Product Mastery Now for Product Managers, Leaders, and Innovators

An outcome-driven innovation perspective on Jobs-to-be-Done Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode of Product Mastery Now, I’m talking with innovation veteran Mike Boysen about making Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) practical, fast, and accessible thanks to AI-powered tools and frameworks. We revisit what JTBD really means, how it has evolved, why practitioners sometimes get stuck, and how AI helps drive cost-efficient, actionable customer insights. This episode is perfect for product managers looking to skip the noise and deliver genuine value efficiently. Introduction Most product leaders have heard of Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD). Some of you have even tried it. But given all the benefits of JTBD, why are you not still using it? In this discussion, we are going back to basics to define what Jobs-to-be-Done actually is, and we are going to show you how to execute it faster than ever before. You will learn a simplified workflow for applying Jobs-to-be-Done that cuts through the noise. We will walk through how AI accelerates the process, so you can stop guessing and start building what customers actually need. Our guest is Mike Boysen, Managing Director of Disruptive Innovation. Mike is a veteran of the JTBD movement, having served as a Director at Strategyn alongside Tony Ulwick. He has spent years in senior consulting and innovation roles, and today he helps companies use AI to make Jobs to be Done practical, accessible, and fast.  Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers What is Jobs-to-be-Done?Mike clarifies the confusion around JTBD by outlining the various schools of thought, including marketing-based frameworks. Mike’s perspective on JTBD focuses on outcome-driven innovation (ODI). Within this framework, product managers seek to understand the outcome the customer is seeking. Unlike other schools of thought, ODI values disruption and looking outside the current paradigm. Why JTBD Efforts Fail:Many teams attempting JTBD get stuck at some point. Mike explains that without clear problem definitions and rigorous, hypothesis-driven models, JTBD research can become aimless. Especially in ODI, biases early in the process can compound, making outcomes hard to take action on. Three Paths to Innovation:Mike describes three approaches organizations can take to innovation: expanding to new personas/markets, sustaining and improving what exists, and pursuing disruptive, paradigm-shifting innovation. He notes the power of focusing on the job beneficiary, especially for B2B innovation. How AI Transforms JTBD:Mike’s workflow leverages AI to break down ideas, solutions, and industries to first principles, uncovering fundamental truths and mapping out the jobs, metrics, and outcomes efficiently. This approach massively reduces the time and cost of qualitative JTBD, making it accessible to companies of all sizes, not just the Fortune 500. No More JTBD Surveys?Mike argues that expensive, time-consuming JTBD surveys are often unnecessary, especially for greenfield or disruptive innovations. Instead, AI-driven job maps, first-principle analyses, and hypothesis-validation interviews quickly reveal which opportunities are worth deeper investment, saving time, money, and effort. Job Maps, Metrics, and Practical Tools:Mike explains that AI can generate job maps in minutes rather than weeks. These tools provide clarity for product teams, showing value, friction, or overservice in the customer journey. Useful Link Check out Mike’s Substack Innovation Quote “Spend the least to learn the most.” – Mike Boysen Application Questions How would you describe the job your product is hired to do? What biases or limiting beliefs might be holding your team back from re-imagining your product or process? Are there opportunities to use smaller, hypothesis-driven experiments rather than expensive or time-consuming surveys? How could AI tools streamline and focus your JTBD or customer discovery efforts? If you created a job map for one core customer outcome, what would the steps and frictions look like? Bio For over 25 years, Mike Boysen drove CRM strategy and digital transformation for Fortune 50 enterprises, earning top analyst recognition as a thought leader in the space. However, after observing the expensive failures of traditional innovation, his relentless search for “why” prompted a transition from CRM strategist to an Innovation Engineer. Today, as a leading expert in Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD), Mike challenges industry “sacred cows” by employing a capital-efficient, deterministic methodology to uncover exactly what customers want. His engineering approach rests on three core pillars: applying First Principles Thinking to distill a problem down to its indivisible physical, digital, or economic truth to eliminate human bias; mapping the exact human executor’s 9-step chronological struggle using AI-powered tools to generate solution-agnostic Customer Success Statements (CSS) t

How product managers can get the most out of AI-native development processes Watch on YouTube TLDR This episode, featuring Avi Zelenko, Principal Product Manager at Atlassian, explores how AI is transforming the traditional software development lifecycle (SDLC). Our discussion focuses on Atlassian’s Prompt-Eval-Iterate loop, using AI with PRDs, the creation and use of “golden datasets,” and the use of LLM judges to deliver higher quality AI products. Product managers will hear actionable insight into AI-native development processes and tips for involving cross-functional teams and customers in the journey. Introduction Is the traditional Product Requirement Document dead, along with the standard “Build-Test-Launch” cycle? AI-driven Software Development Life Cycles (SDLCs) are making changes in what has been standard practice. In this discussion we’ll explore the AI-native SDLC used at Atlassian. By the end of this episode, you’ll have a new framework to bring back to your team: The Prompt-Eval-Iterate loop. We’ll discuss why your PRD should be a “behavior contract,” how to build “golden data sets,” and how to use LLM judges to ship higher-quality software faster than ever. Our guest is Avinoam Zelenko. He is a Principal Product Manager at Atlassian, where he is currently leading the transition to AI-native development for Confluence. With a career spanning leadership roles at LinkedIn and Feedvisor, and years spent teaching the next generation of PMs at Product School, he knows exactly how to bridge the gap between high-level AI strategy and day-to-day execution. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Evolution of SDLCs:We discuss the limitations of linear Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) approaches like “build, test, launch” in the era of AI. Avi explains that product managers must now co-own quality, moving beyond handoffs and static PRDs, as AI-driven features require deeper, ongoing commitment. Prompt-Eval-Iterate Loop:Atlassian’s approach starts with collaborative prompt design and exploration, not lengthy specs. Instead of guessing feature outcomes upfront, teams build out golden datasets and use rapid iterations to let real data and metrics refine both the product and its requirements. Golden Datasets:A golden dataset is a living collection of well-curated real-world examples and edge cases from customers. It helps teams define what “good” looks like and allows continuous improvement of AI features, with new findings fed back into the dataset for better output and coverage. Maintaining Customer Proximity:Avi emphasizes that core product management tasks like customer interviews and understanding unmet needs remain vital. Atlassian leverages AI agents to automate customer feedback loops, enabling PMs to connect with more users and gather data on a much larger scale. PRD as a Behavior Contract:The Product Requirements Document (PRD) evolves into a behavior contract, encoding what the AI should do in specific scenarios, along with clear metrics, safety guardrails, and references to the golden dataset. This contract is drafted after substantial hands-on exploration and iteration, keeping specs grounded in reality. Evals and LLM Judges:Quality assurance uses two types of evals: deterministic checks (yes/no, hard criteria) and LLM judges (AI-based evaluators) for assessing nuances like faithfulness to source material, narrative, and tone. These automated evals create quality gates for each product milestone. Collaboration and Transparency:Atlassian encourages cross-functional teams—from engineering and support to sales and marketing—to participate early in the process. This open, inclusive approach gathers a breadth of perspectives and aligns objectives across the organization. Useful Links Connect with Avi on LinkedIn Learn more about Atlassian Innovation Quote “Sometimes immersing works better than observing.” – Avi Zelenko Application Questions How can your team evolve its SDLC to better integrate AI-driven features and ongoing iteration? What would a “golden dataset” look like for your product, and how would you begin building it? In what ways can you involve more customers, support, sales, or marketing in defining the behavior of AI features? How does shifting from a static PRD to a “behavior contract” change your collaboration with engineering and other teams? What new skills or practices must PMs develop to balance automation with human judgment in AI product development? Bio Avinoam “Avi” Zelenko is a Principal Product Manager at Atlassian, where he leads product strategy for Confluence, the company’s flagship collaboration platform. With more than 16 years of experience in B2B SaaS, he has built and scaled products at companies including LinkedIn, where he helped shape the feed experience for hundreds of millions of users, as well as LivePerson, Clic

Case studies of scrappy product management experiments Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode, I’m interviewing Jeff Lash, VP of Product Management at Insperity, to demystify product experimentation for product managers. Jeff unpacks scrappy ways to test assumptions, mitigate risk, and maximize learning, sharing case studies from his work in B2B product management. We discuss real examples, key principles for experimentation, and navigating organizational dynamics to drive informed product decisions. Introduction Most product managers think experimentation requires expensive A/B testing software, a team of data scientists, and thousands of users. They’re wrong. You can and should be testing your riskiest assumptions today, and doing so in ways that are fast and frugal. By the end of this episode, you’ll have a toolkit of testing methods that you can deploy immediately. Our guest is the perfect guide for this. Jeff Lash is the Vice President of Product Management at Insperity. Before that, he spent nearly a decade at Forrester and SiriusDecisions, where he advised the world’s top product organizations on exactly these strategies. He is the author of the long-running How To Be A Good Product Manager blog and a product management veteran who has transitioned from practitioner to researcher, analyst, and adviser, and then back to the front lines of product leadership. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers The Purpose of Experimentation:Experimentation prevents product managers from jumping to solutions by validating that they’re solving the right problems with the right solutions. Jeff emphasizes that effective experimentation requires humility and an openness to learning. This approach helps avoid costly mistakes of building products based on unverified assumptions and mitigates business risk. Fast, Frugal Experiments:Jeff explains that experiments should deliver maximum learning for minimum investment. Experiments should be built upon foundational customer research and always include measurable objectives. He reminds product managers not to rely solely on digital tools, especially in B2B contexts where the customer base is smaller and sales cycles are longer. Case Studies of Product Experimentation:Through several case studies, Jeff Lash illustrates experimentation methods: Using mock-ups for concept testing: Before building a new data-reporting SaaS, a product team manually created mock-up sample reports and pitched them to clients. The low demand they discovered helped avoid unnecessary development. Sales-Driven Product Testing: Collaborating with sales, an organization defined clear success metrics, launched a pilot with a limited customer group, and used real buying signals (not just sales enthusiasm) to validate new offerings, minimizing risk and maximizing buy-in. Content Access Limits: Unsure about the right threshold for content access in a subscription product, a company temporarily gave all customers unlimited access to gather data on which content they were accessing, later allowing them to set limits that balanced user delight and business goals. Testing with a Sales Presentation: In response to sales insisting there was a market for a new product, a product team created a sales pitch deck. After several meetings and pitches, they found zero customer interest, which revealed the real gap was not product, but access to the right buyer. This low-cost experiment saved significant time and resources by preventing the team from building an unwanted solution. Navigating Organization Dynamics:Not all experiments yield the result everyone wants. Jeff discusses how to align teams around experiment outcomes—even unpopular ones—and communicate evidence while managing executive or sales pressure. He stresses the importance of cross-functional alignment, especially in B2B, and framing experiments by the core questions they’re meant to answer. B2B vs. B2C Experimentation:While B2C may allow rapid, large-scale testing, B2B experimentation requires more coordination with sales, legal, and customer success to avoid customer confusion or contractual risks. Building internal buy-in and clear communication is critical for successful, reversible tests. Useful Links Visit Jeff’s website Read Jeff’s blog, How To Be A Good Product Manager Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn Learn more about Insperity Listen to episode 127: B2B product management – with Jeff Lash Innovation Quote “It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself.” – Leon Megginson Application Questions What assumptions in your current product strategy could be tested with a simple experiment this quarter? How does your team define success criteria for experiments? Who needs to be involved in that definition? H

