in Europe. They are looking to hire from the US where product management practices are more mature. See a summary of the discussion at http://www.theupgroup.com/2016/11/product-leaders-roundtable/

Product managers – don’t make this mistake – price comes first. Product managers have great tools for examining the business viability of a product concept. These include the classic business case and the more recent Business Model Canvas or Lean Canvas. Yet, pricing, forecasts, and profitability projections too often don’t get serious attention until after product development and launch planning begins. Read why pricing should come first at http://firstround.com/review/its-price-before-product-period/

9 traits of innovation labs and how they can create an innovation ecosystem. Innovation labs are a popular tool for organizations improving their innovation capabilities. The is a way to kick-start work on creating an innovation culture. Read about their traits at http://www.forbes.com/sites/adigaskell/2016/11/10/how-innovation-labs-can-keep-you-ahead-of-the-curve/2/#4da4950577d1

5 innovation tips from the Marines – insights from Steve Blank.  (1) Understand Your Customer and Teach Them to Solve Real Problems. (2) Always Be Shipping. (3) Always Be Measuring. (4) To think differently…be different. (5) Do It Again… and Again… and Again. Read about each at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-blank/how-the-marine-corps-buil_b_12897698.html

The 6 waves of innovation that led China to produce true innovation. China was once thought of as the commodity copiers – knocking off popular products and selling them at lower prices. Now they are innovating in their own right. The steps they progressed through show how their innovation culture has evolved. Read about the waves at http://www.forbes.com/sites/benjaminjoffe/2016/11/10/the-six-types-of-tech-innovation-you-meet-in-china/#73bb2ba237dc

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