Building products to teach kids to love science and embrace failure Watch on YouTube TLDR I’m interviewing Rachele Harmuth, Chief Product Officer at CrunchLabs, to discuss scaling a beloved STEM brand from viral YouTube content to hands-on products, classroom curriculum, and partnerships with platforms like Netflix. Rachele Harmuth shares her journey from toy design to product leadership and how CrunchLabs manages collaboration between content and product teams. She shares lessons learned on operationalizing brand values during high-growth expansion and the importance of building resilient creators who embrace failure. This episode is packed with actionable insights for product managers aiming to balance innovation with brand consistency. Introduction Mark Rober has 73 million YouTube subscribers watching him build glitter bombs and squirrel obstacle courses. But how do you turn that content into products that actually ship to millions of customers—and then scale that into retail stores worldwide? That’s the challenge facing today’s guest. She’s leading product strategy at CrunchLabs as they expand from STEM subscription boxes into global retail, classroom curriculum, and a Netflix series—all launching in 2026. In this discussion, you’ll learn how to decide how content interacts with product strategy, how to maintain desired outcomes at scale, and how to operationalize brand values across a product team.  Our guest is Rachele Harmuth, Chief Product Officer at CrunchLabs. She’s spent 30 years in the toy industry at companies including Scholastic, Ravensburger, and Fat Brain Toys. She also founded MESH Helps, a nonprofit building children’s resilience through play. Furthermore, she won the Women in Toys 2025 Wonder Women Award.  Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Rachele’s Journey to CrunchLabs:While at Ravensburger, Rachele Harmuth discovered CrunchLabs while seeking inspiring engineering toys for her own kids. Her son, a senior in high school, told her that Mark Rober is the reason he wanted to be an engineer. Initially Rachele pursued a partnership between Ravensburger and CrunchLabs, but her passion for their products and ideas for improvement led CrunchLabs’ president to invite her onboard. CrunchLabs’ Product Strategy:CrunchLabs’ unique strategy involves a unique collaboration between content creators (including Mark Rober) and toy engineers. Both teams cross-pollinate ideas. Their shared mission is showing kids that science is fun and approachable. Cross-Functional Product Development:To maintain brand focus amid rapid growth (retail, curriculum, media), CrunchLabs focuses on three goals: Spark Curiosity, Embrace Failure, and Build Creative Confidence. Everyone from every area of the company was part of the discussion to put together these three goals. These vision statements provide direction, since very product, feature, and piece of content is judged by whether it supports those goals. A core part of CrunchLabs’ mission is to help kids embrace failure. Mark’s videos show him embracing failures, problem solving and operating by CrunchLab’s three vision statements. Rachele is translating those statements into physical products so that customers can develop these problem-solving and engineering skills too. Testing Product Designs:CrunchLabs tests every product with kids in the target age range, fine-tuning challenge levels and instructions to ensure engaging, confidence-boosting experiences that mimic the iterative process celebrated in their videos. Direct feedback from diverse test groups drives meaningful improvements. Saying No to Stay Focused:As CrunchLabs’ brand is expanding, they maintain brand focus by being very selective and saying no to more things than they say yes to. They evaluate each opportunity for impact and additive value and choose opportunities that align with all three of their goal statements and help them reach the most brains. Useful Links Learn more about CrunchLabs Connect with Rachele on LinkedIn Check out Mark Rober and CrunchLabs on YouTube Check out Mark Rober’s CrunchLabs on Netflix Innovation Quotes “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt “A ship in ha

Insights from the innovation leadership graduate program at UFred Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode, I’m interviewing Dr. Michael Hobeck, Provost and Vice President of Academics at the University of Fredericton (UFred), about building innovation leadership in organizations. We discuss the specialized Innovation Leadership MBA/EMBA program at UFred, key skills and mindsets for innovation leaders, and how the right curriculum and approach can develop confidence and practical capability in aspiring innovation leaders. Introduction In this discussion, we are extending beyond product management and into innovation leadership—specifically, what it takes to create, improve, and lead an innovation capability in an organization. Effective innovation leadership helps to chart the course of an organization. It is an exciting role and I’ve had the pleasure of helping many people prepare for this role and I’ll share what it takes, both through my experiences as product management trainer and university professor in innovation. I’m joined by Dr. Michael Hobeck, the Provost and Vice President of Academics at the University of Fredericton. He also served as Dean of Academics before stepping into the role of Provost. Before his tenure in academia, Michael held senior management positions with large retailers and gained first-hand entrepreneurial experience as a small business owner. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Innovation Leadership Curriculum at UFred:Michael and I recreated the innovation leadership graduate program at UFred. This program addresses gaps in corporate innovation such as senior leaders’ lack of foundational knowledge of innovation, confidence, and ability to influence the organization. What Makes a Great Innovation Leader?Innovation leadership requires more than traditional management skills. Innovators embrace uncertainty, learn from failure, and see value in new ideas. They foster organizational culture and exercise influence to support innovation. Building Confidence and Practical Skills:UFred’s innovation leadership program is unique in that it is fully integrated and was developed by practitioners with close ties to industry. The program includes three courses focused on innovation. The first course focuses on how to innovate and teaches the process of innovation. The second course focuses on building a structure for innovation that extends to every part of the organization. The third course focuses on how to grow the organization by generating more value from existing operations while also exploring new ideas. Students’ Takeaways:We introduce a tool called the idea notebook, where innovators can record their ideas. Periodically, former students email me and tell me what they’re writing in their idea notebook. I also see students develop confidence that they can innovate and influence their organizations. It’s easy to see the ability to innovate as an unattainable superpower, but it’s actually a process that can be learned. Falling in Love with the Problem:One concept that I want future innovation leaders to remember is to fall in love with the customer’s problem, not your solution. It’s human nature to leap straight to solutions when we hear about a problem, but this risks missing what the customer truly needs. When product managers are too attached to their solution, they lose track of what the customer actually cares about. Instead, they should focus on understanding the customers’ needs and creating value for them. Useful Link Learn more about UFred Innovation Quote “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” – Thomas A. Edison Application Questions Which core skills do you think are essential for effective innovation leadership in your organization? How can you build your own and your team’s confidence to take on innovation challenges? What structures or processes does your organization have to capture and foster new ideas from all levels? Reflecting on your recent projects, did you “fall in love” with the customer problem, or jump too quickly to solutions? What was the impact? What practices do you use or could you introduce to consistently integrate current business trends into your product management and innovation work? Bio Dr. Michael Andrew Hobeck is the Vice President of Academics & Provost at the University of Fredericton, where he leads academic quality and rigor, student success, and new program development to support strategic growth. Previously, he served as Dean of Academics at UFred, where he helped launch new degrees and specializations, strengthened faculty review and teaching recognition practices, led ACBSP accreditation for the MBA and Executive MBA, and spearheaded UFred’s first virtual convocation. Before UFred, Michael held senior academic leadership roles at Seneca College and Nova Scotia Community College, as well as extensive teaching experienc

Is Taylor Swift the best product strategist of our generation? Watch on YouTube TLDR This episode features Mike Hyzy, VP of Strategy and Innovation at CGI, breaking down how Taylor Swift’s approach to music and branding mirrors world-class product strategy. From testing new markets to managing an interconnected product portfolio, Swift’s business acumen offers valuable lessons for product managers seeking to build innovative, loyal brands. Mike shares the Swift Product Playbook and tips for product managers to apply these tactics in their own work. Introduction Think Taylor Swift is just a pop star? Think again. Our guest is Mike Hyzy, Vice President of Strategy and Innovation at CGI, and he’s about to show us how Swift has mastered product strategy better than most Fortune 500 companies. From her initial country music launch to her record-breaking Eras Tour, Swift has executed portfolio management, strategic pivots, and customer loyalty programs that rival the best product organizations in the world. Mike will show us the product playbook she used and that you can also use to make your next product or brand a fan favorite.   Mike brings 15+ years of product leadership, AI strategy, and innovation consulting to this conversation. He’s worked with enterprises across healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and technology. He’s the author of Gamification for Product Excellence and a certified Foresight Practitioner. Mike is here to decode the Swift Product Playbook and us product managers and leaders with an actionable framework.  Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers The Taylor Swift Product Playbook:Mike Hyzy presents his four-act framework, showing how Taylor Swift’s career is a masterclass in product development, portfolio management, market innovation, and user engagement. Each act is a lesson in understanding and serving your audience, strategic pivots, and creating strong customer loyalty. Act 1: Strategic Product Development:Swift’s rise began with deep audience insight—identifying an unmet need with honest, relatable songs for young women in country music. She used small, intimate shows to test new material and singles to probe markets before bigger releases. Her shift from country to pop famously followed this method, using singles as MVPs and analyzing fan response to guide bigger bets. Act 2: Portfolio Management and Expansion:Swift’s product portfolio extends well beyond music. After losing the rights to her early albums, she re-recorded and re-released them as “Taylor’s Version,” engaging fans and regaining control. She bypassed traditional channels, working directly with AMC for her concert film release. Act 3: Market Innovation:Swift consistently redefines industry norms, such as dropping a surprise folk album during COVID to match fans’ moods, and forging new distribution deals that cut out intermediaries. She turns market constraints into creative advantages, keeping close to her fan base’s changing needs. Act 4: Building Fanatic Loyalty:Swift invests heavily in user engagement, treating fans as collaborators rather than customers. She’s hands-on with social media, hosts private events, gamifies experiences (Easter eggs, online puzzles), and backs up every promise to her audience. Her brand fosters a sense of belonging and community, exemplifying the power of co-creation and customer delight. Putting It into Practice:Mike encourages product managers to find “Swift-inspired” opportunities in their own work: identify unmet customer needs, look for bold pivots, break industry conventions, reward loyal users, and turn users into co-creators for sustained brand impact. Steps Product Managers Can Take This Week:Mike challenges product managers to “build your era.” First, look at your product category and identify one job your user wants to do that no one is fully solving. Identify your biggest obstacle related to solving that problem. Reimagine your product and think about what a bold pivot would look like. Have a trusted friend or advisor hold you accountable to trying a bold experiment. Useful Links Connect with Mike on LinkedIn Read Mike’s Medium article, “The Swift Product Playbook” View Mike’s slides: The Swift Product Playbook_V.3_MHDownload Innovation Quote “If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.” – Albert Einstein Application Questions How can you apply Taylor Swift’s approach of testing new ideas with “mini-experiments” before going big with your own product launches? In what ways could interconnecting different parts of your product portfolio amplify customer engagement and revenues? How do you currently monitor and learn from customer sentiment? What would it look like to treat users as collaborators? What market “rules” in your industry could you break or bypass for innovation and value creation? What are some creative ways you could reward, i

Vision statements and strategic themes to connect product management to business goals Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode, I’m interviewing Morten Sorensen, Vice President of Systems IT Portfolio Management at the US Federal Reserve, about aligning product work with organizational strategy. We explore the importance of vision statements, the use of strategic themes, and practical tools like strategy maps and alignment analysis to keep product teams focused and invested in company goals. Morten shares actionable advice on overcoming alignment gaps, fostering organizational motivation, and staying agile amid change. Introduction Many product managers can’t clearly explain how their work connects to company strategy. That’s not a knowledge problem—it’s a leadership problem. Let’s learn how to fix that. We’re talking about how to align product work with organizational strategy using vision statements and strategic themes that actually drive alignment and investments decisions.  Our guest is Morten Sorensen, Vice President of the System IT Portfolio Management Office at the US Federal Reserve. He’s also led large international customer programs and portfolio management at organizations including Verizon Business, Amtrak, and Peraton. He co-authored PMI’s Benefits Realization Management Framework and has served two terms on PMI’s Organizational Project Management Advisory Board. He holds certifications in portfolio, program, and project management, as well as SAFe Lean Portfolio Management.  Morten’s views and opinions expressed in this episode are his own and not those of the US Federal Reserve.  Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Strategy-Alignment Gap:Morten explains that many organizations struggle to translate overall company strategy into actionable product work. This is often a leadership—not a knowledge—issue. Achieving alignment demands repeated communication and clarity, especially through mechanisms like vision statements and strategic themes. Crafting an Effective Vision Statement:A well-crafted vision underpins long-term organizational direction. Vision statements should be concise yet comprehensive, capturing how the organization intends to create value and what the future will look and feel like. This vision must be consistently and repeatedly communicated to prevent misalignment and wasted effort. Using Strategic Themes for Focus:Morten explains that strategic themes act like lanes on the interstate, guiding teams on how to realize the vision. Rather than prescribing specific actions, strategic themes express high-level priorities, such as focusing on certain markets or technologies, and help translate the vision into OKRs and annual goals. They also provide a common framework for evaluating investment and initiative alignment. Visualizing with Strategy Maps:Strategy maps help make dependencies and priorities visible across the organization. By linking strategic themes visually, product leaders can communicate to their teams which capabilities are needed first and how various teams and objectives rely on each other. These maps help product teams make better plans. They can evolve into dashboards for ongoing tracking and risk management. Alignment Analysis & Portfolio Management:Effective portfolio management involves mapping current and proposed investments to strategic themes, a process Morten calls alignment analysis. This technique uncovers duplication, gaps, or misaligned initiatives, ensuring resources go to projects that truly support company strategy. Regular review and honest assessment are essential, and organizations should be willing to phase out initiatives that no longer fit. Embracing Change and Communication:Product leaders must constantly communicate the why behind strategy, both to motivate employees and to support organizational change management. Morten warns against assuming people understand the purpose behind strategic shifts and underscores the need to revisit and revise strategy regularly, especially as market conditions change. Useful Links Connect with Morten on LinkedIn View Morten’s slides on vision and strategy: M Sorensen Strategy ExamplesDownload Innovation Quote “A good strategy accounts for successful delivery of value.” – Morten Sorensen Application Questions How well can you articulate the connection between your current product work and your organization’s overarching vision or strategy? What strategic themes (if any) does your organization use, and how do they influence project selection and prioritization? How frequently and by what means are strategic objectives communicated to your product team? Is this sufficient? Does your organization use tools like strategy maps or alignment analysis to visualize dependencies and alignment across initiatives? If not, how could you introduce these practices? What barriers exist in your organization regarding

Engaging employees and systems for sustainable innovation growth Watch on YouTube TLDR This episode features Maggie Nichols, CEO of Eureka! Ranch, who breaks down how organizations can transform innovation from a risky bet into a repeatable system. She discusses practical frameworks for diagnosing and building innovation capability, the critical role of culture and psychology, and actionable steps that product leaders can take within 30 days to start making change. Listen for real-world examples, key metrics, and the importance of systems thinking in innovation success. Introduction Most organizations can generate ideas. The problem isn’t coming up with possibilities – it’s turning those ideas into shipped innovations that actually create value. Your ideas don’t get funded or they die in development, lose momentum in stage-gate reviews, or get compromised until they’re unrecognizable. This episode is about changing that and building innovation systems that work. You’ll learn the specific components needed to transform innovation from a random gamble into a reliable capability. You’ll walk away with a framework you can start implementing in the next 30 days.  Our guest is Maggie Nichols, CEO of Eureka! Ranch, an innovation firm that has contributed $18 billion in growth for client companies. Over 25 years, she’s built innovation systems for Fortune 500 companies including Ford, Humana, Johnson & Johnson, and Toyota. She co-founded the Innovation Engineering movement, training over 26,000 innovators globally. Under her leadership, Eureka! Ranch drove an 800% profit increase and expanded client reach by 500%. She has also pioneered AI tools that predict innovation success with 7 times the accuracy of human judgment. If you want to improve innovation, Maggie is one to listen to.  Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Diagnosing Innovation Capability:Maggie outlines the first step for any organization wanting to improve innovation: an honest diagnosis. Leaders should look beyond obvious KPIs like shipped products to evaluate internal factors, such as whether promising ideas are rejected due to lack of capability, restrictive human work systems, or low employee engagement. She explains how culture, systems, and engagement are interconnected and should be investigated in depth. The Three Mandates for Innovation Systems:Successful innovation systems rest on three pillars: (1) shipping new ideas that create growth, (2) enabling human work systems and behaviors that support innovation, and (3) nurturing employee engagement so the whole organization is ready and willing to innovate. Leaders often dial down ambition out of fear, risk aversion, or system constraints. All three mandates must be addressed for real innovation capability. The Role of Psychology and Framing Risk:Maggie encourages innovation leaders to think about both systems and psychology related to every piece of their work. For example, when someone pitches an idea, the leader can ask what are the “death threats” for that idea. This framing encourages a productive discussion, builds psychological safety, and moves teams from confrontation to problem-solving. Other tactics like pre-mortems normalize risk evaluation and make teams more open to new ideas. Building the System: Leadership, Training, and Structure:Change starts with leadership alignment on what innovation realistically takes—beyond innovation theater. Maggie describes training programs designed to build core innovation skills throughout the organization. Starter projects and small wins help create momentum, while larger organizations may require an integrated, cross-functional innovation system that continually adapts. Sustaining Innovation: Metrics and Continuous Improvement:To protect and sustain innovation efforts, Maggie recommends tracking practical metrics tied to each of the three innovation mandates, such as number of ideas implemented to“stop the stupid,” speed of moving ideas through the pipeline, meaningful uniqueness, and proactive versus reactive work. She advocates measuring what needs to change, not just what’s already working, and using culture benchmarks to diagnose and improve innovation culture. 30-Day Action Plan:For immediate impact, Maggie suggests product leaders start by innovating within their own sphere of influence. Observe the three core areas—growth, human work systems, and engagement—in your team. Identify what you control, choose an area to improve, and take practical steps to build momentum. Useful Links Check out Proactive Problem Solving by Doug Hall, founder of Eureka! Ranch Get free Innovation White Belt Training. Use coupon code productmasterynow for 100% discount. Normal price is $750. Code is good until March 31, 2026. Learn more about Eureka! Ranch Connect with Maggie on LinkedIn Innovation Quote “Ninety-four percent of the problem is the system. Six percent is the worker.&#

From “move fast and break things” to responsible product management Watch on YouTube TLDR This episode explores how culture acts as a powerful predictor of long-term product success. I’m talking with product leader Namrta Raghvendra, who has extensive experience at Meta, Salesforce, LinkedIn, and Dell and understands the importance of team culture in building resilient, innovative product organizations. We discuss the relationship between culture and strategy, the evolution of organizational culture as companies scale, practical rituals for reinforcing team culture, and actionable advice for navigating major transitions like reorganizations. Introduction How’s your product team doing? What metrics would you use? Is team culture on your list? In this discussion, we’re exploring why culture isn’t just a nice-to-have but a strong predictor of long-term product success. We’ll explore how to build resilience that survives market shifts, and improve product success by improving team success.  Our guest is product leader Namrta Raghvendra. She has over 15 years of experience building technology products that help connect communities. Previously at Meta, she built digital advertising products to connect billions of users with their favorite businesses. Prior to that, she helped launch AI-powered chatbots at Salesforce to help businesses connect with their customers seamlessly and held product roles at LinkedIn and at Dell.  Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Nam’s Career Journey:Nam shares insights from her 15+ years in the tech industry, with highlights from her time scaling LinkedIn Recruiter, launching Salesforce’s first AI chatbot, and leading ads product growth at Meta. Throughout her career, she has gravitated toward roles where she can make high-impact product decisions that solve real user problems. Culture’s Impact on Product Success:Culture is the operating system of a team, directly influencing how decisions are made, how teams execute strategy, and how successful products are built. Nam emphasizes that a good strategy is only as effective as the culture that enables its execution and adaptability. Meta’s Culture Shift: From “Move Fast and Break Things” to Responsibility:Nam describes the culture shift at Meta, from a scrappy “move fast and break things” culture to a more responsible, process-driven approach. In the early days of Meta, the product teams shipped quickly and continued to iterate on the product after it was shipped. Later, the company focused on foreseeing and preventing avoidable harm early on. The product teams had to have more rigorous guardrails and collaborate more closely with policy and legal teams. While the change added work and delayed timelines initially, the company iterated on the process itself for a year, and eventually it was seen as an enabler for healthier, safer product development and preserving user trust. Measuring and Building Strong Team Culture:Nam observes that a good strategy is only as successful as its execution, and execution depends on the company culture. She outlines practical leading indicators of strong culture, such as quality of disagreement, accountability, learning rate, humility, and ownership. Team Resilience during Reorgs:During reorgs or periods of uncertainty, Nam recommends leaders provide clarity regarding changes and expectations, restore agency to individual team members, and focus on achieving and celebrating quick wins. Transparent communication and small, shared successes help teams maintain morale and momentum. Rituals to Reinforce Team Culture:Nam uses rituals with her team like decision logs, learning reviews, and premortems help teams build shared understanding, learn from failures, and encourage risk taking. Useful Link Connect with Namrta on LinkedIn Innovation Quote “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” – Peter Drucker  Application Questions How would you describe the current culture in your product team? What impact does it have on your daily work and decision-making? What leading indicators or rituals do you use—or could you use—to measure and reinforce a strong, resilient team culture? How has your team’s culture evolved as your organization has grown or changed? What lessons can you draw from any major transitions? What role does psychological safety play in your team’s risk-taking and learning processes? How could you improve it? Think about the last major organizational change (like a reorg or product pivot) you experienced. What approaches helped your team stay motivated and aligned, and where could you improve? Thanks! Thank you for taking the journey to product mastery and learning with me from the successes and failures of product innovators, managers, and developers. If you enjoyed the discussion, help out a fellow product manager by sharing it using the social media buttons you see below. Source

Alignment between product and project management Watch on YouTube TLDR This episode dives into the often-overlooked divide between product and project management and how bridging this gap can unleash greater innovation in organizations. Leah Huf and Jill Diffendall from the Project Management Institute (PMI) share research findings, actionable frameworks, and real-world experiences to help product and project professionals collaborate more effectively, align success metrics, and deliver true customer value. Introduction Product teams create features that never launch. Project teams deliver on time but miss the market. Sound familiar?  Today we’re tackling the costly disconnect between product and project management – a divide that’s holding back innovation in organizations everywhere. You’ll discover how to overcome the three biggest collaboration obstacles, and a proven framework for turning friction into fusion.  Joining us are Leah Huf and Jill Diffendal from the Project Management Institute, who’ve not only researched this product/project partnership but are actively implementing these principles to transform how PMI delivers value. Leah brings 14 years of experience spanning operations, program, and product management, currently serving as Senior Product Operations Manager at PMI. Jill, with over 20 years in content development and strategic communications, manages thought leadership research that’s reshaping how we think about project success.  Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Product and Project Management:Jill shares that PMI’s research found a huge overlap between product and project management, with 79% of product managers having worked as project managers, and many project managers working on product development. This overlap emphasizes the necessity for better integration between the disciplines. Comparing and Contrasting the Roles:Leah breaks down distinctions between product and project managers—product managers focus on customer value, vision, and strategy, while project managers handle execution, risk, and alignment. However, both groups share responsibility for outcome delivery and success, requiring collaboration, adaptability, and shared risk management. The Shift to Product-Led Organizations:We discuss the increasing trend toward product-led models, where organizations not only deliver products but also maintain and improve them over their lifecycle. Jill and Leah explain how this organizational orientation requires new governance structures, ongoing cross-functional teams, and a centralized focus on continued customer value. Major Obstacles and How to Overcome Them:Unclear boundaries and competing definitions of success can undermine collaboration. Leah advises early, open conversations between product and project teams, sharing tools, aligning on metrics, and breaking down silos. Both guests emphasize that trust and communication—not just rigid processes—are foundational to effective partnerships. Useful Links Connect with Jill and Leah on LinkedIn Learn more about PMI Innovation Quote “Trust is in fact earned in the smallest of moments. It is earned not through heroic deeds or highly visible actions, but through paying attention, listening, and gestures of genuine caring connection.” – Brené Brown “Of all the things I’ve done, the most vital is coordinating those who work with me and aiming their efforts at a certain goal.” – Walt Disney Application Questions Where in your organization do you see disconnects between your product and project counterparts? How have these affected outcomes? How does your team define success, and are those definitions aligned or at odds with other teams, such as project management? What processes or tools could be adopted or adapted to create better collaborative rhythms between product and project roles? Have you experienced value being lost at handoff points? What strategies could prevent that in your context? How can you help foster a culture where transparent conversation about roles and responsibilities is both encouraged and normalized? Thanks! Thank you for taking the journey to product mastery and learning with me from the successes and failures of product innovators, managers, and developers. If you enjoyed the discussion, help out a fellow product manager by sharing it using the social media buttons you see below. Source

Using AI to remove friction from the product innovation process Watch on YouTube TLDR This episode explores how product managers can dramatically speed up and improve early-stage idea validation using AI, featuring Nate Patel, co-founder of ProtoBoost.ai. We discuss practical innovation frameworks, reducing uncertainty, simulation of customer interviews, and the limits of relying solely on AI for product decisions. The conversation covers actionable steps for leveraging AI in product management and offers guidance on maintaining the human element in the innovation process. Introduction Product managers can spend months validating ideas that could only take days. You’re doing customer interviews, reading marketing reports, building spreadsheets, sketching prototypes, estimating market size—all before you know if anyone actually wants what you’re building. By the time you have enough data to make a decision, your competitor has already shipped. This episode cuts through that.  Nate Patel is with us. He and MIT professor David Robertson built ProtoBoost.ai to compress weeks of validation work into hours using AI. You’ll learn how AI handles the grunt work of idea validation—generating prototypes, simulating customer interviews, scoring market potential—so you can focus on the decisions only you can make.  Nate is a four-time CTO and CPO who’s been building products for over 20 years. He teaches AI security at MIT Sloan and knows the two things you need to know when creating a product: what AI can do and what it shouldn’t do.  Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers The Importance of Defining the Problem:Nate explains the biggest innovation mistake: jumping to solutions without true clarity on the problem. Drawing from the discipline entrepreneurship framework used at MIT, he describes how a robust process starts with asking who the customer is, what their real problems are, and why they would change current solutions. He emphasizes that product managers should not fall in love with a solution before validating it with evidence. ProtoBoost.ai is designed to help product teams quickly do market analysis and collect customer insights so they can decide whether a product is worth building. Structuring Innovation with AI:ProtoBoost.ai uses AI to remove friction the innovation process. It applies structure to innovation by leveraging eight specialized AI agents. These AI tools handle repetitive market and user research tasks, propose alternative concepts, simulate customer interviews, and produce useful outputs like prototype decks and landing pages. Nate stresses that AI shouldn’t replace human judgment—it accelerates learning and decision-making, but the team always decides what to build. Step-By-Step Through ProtoBoost.ai:When using ProtoBoost.ai, a user begins by describing their problem. The AI agents then assist with market analysis, beachhead market selection, user needs analysis, simulated customer interviews, and prototype creation. Based on the pain points and user needs identified, the AI provides alternative solution. The user can select ideas, and the AI generates a deck of images and summaries representing these ideas. The AI then assists with prototyping. Nate explains that this entire process to get a prototype out into the market could take just an hour. The Human-AI Balance in Product Management:While AI is excellent for handling structured, repetitive work and suggesting creative ideas, it falls short in areas requiring empathy, contextual understanding, and real-world trade-offs. Product managers should remain decision-makers, using AI as a tool to inform but not dictate the path forward. Real-Life Example:Nate shares a case where a product manager used ProtoBoost.ai to refine an internal sales tool. By running multiple validation cycles and simulated interviews, the PM clarified the true user pain points and adjusted their approach before building anything, saving significant time and avoiding wasted effort. Looking Forward: AI in Product Management:Looking ahead, Nate sees AI handling more of the grunt work in product management, freeing teams to focus on tasks that require trust and context, especially high-stakes decisions grounded in empathy and strategy. Nate recommends that if you would not feel comfortable telling your customer or CEO that you used AI for a certain task, then it is not a task for AI. Useful Links Try out ProtoBoost.ai Connect with Nate on LinkedIn Check out Nate’s newsletter, AI, Product & Tech Innovation Quote “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker Application Questions Which parts of your innovation process are most bogged down by manual research or repetitive work today? How might you incorporate AI-based tools to speed up early idea validation without sacrificing decision quality? What assumptions underpin your current product ideas, and how explicit are

Practical tips for product managers facilitating innovation workshops Watch on YouTube TLDR Innovation strategy workshops offer a powerful way to reimagine product roadmaps—if done well. In this episode, I’m interviewing Amy Meginnes, a seasoned innovation workshop facilitator from Philips & Co., who shares a framework for designing, executing, and following through on workshops that deliver real outcomes. From doing pre-work and selecting the right participants to engaging activities, convergence techniques, and post-workshop follow-through, Amy breaks down best practices, common pitfalls, and actionable tips for product leaders aiming to run workshops that truly drive value. Introduction Your next breakthrough product isn’t hiding in market research reports or competitor analysis. There’s a better way—a well-run innovation strategy workshop. Done right, this workshop can transform your product roadmap, but done poorly, it waste everyone’s time and leave teams more frustrated than inspired. You’ve probably sat through workshops that generated hundreds of sticky notes but zero real outcomes. Or maybe you’ve been asked to facilitate one yourself and wondered how to avoid the common pitfalls. In this discussion, you’ll learn the framework for designing, running, and implementing innovation workshops that actually drive results—from choosing participants to converting ideas into funded initiatives. Our guest is Amy Meginnes. Amy brings 15 years of experience facilitating innovation workshops for Fortune 500 companies. She’s developed breakthrough strategies for clients including SCJ Johnson, National Science Foundation, World Trade Center Association, US Foods,  Honeywell, and has helped organizations from startups to enterprises transform their innovation processes. She is a strategist at Phillips & Co., a leading strategy and innovation consultancy based in Chicago. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers The Power of Innovation Strategy Workshops:Innovation workshops provide focused time away from daily routines, encouraging teams to reimagine their products and strategies with fresh, creative thinking. Essential Pre-work:Preparation sets the foundation for a successful workshop. Facilitators should interview or survey those closest to the product—frontline employees, customers, and potential users—rather than just executives. Participants benefit from simple pre-work, such as answering a few questions or reflecting on market gaps, ensuring they’re ready to think big and avoid feeling overwhelmed. Defining Strategic Opportunity Areas:Amy focuses an innovation strategy workshop on identifying strategic areas of opportunity or whitespaces. These could be new customer segments, differentiators in service delivery, or deeper exploration of technologies like AI. These areas should be identified based on data and customer insights gathered during pre-work, ensuring the workshop targets opportunities with real business impact. Workshop Structure and Participants:Amy recommends a workshop duration of 1.5 to 2.5 days. Innovation workshops work best with diverse groups—cross-functional specialists, customer-facing team members, decision makers like a product VP, and, ideally, some actual customers. A manageable group size and variety of perspectives help fuel more productive and energized sessions. Including Customers and Experts:Direct customer involvement in workshops or special customer summits provides firsthand feedback and valuable ideas. Inviting outside expert ideators further expands the team’s thinking, challenges assumptions, and helps visualize concepts, making ideation more tangible. Setting Up a Safe Space:Start the workshop by setting expectations and creating a psychologically safe environment with playful tools to encourage divergent thinking. Amy hands participants foam balls and invites them to practice throwing them at anybody who is being a naysayer. Exploring Whitespaces:During the workshop, Amy takes the team on “excursions” to explore strategic areas of opportunity. This can involve short group discussions or hours-long activities. Amy recommends active, tactile, and varied activities. Collect materials that participants create and have a person at the workshop whose job is dedicated to recording ideas. Amy shares a few ideas for excursions: Process Map Activity:One possible activity is visually exploring a process flow. Represent the steps in a process, such as a customer interacting with the product, on a wall. Have participants get out of their seats and talk through pain points. Then sit down and iterate on how the team could address the pain points. Explore a Different Industry:Remind participants that 99% of the problems they are experiencing in business have already been solved somewhere else. Get inspiration from how a company in a different industry or a different country has solved a similar pro

A product manager at Moleaer on science-driven product innovation Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode of Product Mastery Now, I’m interviewing Christian Ference, Global Product Manager at Moleaer, about the company’s groundbreaking work with nanobubble technology. Moleaer’s innovative approach earned them the PDMA Outstanding Corporate Innovator Award, and Christian Ference shares how they’ve commercialized science-fiction sounding concepts for real-world impact, scaling the technology across industries from aquaculture to surface water remediation and even spas like Jacuzzi. The discussion dives into their 4D innovation process (Discovery, Definition, Develop, Demonstrate/Deploy), the messiness of innovation, and the importance of matching emerging science to customer needs. Introduction Your organization might be killing breakthrough products before they’re born. Most breakthrough ideas never see the light of day. However, that is not true for the case study we’ll examine in this episode. We’ll explore how to build an innovation engine that turns science fiction-sounding ideas into market winning products with Christian Ference from Moleaer. His company won PDMA’s Outstanding Corporate Innovator Award by creating an entirely new technology category – nanobubbles – and deploying more than 3,500 systems globally in under eight years. You’ll discover the innovation practices that made them successful and that you can use in your organization. Christian is Global Product Manager at Moleaer, where he’s driven the commercialization of nanobubble technology from a mere concept with a two-person R&D team to what is now the standard practice across the industry. He holds degrees in Chemical and Environmental Engineering from University of Pittsburgh and previously co-founded Cropolis, giving him both startup and scale-up expertise in bringing emerging technologies to market. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Nanobubble Technology and Its Applications:Christian Ference introduces listeners to nanobubbles—tiny bubbles 200 nanometers or smaller, naturally occurring but now able to be precisely generated and used thanks to Moleaer’s technology. He explains how these nanobubbles are deployed to attain new levels of efficiency and sustainability in industries such as aquaculture, surface water remediation, and home spas and Jacuzzis. Applying for the PDMA Outstanding Corporate Innovator Award:The rigorous review process for PDMA’s OCI Award forced Moleaer to deeply analyze and articulate the scope of their innovation activities. Moleaer faces the challenge of simultaneously advancing science and developing product applications. In some markets, like aquaculture, the science is well understood and the company is confident of good product-market fit. In emerging markets, the science is developing alongside the product-market fit, so continual iteration is necessary. Moleaer’s 4D Innovation Process:Christian explained Moleaer’s 4D solutions development process: Discovery, Definition, Development, and Demonstration/Deployment. This process helps the team know how much risk is appropriate to take at each stage. In the early stages, fast iteration and experimentation is the priority, and in later stages the iteration speed is slower as the focus shifts to finding an optimal solution and scaling. Case Study: Jacuzzi True Water Product:Christian walks through how Moleaer collaborated with Jacuzzi to bring a new product to market. By following the 4D process, the team iterated quickly to address both customer desires for clean, odor-free water and technical constraints, ultimately succeeding in creating a market-ready solution that reduced chemical usage and improved user experience. Discovery: The team used a “reason to believe” framework, asking if there is a reason to believe the capabilities of nanobubbles can achieve the customers’ needs. They determined they could use nanobubbles to recue maintenance, improve water clarity, eliminate odors, and reduce chemical usage. Definition: The team rapidly prototyped nanobubble technology and quantitively measured the effects of nanobubbles in a spa, finding that nanobubble technology can eliminate chlorine smell and improve water clarity. Development: The team made hundreds of iterations of a nanobubble generator that met Jacuzzi’s requirements, such as power needs, water quality, and price point. This phase also involved refining the scope of the project to achieve the desired timeline, budget, and performance. Demonstration/Deployment: The team implemented their solution in a Jacuzzi factory. This stage is often the least exciting part of product development, but Christian points out that it’s important to execute well, because if you don’t do 100% of the work, you may get 0% of the value. Useful Links Learn more about Moleaer Connect with

Recap of key insights for product managers Watch on YouTube Introduction It is the first episode of 2026 and the beginning of the 12th year of the Product Mastery Now podcast, the longest running podcast for product managers. I’m recapping some stand-out episodes from 2025 and a couple from the previous years. I’m joined by my daughter and podcast producer, Kaitlin, who has written the podcast shownotes for the last several years. We each selected episodes from 2025 and an episode from the previous 10 years. I share my key takeaways from these episodes and we discuss the innovation quotes the guests shared. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers 568: How product operations drives efficiency and growth – with Robert Marten Robert, at Pendo, explained how to apply the idea of project operations to product management. A product operations capability helps product managers improve their work and consistency, especially when presenting to senior leadership.Innovation Quote: “Every system is perfectly designed to get the result it gets.” – Edwards Deming If we don’t get the results we want from a system, the system isn’t broken; it’s delivering what it’s designed to deliver. If you’re not getting what you want from your product management group, try to fix your processes. Sometimes people get blamed when the process needs to fixed. 569: Product innovation insights from non-buyer stakeholders – with Jenn Tuetken Jenn, director of innovation at Pella, explained how Pella reframed a problem with window installation. Previously the window industry attempted to solve problems with installation by training installers better. Pella instead decided to make their windows easier to install by doing ethnographic research with installers, who are important stakeholders but not customers. Innovation Quote: “I don’t exactly know where I’m going, but I know how I’m going to get there.” – Boyd Varty, lion tracker In innovation, we often don’t know the customer’s problem or solution until we do research. Innovation is a process of moving forward and learning along the way. 558: How sketch comedy makes you a better product manager and developer – with John Krewson John, a software product leader and professional sketch comedy performer, explained how principles from sketch comedy can be applied to product management. Improvisation is a useful skill for innovators, since we don’t always know what the next step is. Innovation Quote: “We don’t go on because it’s ready. We go on because it’s 11:30.” – Lorne Michaels This quote refers to Saturday Night Live’s performances, which started at 11:30, whether the team was ready or not. Similarly, a product may have to launch before the team feels it’s fully ready, and deadlines can ensure we keep moving forward. 549: Mastering product innovation, based on 60 years of design insights – with Scot & Walter Herbst Father and son Walter and Scot Herbst shared insights from their many years of product experience. Today, their design firm Herbst Produkt builds products for other companies. They guarantee that if they don’t come up with a market-winning product, their work will be free. They’re able to do this by deeply understanding the root cause of the problem and considering many alternative solutions. They bring four versions of a minimum viable product to the customer and synthesize the results from testing those into a single optimized product. Innovation Quote: “There is no prize for solving correctly what proves to be the wrong problem.”  – Emeritus Dean Julio Ottino from Northwestern University Many companies don’t validate their product until they launch it. A clear product process, which considers multiple possible solutions and validates them with customers along the way, ensures we launch a product that actually solves the customer’s problem. 2025 Special: My favorite product innovation conference – with Spike Ross-Corbett and Bill Reid In this episode, we talked about our favorite speakers at past PDMA Innovation conferences. Highlights include: Geoff Thatcher’s Experience Design Model: Apply theme park design (attract, trust, inform, internalize, act) to product management. Marissa Mayer’s 20% Time Story: Google’s AdSense was born from a culture that allows even “bad ideas” to be pursued, powering breakthrough innovation. DFW Innovation Culture (Outstanding Corporate Innovator Award Winner): Everyone can be an innovator. Cross-org training fosters every-employee innovation, even in public sector contexts.  Innovation Quote: “Someone is going to make your product obsolete. Make sure it’s you.” – Edwin Land Customer preferences and technology change, and if you’re not close to your customer, someone else who understands their needs better will surpass you. 548: Building a culture of fearless product innovation at Snap-On Tools –

Reinvented innovation sprints for lasting culture change on product management teams Watch on YouTube TLDR This episode of Product Mastery Now features a conversation with Sarah Stabelfeldt, VP of Innovation, and Melissa Pierson, Innovation Programs Manager at Schreiber Foods, about building high-impact innovation processes within large organizations. The discussion centers on Schreiber Foods’ journey to revitalize their innovation culture, launch The Hatchery coaching and innovation program, and successfully integrate AI tools to accelerate value creation. Key takeaways include how to foster cross-functional collaboration, strategies for maintaining innovation momentum after sprints, and practical ways to leverage AI to free teams for more meaningful, creative work. Introduction Product innovation processes are quickly improving. While this is great news, most organizations don’t even have a well-defined process. In this discussion, we’re exploring how to build an innovation engine that works, delivering value to customers and to the organization, with real AI integration that cuts development time from months to weeks or even days. If you’ve ever felt like your innovation sprints lose momentum, your stakeholders resist change, or you’re not sure how to practically use AI beyond the hype, you’re not alone. These are the challenges that led a $7 billion food company to reimagine how they innovate. And, we’ll learn about the innovation approach they created, called The Hatchery, including the AI tools they use. Our guests are both with Schreiber Foods. Sara Stabelfeldt is the VP of Innovation and was previously an Innovation Leader at Kimberly-Clark. Melissa Pierson, is the Innovation Programs Manager, who previously worked in quality systems and also held quality positions at Eli Lilly.  Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Schreiber Foods’ Innovation TransformationSchreiber Foods is a $7 billion customer-branded food company that manufactures cheese, yogurt, cream cheese, and aseptic beverages for retailers and food service. When CEO Ron Dunford took over in 2019, he initiated a transformation to accelerate growth by amplifying innovation capability. This led to a comprehensive innovation ecosystem including core innovation (supporting existing business), adjacent innovation (new revenue streams), digital labs, corporate venture capital, and The Hatchery—an innovation approach that helps companies build practical innovation cultures and programs. Building Culture Through the Snowball EffectSarah describes building culture as akin to building a snowball, an analogy coined by her colleague Erin Faulk. You can’t force culture by pushing too hard or it crumbles. Instead, you form it and let it roll, responding to the organizational climate, context, and people. Culture is built through repeated actions that demonstrate what’s valued, not just through messaging. This approach recognizes that innovation culture must adapt to its environment rather than being imposed from above. The Hatchery Innovation FrameworkSara explains that The Hatchery is an innovation approach developed at Schreiber Foods to equip product managers and innovators with the tools, structure, and approach to maximize culture and impact. The program alternates between learning and doing to help teams develop, practice and embed mindsets, behaviors, and technical skills in the organization to reignite innovation journeys. Practically implementing the Hatchery involves strategic coaching and mentoring, creating a culture of innovation, using an innovation toolbox, and running innovation sprints. Building Innovation CultureMelissa explains that The Hatchery helps teams believe that complex problems can be solved. Product teams that participate in sprints often return to their jobs with a new mindset to find different ways to solve problems. Product Innovation SprintsIn The Hatchery framework, cross-functional teams participate in week-long innovation sprints, applying best practices from a variety of innovation methodologies. These sprints begin with determining what the business or team is trying to achieve and identifying and quantifying the problem that is holding them back. Next, the team approaches the problem with empathy, trying to understand how other business units experience the same problem. Understanding others’ pain points allows the organization to share a collaborative mission. Next, the team discusses Jobs-To-Be-Done or “How might we” statements to unlock progress. They then work on idea generation, prioritization, and prototyping. The outcome of the sprint is a set of ideas and clarity on the next steps. Ending the Sprint with an Open HouseThe Hatchery sprints end with an open house, during which the team shows their work in progress to others from across the organization who help build ideas and give feedback. Sustaining Momentum After Inn

Accelerate, expand, and simplify your product management workflow Watch on YouTube TLDR Product managers struggle with using AI effectively despite the hype around its potential. Valerio Zanini, author of AI for Product Managers, shares practical frameworks for leveraging AI tools in customer discovery, hypothesis validation, and feature selection. Key insights include using AI as a discovery assistant to analyze customer interview transcripts, synthesizing market research across multiple sources, and creating rapid prototypes with AI coding tools. Our conversation addresses real barriers product managers face—from corporate restrictions to lack of expertise—and provides actionable approaches to accelerate time-to-insight from months to weeks or days. Introduction Product managers know that discovery and validation can make or break a new product or a new version of a product. But, how can AI help us have more success in these areas while also accelerating our work from months to weeks or even days? Many product teams are drowning in customer data while simultaneously starving for actionable insights—it is a challenge I encounter often when I train product managers in companies. AI brings emerging tools to gain value from this data and improve our work. You’re probably already using AI in your work, but I also bet you want to know how to get more from it—how to unlock it’s real potential. Today, you’ll learn specific approaches for using AI to conduct customer discovery, validate hypotheses faster, and select features. Our guest, Valerio Zanini, brings 20 years of product experience, from founding startups to leading digital transformation at Capital One. He’s trained thousands of product managers worldwide and literally wrote the book on AI for Product Managers. His frameworks aren’t theoretical—they’re tested across industries and proven to accelerate time-to-insight. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Valerio’s Book, AI for Product ManagersValerio wrote AI for Product Managers after discovering a gap between AI hype and reality. While social media showcases impressive AI use cases, his research revealed most product managers don’t use AI due to corporate restrictions, lack knowledge about implementation, or struggle with basic application. The book addresses the practical barriers preventing product teams from capturing AI’s benefits, moving beyond theoretical possibilities to tested frameworks that work across industries. When used correctly, AI tools expand, simplify, and accelerate product managers’ work. The Gap in AI Adoption by Product ManagersMany product managers face significant obstacles to AI adoption that don’t appear in success stories. Corporate environments often restrict AI tool access due to privacy concerns, leaving teams with sandboxed systems inferior to consumer tools like ChatGPT. Product managers frequently lack permission to use AI, don’t understand how to apply it effectively, or face organizational inertia. This creates a disconnect between the potential demonstrated in workshops and conferences versus day-to-day practice where teams remain starved for actionable insights despite drowning in customer data. AI as a Discovery AssistantAI excels at analyzing customer interview transcripts to find patterns and insights that humans might miss. After conducting customer interviews, product managers can feed transcripts into AI tools to identify recurring themes, pain points, and unmet needs across conversations. The AI can also act as a synthetized user, helping to expand thinking into areas not initially considered and providing different perspectives on customer feedback. This approach transforms hours of manual analysis into minutes while uncovering insights that might otherwise remain hidden in the data. Synthetic Users vs Real Customer InterviewsValerio shared an example of practicing customer interviews in different settings—sitting in a coffee shop talking to real people versus interviewing synthetic AI customers from your office. Synthetic users are digital personas that can simulate customer interviews, providing insights about behaviors, problems, and needs. This offers two key benefits: speed (conducting research in a day from your desk) and practice (refining interview techniques before engaging real customers). Valerio noticed that AI users can help uncover problems that real people may be uncomfortable sharing. On the other hand, real people helped him find edge cases that AI missed. Synthesizing Market ResearchProduct managers typically gather market research from multiple sources—analyst reports, competitor analysis, industry trends—but may struggle to synthesize this information effectively. AI can process and combine insights from diverse sources, identifying connections and patterns across materials. Rather than spending days reading and consolidating reports manually, product ma

How top industry leaders are breaking down barriers in product management and innovation Watch on YouTube TLDR Three innovation consultants—Matt Phillips, Mike Hyzy, and Will Evans—share insights from facilitating the executive innovation track at PDMA’s Ignite Innovation Conference. The session brought together 25 senior directors and VPs from Fortune 100 companies to discuss their most pressing innovation challenges. They discussed key challenges to innovation, including managing capacity to carve out space for innovation work, driving AI adoption across the workforce, and building innovation cultures that spread beyond dedicated innovation teams. Solutions discussed include celebrating effort over success, creating visible recognition systems for innovators, and developing innovation models that train innovation champions across different parts of organizations. Introduction What happens when innovation executives from across industries gather in one room to surface their most urgent challenges? In this discussion, we’re going behind the scenes of the Executive Innovation Track at PDMA’s Ignite Innovation conference—a rare opportunity where leaders dropped their guard and revealed the real innovation challenges keeping them up at night. We’ll discuss the actual challenges executives are facing right now, discover which constraints matter most, and learn how leaders are breaking through their biggest innovation barriers.  Our guests facilitated this executive session. Matt Phillips founded Phillips & Co., advising companies like Paramount Pictures and Pepsi on accelerating innovation. Mike Hyzy leads CGI’s Product Studio, helping organizations turn AI and emerging tech into market-winning products. Will Evans from Fugue Strategy brings strategic foresight and Theory of Constraints expertise to help companies build adaptive organizations. Find out more about the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) and next year’s innovation conference. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Challenges in Innovation Managing Capacity for InnovationWill Evans highlighted that executives struggle to carve out capacity—both internal and external resources—to do innovation work while managing existing operations. Organizations face the tension between day-to-day operational demands and the need to invest in future innovation. AI Adoption and ROIMike Hyzy identified low adoption rates as a major challenge. Even after selecting AI platforms (Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, GitHub Copilot, etc.), only 15% of employees typically use these tools. Without widespread adoption, organizations can’t achieve the promised ROI from AI investments. The challenge extends across different personas and roles, from knowledge workers to engineers. Culture and Spreading Innovation Beyond the FewMatt Phillips found that culture is a barrier to innovation. Executives are facing challenges trying to spread innovation beyond dedicated NPD or innovation groups. Leadership attitudes and organizational culture often prevent employees from suggesting ideas or taking innovation risks. Solutions and Approaches Celebrating Effort, Not Just SuccessOrganizations should recognize teams and individuals who attempt innovation, even when efforts don’t result in products. One manufacturing company created an “innovation wall” that celebrates anyone who suggests an idea or launches a product, reinforcing that innovation is valued regardless of outcome. Moving Beyond Monetary RewardsEffective recognition goes beyond financial incentives. Visibility matters—putting people on pedestals, sharing their stories, and creating narrative examples that shape culture. Recognition should be authentic and tied to what makes individuals feel valued in their specific organizational context. Change Management EvolutionThe discussion highlighted that template-driven change management is becoming less effective. Organizations need to relearn how to manage through change, starting with individual transformation rather than top-down mandates. Breaking Down Silos Through Transparency and CommunicationOrganizational silos create significant waste and duplication. Executives shared examples of teams discovering they’d been working on identical projects for months, spending tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars unnecessarily. One IT leader from a large insurance company stressed the importance of making roadmaps and IT system implementations visible across the organization to prevent duplicate software license purchases and redundant project work. Effective communication unlocks innovation. Large companies excel at building silos, making continuous visibility into ongoing work critical for innovation efficiency. Middle Management ResistanceMiddle management often creates bottlenecks in the innovation process. While entry-level employees feel free to generate ideas and senior management supports

How Pella revolutionized the window industry by solving installers’ overlooked pain points Watch on YouTube TLDR This episode explores how Pella Corporation transformed window installation by shifting their innovation focus from buyers to installers—the often-overlooked specialists whose work makes or breaks the customer experience. Director of Innovation, Design, and Brand Experience Jenn Tuetken shares the journey behind developing Pella’s award-winning Steady Set Interior Installation System, which slashes install time by 72% and enables a single person to complete what once required two. Learn about deeply immersive market research, uncovering hidden pain points, and the strategic moves that made industry-wide change possible—all without lowering prices. Introduction What if your biggest innovation opportunity isn’t with the people who buy your product, but with the people who install it? We’re exploring how Pella Corporation revolutionized the window industry by obsessing over installers—the critical users who don’t purchase windows but determine whether every installation succeeds or fails. You’ll discover a framework for researching non-buyer stakeholders, specific techniques for uncovering hidden pain points people have accepted as normal, and strategies for driving market adoption without lowering prices—all through the story of an innovation that cuts installation time by 72% and can transform a two-person job into a one-person task. Joining us is Jenn Tuetken, Director of Innovation, Design, and Brand Experience at Pella Corporation, where she’s led the development of award-winning innovations including the Steady Set Interior Installation System and Hidden Screen. With experience from Michael Graves Design Group to founding her own design consultancy, she brings over 15 years of expertise in translating user insights into breakthrough products. Find out more about the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) and next year’s innovation conference. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers New Product Ideas from Customer Visits:Jenn recommends visiting customers as a method to better understand their needs and generate ideas for new products. At Pella, a window company, product managers can easily visit customers or potential customers, since nearly everyone owns windows, but the large amount of information available can make distilling meaningful insights a challenge. The Strategic Shift:After 90 years of focusing innovation on homeowners, Pella recognized they had a critical blind spot. Their products were designed for building systems and codes, not for the installer experience. Pella’s innovation team discovered that poor installations were driving customer callbacks, damaging brand reputation, and creating market inefficiency. This realization led them to target installers as an innovation opportunity, even though installers don’t purchase the product. Ethnographic Research Methodology:Pella conducted ethnographic field research with installers across different skill levels and markets, shadowing them for 8-10 hour days to observe their workflows and pain points. Two innovation team members—an engineer and a designer—observed installers and distilled insights full-time for three months. The team focused on watching what people do rather than just listening to what they say. This approach proved essential for uncovering normalized inefficiencies that users had accepted as standard practice and no longer thought to mention or complain about. Customer Insights:The research revealed that installers weren’t complaining because they assumed “this is just how it is.” The windows were designed to be installed from the outside of the house, but for safety most installers installed windows from the inside, requiring two people. Installers had been adapting their work to poorly designed products rather than products being designed for their needs. Market research showed that installers would actually pay more for products that saved them time and reduced labor requirements. The Innovation: InstaLaunch System:Pella redesigned their windows to be installable from the inside of the house. The InstaLaunch system improves safety and transforms two-person installation jobs into one-person tasks. This provides faster speed to market for builders and creates product differentiation without competing on price. The innovation addressed the core pain point while delivering measurable value across the entire value chain. Launch Strategy:Pella started by validating their hypothesis through installer conversations, then built early prototypes for field testing and iteration. They tested their prototypes with installers on the job site, including testing how easy it was to learn how to use the system. The company took a calculated risk by accepting public pre-launch visibility to gain market momentum, which enabled partne

Tools, data, and process for product ops – lessons for product managers from Pendo Watch on YouTube TLDR This episode dives into the increasingly impactful world of product operations, with insights from Robert Marten, Senior Manager of Product Operations at Pendo. We discuss what product operations is, how it streamlines efficiency for product teams, its key pillars (tools, data, process), cultural shifts toward focusing on customer problems over requirements, and practical examples of tool use and benefits at Pendo. You’ll learn how product operations makes product management less chaotic, accelerates onboarding, and fosters a collaborative, efficient culture. Introduction Today’s topic is product operations. A lot of product teams are drowning in documentation, don’t have a clear focus, and might not really know what their North Star is. Groups that have adopted product operations have found success, but a lot of organizations don’t know about product operations yet. We’re going to dive into details about what product operations is. I am joined by Robert Marten. He is the Senior Manager of Product Operations at Pendo. You may recognize Pendo as the software tool that helps people writing software products themselves augment them with instrumentation to get better insights. Robert is revolutionizing how Pendo does operations themselves. He has a unique background spanning military operations as an Air Force commander to leading Agile transformations at Johnson & Johnson. Robert brings a systems thinking approach to produce development and product management. Find out more about the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) and next year’s innovation conference. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers What is Product Operations?Robert shares that product operations is about maximizing efficiency in executing a product’s mission. At Pendo, it focuses on tools, data, and process, aiming to empower product managers to do deep work rather than get bogged down in administrative chaos. Reducing Process & Enhancing EfficiencyProcess isn’t about bureaucracy—it’s about streamlining activities and ruthlessly removing unnecessary steps. Robert emphasizes that the goal is efficiency, not standardization for its own sake. Product ops should remove process whenever the cost of the process in time or money outweighs its benefits. Solving Communication ChallengesDisjointed communication and documentation practices slow teams down. Standardized reporting and tool use help with transparency, giving everyone access to current information and helping align teams on customer-centric objectives. Focus on Solving Customer ProblemsRobert has observed product teams focusing on the product’s scope or requirement document instead of solving the customer problem. This leads to inefficiencies like not killing a feature soon enough or killing it too soon. Simply changing your language in conversations to reference the customer problem rather than the scope of the product can help the team maintain the right focus. Tooling at PendoRobert describes how Pendo itself, Airtable, and the Atlassian Suite (JIRA, Confluence) are used to drive product ops. Tools are chosen for flexibility, enabling tailored views and efficient status reporting. From Chaos to ClarityOne of the most tangible benefits of product ops is the reduction in “fires”—less confusion, fewer last-minute emergencies, and more time for meaningful work. Product ops ensures that everyone is on the same page, facilitating faster time to market and better alignment to customer needs. Impact on Career GrowthProduct ops helps product managers ramp up faster, develop their skills more quickly, and spend more time on impactful work that helps them build their brand within the organization. Useful Links Connect with Robert on LinkedIn Learn more about Pendo Listen to episode 363: Get better performance by being a product-led organization – with Todd Olson Innovation Quote “Learning is not compulsory. Neither is survival.” – Edwards Deming “Every system is perfectly designed to get the result it gets.” – Edwards Deming Application Questions How does your team currently manage product documentation and communication, and where do inefficiencies show up? In your organization, do product managers “dual hat” with ops roles? Would separating these roles improve your team’s efficiency? How do you ensure your product work stays focused on solving customer problems rather than just completing the documented scope? What tools and processes do you use for status reporting, and are they flexible and accessible to everyone who needs them? How could product operations help you reduce chaos and fires in your daily work, and what barriers do you see to implementing it in your organization? Bio Robert Marten is currently the Senior Manager of Product Operations at P

Transforming customer insight with AI – for product managers Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode, I sit down with Dr. David Robertson, senior lecturer at MIT Sloan and co-founder of ProtoBoost AI, to explore the transformative impact of AI on the innovation process. Drawing on decades of experience in product management and innovation, David Robertson discusses how product managers can leverage AI at every stage of the innovation lifecycle—from customer research and need-finding to prototyping, business case development, and cross-functional coordination. The episode covers practical challenges product managers face, ways AI can augment key skills, and the future potential and risks of AI-driven innovation. Introduction Our guest is Dr. David Robertson, a senior lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management. We are talking about the impact of AI on the innovation process. David is the author of Brick by Brick, the book on LEGO’s rebound from near bankruptcy around 2003, and the author of The Power of Little Ideas on complementary innovation. David spent five years at McKinsey leading the product development practice and has served as CEO of multiple tech companies. He recently co-founded his own tech company, ProtoBoost.ai to accelerate AI driven innovation. He has also taught at Wharton and IMD Switzerland and now runs MIT’s largest executive ed program. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers AI’s Transformation of Innovation: AI can now be applied at nearly every step in the traditional innovation process—design sprints, customer insight, prototyping, business modeling, and more. A Brief History of AI: David Robertson reflects on the evolution from 1980s rule-based AI to today’s data-driven, generative models capable of natural language processing and complex tasks. Challenges for Product Managers: Many product managers have strengths in some areas (e.g. customer understanding, engineering dialogue) but lack expertise in others (e.g. financial modeling, stakeholder communication). AI is emerging as a tool to fill these skill gaps. David highlights the use of AI in helping product managers communicate with other stakeholders, understand the effect of a new feature on P&L, and talk to customers. Synthetic Customers: Recent advances show AI can act as synthetic customers, simulating human responses for interviews and market research, sometimes even more reliably than real users. AI Agents for Every Stage: David anticipates specialized AI agents for building business cases, segmenting markets, or validating user needs—PMs shift from juggling every detail to orchestrating and validating agent outputs. Useful Links Connect with David on LinkedIn Listen to the episode about LEGO’s transformation: 537: Step-by-step community engagement for your product – with Jake McKee Innovation Quote “Play all the keys on the innovation piano. “Date your customer. Don’t fight your competitor. “Innovation flourishes when the space for it is limited.” – David Robertson Application Questions Which stages of your innovation process could most benefit from AI-driven support or automation, and why? How could synthetic customers or AI-powered personas change your approach to need-finding and user research? Where do you see the biggest skill gaps in your product management team, and what AI tools could help bridge these gaps? What challenges do you anticipate when orchestrating multiple AI agents to support complex innovation tasks? How can deliberately introducing constraints in your innovation projects promote more focused and valuable outcomes? Bio David Robertson teaches AI-driven Innovation at the MIT Sloan School of Management and is the Faculty Director for Sloan’s largest executive education program, the Executive Program in General Management.  David has also created and leads MIT Sloan’s new executive program Revitalizing Existing Products Using AI-Driven Innovation.  Prior to MIT, David was a Professor at the Wharton School and from 2002 through 2010 was the LEGO Professor of Innovation at the Swiss business school IMD.  At IMD David was given inside access to The LEGO Group where he wrote his award-winning book ‘Brick by Brick:  How LEGO Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global Toy Industry’.   David’s follow-on book – The Power of Little Ideas: A Low-Risk, High-Reward Approach to Innovation – explained how to apply the LEGO innovation strategy to any company in any industry.  David has been recognized as a “Thinkers50” thought leader, has won numerous teaching awards, and has published 3 award-winning books.  He is a member of the Cherokee Nation and is currently working on a book on Native Innovation.  Thanks! Thank you for taking the journey to product mastery and learning with me from the successes an

How product managers can leverage AI to analyze and act on customer feedback Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode, I’m interviewing John Mitchell, President of Applied Marketing Science (AMS), on the evolving role of AI in Voice of the Customer (VOC) research. We discuss how AI is transforming the way companies capture customer needs, the importance of thoughtful customer research design, common pitfalls, and the critical balance between leveraging human insight and machine learning. John gives practical advice on asking better questions, the value of storytelling, and real-world examples demonstrate both the power and current limitations of AI-driven VOC. Introduction Today we’re talking about how we understand customers’ unmet needs and problems. There’s a lot of information these days in reviews, social media posts, and other online mechanisms, and we’re probably missing a lot of it. There are some tools out there that could help us do a better job understanding what’s going on. We’ll dive into just what some of the options are for us and also how AI is impacting this. Our guest is John Mitchell. He is the president of Applied Marketing Science (AMS). John has spent over 20 years helping Fortune 500 companies and startups alike understand their customers better. He has trained over a thousand people on Voice of the Customer (VOC) approaches and led customer-insight workshops at McKinsey, Innosight, and Vistaprint before coming back to lead AMS. Whether you’re pioneering VOC research in your organization or just getting into how AI can help us with this, AMS has a deep history with this that John has been part of. This episode was recorded live at the Ignite Innovation Conference, the Product Development and Management Association’s annual conference. To find out more about PDMA and how it can help your career, go to PDMA.org. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers The Evolution of VOC & AI’s Role:John Mitchell traces VOC from face-to-face interviews and observational research to today’s use of AI and machine learning, highlighting how AI accelerates insights, uncovers overlooked data, and helps companies extract more value from existing information. Common VOC Mistakes:Many teams underprepare for VOC research, talk only to “A-list” or friendly customers, or simply ask customers what they want (which often leads to generic answers). Deep customer understanding and competitive advantage come from well-structured research and targeting a broader audience. Asking Better Questions:Instead of generic questions, John Mitchell recommends getting customers to tell detailed stories about their experiences, which reveal both functional and emotional needs. AI Tools in VOC:There are three main AI approaches for VOC work: open tools (with noted security risks), secure commercial data analysis platforms, and purpose-built tools trained to articulate customer needs from large data sources. AI extends and enhances human analysis, often finding emotional unmet needs that people might miss. Synthetic Customers:While not yet widely adopted by AMS, synthetic personas have potential for rapid concept evaluation—though John Mitchell cautions against over-reliance, emphasizing that real human feedback remains irreplaceable. Real-World Example:In the paint and stains category, AMS compared traditional human VOC analysis to an AI model, finding that a combined approach surfaced the most comprehensive set of customer needs. Voice Recorder Tip:John recommends that every product researcher should record their customer interviews (using a dedicated device), ensuring nothing is missed and allowing for high-quality AI or human analysis downstream. Useful Links Connect with John on LinkedIn Learn more about Applied Marketing Science Listen to 529: Is this the best AI-powered market research approach? – with Carmel Dibner Innovation Quote “ If I had asked customers what they want, they would have said a faster horse.” – attributed to Henry Ford Application Questions How could you leverage AI tools to analyze existing customer feedback more efficiently without compromising on the depth and quality of insights? What steps can you take to ensure your VOC research covers a representative sample of your market, not just your biggest or friendliest customers? Reflect on a recent market research effort: did the team fall into any of the common traps discussed (e.g., insufficient preparation, asking customers for solutions)? How might you incorporate storytelling into your customer interviews to uncover both functional and emotional needs? What balance do you see between AI-driven analysis and human interpretation when making high-stakes product decisions, and where do you feel each adds the most value? Bio John has over 25 years’ experience in marketing strategy, market research, and innovation. He specializes in research to support new product development

How product managers use AI to boost productivity and innovation success Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode of Product Mastery Now, Katie Trauth Taylor, PhD, CEO and co-founder of Narratize AI, joins me to discuss how AI is transforming product innovation processes. She shares insights from working with Fortune 500 companies like NASA, Boeing, and Comcast, and dives into research showing that product and R&D teams spend up to 70% of their time on documentation and communication rather than true innovation. Katie outlines four best practices for leveraging AI, including the use of knowledge hubs, AI agents, and robust documentation processes, to unlock productivity, capture tribal knowledge, and speed up time to market by as much as 46%. The conversation also highlights the importance of storytelling in gaining buy-in for new ideas and the potential for AI to revolutionize knowledge management and portfolio intelligence. Introduction Product teams waste a lot of their time doing things that don’t help get to the heart of product innovation. We need to flip the script on that so that we can be more productive with our innovation efforts. In this discussion, you’re going to learn how companies like Boeing, Comcast, and others are accomplishing this. We’re going to talk about four specific approaches for unleashing AI for product innovation. To help us with that is our guest, Dr. Katie Trauth Taylor. She is the CEO and co-founder of Narratize AI, and she helps R&D transform their scattered knowledge into a competitive advantage. She has worked with NASA, Boeing, and other Fortune 500 companies to cut documentation time and speed products to market. Katie discovered that innovators are spending too much of their time just trying to communicate their ideas, and she built an AI platform to improve this. She holds a PhD from Purdue University and has published peer-reviewed research on innovation storytelling that’s reshaping how teams work. Find out more about the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) and next year’s innovation conference. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers The Problem with Documentation:Product teams spend roughly 70% of their time on documentation, reporting, and knowledge lookup instead of direct innovation. This significantly slows time to market. AI as a Knowledge Capture Tool:Katie turned to large language models to transform how product teams do documentation. AI can systematically prompt and capture insights, store tribal knowledge, and automate documentation customized to roles and project phases. The Power of Storytelling:Successful innovation relies on crafting compelling narratives, not just data. Five drivers for effective storytelling are empathy, engagement, alignment, evidence, and impact. Best Practices for Leveraging AI in Product Teams: Think Outside the Chatbot: AI tools are a knowledge-capture capability, not just a question-and-answer capability. Use AI to prompt and store deep organizational insights, not just answer questions. Narratize AI provides workflows for product innovation processes like Agile and Jobs-To-Be-Done. Embrace AI Agents: Agents can provide proactive, role-specific updates (like regulatory changes or market intelligence) and work in the background. Documentation or It Didn’t Happen: Accurate, human-reviewed documentation is crucial for knowledge management and competitive advantage. Toward Product Portfolio Intelligence: With AI-enabled product knowledge hubs, organizations can now have real-time insights across portfolios, breaking silos and aiding strategic decisions. Knowledge Management Revolution:Capturing lessons learned and even past failures allows organizations to prevent repeating mistakes and leverage prior discoveries, especially as a significant portion of the workforce retires. Actionable Insights for Product Managers: Building cross-functional relationships is vital. Don’t innovate in a silo. Portfolio intelligence can transform decision-making beyond traditional management by surfacing insights on demand. AI enables better onboarding, reduces redundant efforts, and future-proofs organizations as knowledge is no longer lost with employee turnover. Useful Links Learn more about Narratize Check out the Narratize YouTube channel Connect with Katie on LinkedIn Innovation Quote “If it’s a truly disruptive innovation from a company, you can almost guarantee it wasn’t a straight A-to-B path that delivered the results. So as you recognize the success, recognize also the journey that got you there.” – Joel Schall Application Questions How much time does your team currently spend on documentation and communication versus actual product innovation? In what ways could AI help you capture and surface tribal knowledge within your organization? Which of the five storytelling drivers—empathy, engagement, alignment, evidence, impact—do you find hardest to implem

What product managers should know about patents, trade secrets, and copyright Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode, I’m joined by David Carstens, a seasoned IP attorney and founding partner at Carstens, Allen & Gourley, who brings over 30 years of legal and technical experience in intellectual property (IP) strategy. Our conversation dives into the importance of IP management for product managers, how to build an IP strategy, when to consider patents versus trade secrets, the complexities of software and AI-generated content, and the rapid pace of change in the IP landscape. The episode is a must-listen for any product manager navigating decisions around invention protection, copyright, and the evolving influence of artificial intelligence. Introduction If you’ve ever wondered whether to patent that new feature, worried about AI training data copyright issues, or struggled to justify IP investment to leadership, you’re not alone. We’re exploring intellectual property strategy for product managers—and what it means to get it right and how expensive it can be when you get it wrong. Most product managers don’t receive training on IP strategy, yet the decisions you make daily have massive IP implications. Our guest is David Carstens, who has a unique combination of technical depth and legal expertise. He’s a founding partner at Carstens, Allen & Gourley. He has dual engineering degrees, an MBA, and over 30 years experience protecting IP for companies building software, medical devices, and telecommunications products. He’s also an entrepreneur who founded multiple companies including a nationally chartered bank and an innovation platform, plus he’s been teaching IP law at SMU for three decades. David is currently investing in and speaking about the Fifth Industrial Revolution, making him well positioned to help us also understand how AI is reshaping IP strategy. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers IP Strategy Framework:David mentions that there isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” framework for IP strategy; it starts with assessing a company’s current position, identifying valuable innovations, evaluating what can realistically be protected, and aligning actions with budget constraints. Key steps include identifying strong value propositions, checking for existing patents or IP conflicts, and sometimes considering licensing or redesign if a competitor already owns relevant patents. Timing and Collaboration:Product managers should start thinking about IP early—preferably well before product launch or tooling investment. Collaborating with an IP attorney and creating a culture that values teamwork and knowledge sharing can help spot and protect innovations more effectively. Patents, Trade Secrets, and Value:Patents offer competitive advantages by providing pricing freedom, can act as bargaining assets, and are vital for companies seeking investment. Trade secrets, by contrast, are about keeping valuable information confidential (e.g., formulas or processes not disclosed publicly), but are only effective if the information can’t be easily reverse-engineered from the product. Software & AI Challenges:The fast pace of software development often complicates patent decisions. Patentability is more likely when software enables a genuinely novel technical process rather than automating routine tasks. For AI-generated content, copyright ownership is still unsettled; it usually depends on the degree of human contribution to the creative process. Legal systems are racing to catch up as AI shakes up traditional definitions of authorship and originality. The Fifth Industrial Revolution and Legal Evolution:David argues we’re entering a new industrial age defined by AI, blockchain, quantum computing, and advanced materials. The IP legal framework, largely unchanged for centuries, is struggling to keep pace with these rapid innovations, making adaptability and ongoing awareness essential for product managers. Useful Link Learn more about Carstens, Allen & Gourley Intellectual Property Law Firm Innovation Quote “Pressure is a privilege.” – Billie Jean King Application Questions At what point in your product development process do you typically involve IP considerations, and how might earlier engagement affect outcomes? How do you differentiate between an innovation worth patenting versus keeping as a trade secret in your product or technology stack? What internal processes or culture shifts could help your team better identify and protect intellectual property? How does the uncertainty around AI-generated content and copyright influence your use of AI tools in product development? What steps can you take to ensure your IP strategy remains effective as emerging tech (AI, blockchain, etc.) rapidly changes the innovation landscape? Bio David Carstens distinguishes himself not only through his comprehensive knowledge of legal protection of Intellectual Prop

A leadership framework that gives product managers influence Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode, Uma Subramanian shares her insights and proven framework for transitioning from individual contributor to effective leader in tech and product management roles. Drawing from her extensive experience at Microsoft and Turing, Uma explains the identity shift required for leadership, introduces her SOAR framework (Strategic Impact, Outstanding Communication, Authority/Personal Brand, Relationship Mastery), and provides actionable tips for developing each pillar. Listeners will learn how to think beyond their immediate role, communicate their impact, build a compelling personal brand, and master the art of building relationships—all key to becoming sought-after leaders. Introduction Today we’re exploring a challenging transition in product management —the shift from individual contributor to someone who multiplies the success of others. I know the first time I became responsible for a team, I was a fish out of water. I knew what made me successful in my previous role, but I didn’t know how to be successful leading others. I had not learned that yet. How do you lead when no one actually taught you how to lead? In this discussion, we’re going to give you a proven framework and helpful tools for successfully making this transition. Our guest is Uma Subramanian, and she understands this transformation very well. She spent 20 years at Microsoft evolving from programmer to leading global teams. Then she became Head of Developer Success at Turing, where she built a developer community from zero to 37,000 members in just five months while driving NPS scores to world-class levels of 92. She’s a certified executive coach with Maxwell Leadership, trained in positive psychology, and now helps tech professionals worldwide make this same leadership leap through her company, Limitless Leaders. Uma understands both the technical and human sides of this challenge. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers The Leadership Identity Shift:Uma and host Chad discuss how moving into leadership isn’t just a role change but an identity change. Success as an individual often doesn’t translate directly; leaders must learn to orchestrate success with others. Uma’s SOAR Framework for Leadership: S – Strategic Impact: Thinking beyond your job description to create greater value for your organization, being proactive, and bringing others along. O – Outstanding Communication: Communicating your value effectively, using storytelling to persuade, and making sure your impact is recognized. A – Authority & Personal Brand: Defining what you want to be known for, aligning others’ perceptions with your authentic self, and standing out in your niche. R – Relationship Mastery: Building genuine relationships at all levels, creating an ecosystem of support, and focusing on people as much as tasks. Encouraging Teams to Rally Around Strategic Goals:Product leaders elevate impact company-wide, often going beyond their assigned responsibilities. This approach can lead to friction, such as when Uma developed engineering tools without first looping in the appropriate teams. Through these experiences, Uma learned that encouraging teams to align with strategic goals requires proactive communication and collaboration. She highlights the value of involving the appropriate teams early on as well as partnering across teams to solve problems together. Communicating Your Impact Effectively:Many professionals often hesitate to communicate their value, fearing it might come across as self-promotion or bragging, or believing others already know what they’ve accomplished. Uma encourages a shift from simply discussing tasks and experiences to focusing on the results and business value those efforts create. Impactful communication also involves storytelling—not just presenting data or logic, but tapping into the emotional side to persuade stakeholders and gain buy-in. She has seen how developing storytelling skills can “change the game” for her clients and help their contributions gain recognition and support from upper management. Building Your Personal Brand:Uma highlights the power of clear, intentional branding—including “I am” statements—which can help leaders articulate what they’re uniquely great at and shape how they’re perceived across their careers. Uma shares her own experience: When interviewing for a leadership position at Turing after her time at Microsoft, she created a pitch deck that included several “I am” statements. These reflected recurring themes throughout her career: “I love to build things from the ground up.” “I love to bring people together and help them grow.” “I love to take on new challenges.” Your brand and “I am” statements are not tailored to a single job or company—they should be innately true and consistently evident across your career. Relationship Mastery:Building great relationships goes beyond pr

Practical strategies for building influence and confidence from a Product VP coach Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode, I talk with Rebecca Arora, founder of Access Alignment, executive coach, and author of Somatic Intelligence, about making the transition from successful product manager or director to VP of Product and beyond. Rebecca shares practical strategies for this professional transition, including the need to shift from domain expertise to people leadership, the importance of relationship mapping, communication skills, and strategic thinking. She offers advice on handling stress, leveraging self-awareness, and using coaching techniques to empower teams. We also explore how to set yourself up for success in the first 90 days of a new leadership role. Introduction Let’s say you’re a product manager, you have done outstanding work, and you’re getting promoted to Product VP. Congratulations! The excitement lasts about 24 hours before reality hits. Suddenly you’re responsible for product strategy, team leadership, board presentations, and influencing executives. The skills that made you successful as an individual contributor won’t be enough to make you successful as a Product VP. How do you make this transition? Many of the Product VPs I have talked with use a professional coach to help them move from doing product management work to leading the people who do the work. Our guest today is one of those coaches who has helped several Product VPs. From this episode, you’ll learn practical steps to take for making a similar transition from individual contributor to leader, setting yourself up for long-term success.  Our guest is Rebecca Arora, founder of Access Alignment and author of Somatic Intelligence. Rebecca has a unique background – she was a Co-Founder and the first Product Leader at Mode Media, which scaled to become the #1 lifestyle digital media company. She also contributed to product strategy at Oracle. For the past 16 years, she’s been coaching C-suite leaders and top execs in all functions (including Product). Rebecca’s clients work at exceptional companies such as Google, Salesforce, IDEO, Pinterest, Blue Shield of California, Accenture, and many more. Her book, Somatic Intelligence, helps leaders align head, heart, and body to lead with awareness, confidence, and clarity.  Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Transitioning from Individual Contributor to Leader:Rebecca describes the challenges facing newly promoted Product VPs, noting the skills that made you a great product manager may not be sufficient as a senior leader. The key leap is shifting your mindset from being an expert to becoming more of a coach and empowering others. The Company as Your Product:As you move up, your sphere of influence expands. Rebecca encourages leaders to think of the company and entire industry as their “product,” applying product management skills to relationships, organizations, and strategy, not just the features you build. Overcoming the Expert Trap:Product leaders can struggle with letting go of being the domain expert and instead fostering empowerment and growth in others. Rebecca advises asking open-ended coaching questions and making space for your team to experiment—even if they do things differently from how you would. Relationship Mapping and Communication:Building new relationships is a priority. Rebecca suggests creating a relationship map to identify stakeholders and potential influencers, addressing conflicts, and strengthening weak connections. Top product leaders may leverage communication coaching to refine their tone and message delivery. Self-Awareness and Blind Spots:While developing your own self-awareness, simultaneously encourage self-awareness from your team. Rebecca advocates for collecting feedback, self-assessment, and being aware of personality differences within a team. She highlights the value of recognizing your blind spots and understanding that not everyone is motivated or learns the same way you do. You cannot always guide people the way you want to be guided. 360-degree Feedback:Product leaders can get 360-degree feedback by interviewing their boss, direct reports, peers, and other stakeholders and ask them, “What are my strengths?” and “What could I improve upon?” First 90 Days in a Product Leadership Role:Rebecca’s advice is to go on a listening tour—ask lots of questions and be curious. Apply user research principles to understanding the organization. Prioritize relationship-building at all levels. Hone your strategic, long-range industry viewpoint. Managing Stress and Personal Growth:The transition to senior leadership is stressful and can feel isolating. Rebecca shares practical tips: slow down (“Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.”), lean back to get perspective on challenges, smile more, and use humor to reset your mindset. Rebecca recommends that during a stressful time, p

How product managers can build emotional connections that drive retention, revenue, and referrals Watch on YouTube TLDR Product delight goes beyond functionality to create emotional connections with users. Dr. Nesrine Changuel, former product leader at Google, Spotify, and Microsoft, presents a four-step framework for systematically building delight into products. The approach involves identifying both functional and emotional motivators, turning them into product opportunities, categorizing solutions using a Delight Grid, and validating through a Delight Excellence Checklist. Research shows emotionally connected users have 2x higher retention and revenue, plus 60% more referrals. The optimal product portfolio balances 50% functional features, 40% deep delight (both functional and emotional), and 10% surface delight (purely emotional). Introduction Why do customers choose your product? Is it faster, does it have the best features, or is it priced better than your competitors? Don’t kid yourself, these are areas where your competitors can easily reach parity. So, what makes a product stand out? What makes it become the product customers genuinely love and can’t imagine living without? Not only will you find out in this episode, but you’ll also learn about the framework to make it happen. Our guest expert is Dr. Nesrine Changuel. She has spent over a decade building products used by millions at Google, Spotify, and Microsoft. She’s the creator of the Delight Framework that helped teams at these companies systematically build emotional connection into products. She now teaches this methodology at business schools, including INSEAD and ESSEC, and her recent book, Product Delight, describes these proven methods. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers What is Product Delight?Product delight means creating products that connect with users on an emotional level while solving functional problems. It addresses both what users need to accomplish and how they want to feel while using the product. The Four-Step Delight Framework: Identify Motivators: List both functional motivators (what users want to accomplish) and emotional motivators (how they want to feel – productive, secure, connected, etc.). Create Product Opportunities: Transform emotional motivators into concrete product possibilities that can be implemented. Generate Solutions Using the Delight Grid: Categorize features into three types: Low Delight: Purely functional features Surface Delight: Purely emotional features Deep Delight: Features addressing both functional and emotional needs Validate with the Delight Excellence Checklist: Ensure features bring impact, avoid distraction, remain inclusive, and provide continuous rather than one-time delight The 50-40-10 Rule:Nesrine recommends that the optimal product roadmaps should contain: 50% low delight (functional features) 40% deep delight (functional + emotional) 10% surface delight (purely emotional) Examples and Case Studies: Spotify Examples: Low Delight: Search by lyrics functionality Surface Delight: Spotify Wrapped (contributed to 20% app downloads in 2020) Deep Delight: Discover Weekly, collaborative playlists, Spotify Jam Uber Security Features:Uber transformed the emotional motivator of feeling secure into features like location tracking for partners and proactive safety notifications when rides deviate from expected routes. Motivational Segmentation:Users can be segmented by why they use products, not just who they are or what they do. Spotify users might be goal-oriented (knowing exactly what to listen to) or inspiration-seeking (wanting discovery and recommendations). Business Impact:Research from multiple studies (including McKinsey and Harvard Business Review) shows emotionally connected users demonstrate: 2x higher retention compared to merely satisfied users 2x higher revenue through increased purchases 60% higher referral rates through word-of-mouth recommendations Implementation in Organizations: Integration Approaches: Dedicate specific PM roles to delight (rare but effective) Make space for both delight features and functional features in regular backlogs Establish product culture and principles that prioritize emotional connection Allocate a specific cadence (e.g., one deep delight feature per quarter) Jobs-to-be-Done Connection:Nesrine’s Delight Framework builds on Jobs-to-be-Done theory by making the emotional and social job aspects more actionable through specific tools like the Delight Grid and Delight Excellence Checklist. Useful Links Connect with Nesrine on LinkedIn Check out Nesrine’s new book Product Delight Visit Nesrine’s website Check out Nesrine’s Substack Innovation Quotes “Whether B2B or B2C, delight is essential in every B2H (business-to-human) industry.” – Nesrine Changuel “We don’t want to work only on things that will change over the next 10 years. We want to also

Top challenges product leaders face and how to overcome them Watch on YouTube TLDR Product leadership expert Rich Mironov discusses three core challenges CPOs and product VPs face: effectively communicating value in business terms rather than process terminology, building trust through merchandising wins before gaining decision-making authority, and reducing product waste by making better decisions about what to build. Executives don’t care how product gets made; they care about revenue impact. Success requires translating product outcomes into financial language and proving value through small wins before requesting broader organizational changes. Introduction We’re talking about the top challenges CPOs and Product VPs face. Navigating them well can cause your career to excel and result in valuable products. Navigating them poorly has career-limiting consequences. This discussion will help you avoid the latter by giving you approaches to address common product leadership challenges. Our guest has mentored more product leaders and executives than anyone else I know over his 40-year career in product roles. He has served as interim CPO for 15 companies, founded the first Product Camp, consulted to hundreds of tech companies, and wrote the book The Art of Product Management. His blog, “Product Bytes,” is widely read by product leaders. From that description, you likely already know who our guest is—Rich Mironov. Rich has seen every product leadership disaster imaginable and knows how to fix them. Let’s learn how to address and even avoid such challenges. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers First Principles for Product Leaders:Rich outlines three areas product leaders must champion: Real end users Extended teams (product managers, designers, engineers, DevOps, technical writers) Overall business health (long-term value) Speaking the Executive Language: Executives are not interested in hearing you talk about product processes and methodologies They want to know when money will arrive and how much Product leaders must translate improvements into financial impact Example: “Reducing churn by 2% equals $45-50 million more revenue and IPO one year earlier” Reducing Product Waste:Rich distinguishes between two types of waste: Engineering waste (late delivery, quality issues) – the minority Product waste (building the wrong things) – the majority of failures Focus on reducing products that “land like a dead thud in the market” The Trust-Building Problem: Moving to product-led decision making requires taking authority away from sales and marketing This creates resistance unless product teams prove they make better decisions Solution: Build trust through showing value before requesting organizational changes The Merchandising Strategy:Weekly practices for building influence by recording and communicating added value: Document and communicate product team wins in financial terms Ask your team members for names of people outside product management who did something good in the last week and thank those people through their managers Translate OKRs and metrics into monetary value Block 15 minutes every Friday for “merchandising meeting” with yourself How Product Leaders Can Make Better Use of Product Managers: Delegate product work to focus on organizational leadership Critique work as a mentor, not just a boss Help struggling product managers find roles elsewhere in the company where they’ll succeed Team Structure Preferences:Rich’s preferred team composition: 1 product manager (not writing code) 1 designer (essential for user-facing products) 4-6 developers/engineers/DevOps professionals Warning signs: 1 PM across 2 teams, 1 PM with only 3 engineers Useful Links Connect with Rich on LinkedIn Check out Rich’s blog Innovation Quote “Other people are not an imperfect version of you. They are a perfect version of themselves.”  – Pam Fox Rollin Application Questions How can you better translate your current product initiatives into financial terms that would resonate with executives? What specific metrics could you connect to revenue impact? What small, measurable wins could your product team achieve in the next quarter to demonstrate value to skeptical stakeholders? How would you merchandise these wins effectively? In your current role, what decision-making authority currently belongs to sales, marketing, or other departments that might benefit from product team input? How could you build trust before suggesting changes? Looking at your recent product releases, which ones might qualify as product waste? What could have been done differently in the decision-making process? Based on Rich’s team structure recommendations, how does your current team composition compare? Are there changes you could advocate for to improve the product manager to engineer ratio or ensure adequate design sup

Lessons from Saturday Night Live for improving product team culture Watch on YouTube TLDR John Krewson, who began his career in sketch comedy before moving to software product development, explains what product teams can learn from sketch comedy. Like comedy writers, product teams must be able to be vulnerable, throw away unsuccessful ideas, and prioritize delivering valuable products over perfect products. John shares principles and practices adapted from sketch comedy that product managers can use to balance autonomy and accountability, make meetings more engaging, and understand customer problems. Introduction What if the secret to building breakthrough products is less about an innovation framework and more about the chaotic, creative energy of a Saturday Night Live writers’ room? Specifically, can sketch comedy principles revolutionize the way your software teams collaborate, create, and deliver products that customers love? We are about to find out, and I won’t keep you in suspense—lessons from sketch comedy can make you a better product manager and developer. In this episode, you’ll hear specific techniques to transform boring meetings into energizing collaborative sessions, practical methods to help your team improve ideas fast, and a new approach to product ownership that distributes creative control without losing focus. Our guest is John Krewson, who brings a unique perspective as a 25-year software industry veteran and professional sketch comedy performer, including a brush with SNL. He’s the founder of Sketch Development Services, has coached everyone from startups to Fortune 50 companies on agile transformation, and wrote the book on applying sketch comedy principles to product development, titled Pitch, Sketch, Launch. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers John Krewson’s Journey: John began his career as a professional actor and performed as a background player on Saturday Night Live. He then switched careers to software development and worked his way up to management, leadership, and consulting roles. As a product leader, John found himself relying on his training as an actor and director. How Sketch Comedy Principles Inform Product Development:A software development team builds features without knowing whether they will satisfy the customer, in much the same way as a sketch comedy team has no idea if their sketch will be funny. The sketch comedy team mitigates risk by making their sketch only three and a half minutes long. Similar to software features, the sketch is a tight, independent unit of value, where the risk is mitigated by its independentness. John studied the process of moving from an idea to a product in sketch comedy, particularly at SNL, and, along with a comedy sketch writer, wrote about how that process could be applied to product development in Pitch, Sketch, Launch. Efficiency and Iteration:In sketch comedy, 90% of sketches don’t go on the air. Comedy teams practice their ideas on small audiences to figure out which sketches are funny before bringing them to a big show. In product development, ideas should be iterated upon using customer feedback. Vulnerability and Transparency:Sketch comedy teams have thick skins because they’ve been told they’re not funny 90% of the time. Organization culture can allow teams to be vulnerable enough to put ideas forward that may have a 90% chance of being unsuccessful. Always Be Ready:Lorne Michaels said, “We don’t go on because it’s ready. We go on because it’s 11:30.” Saturday Night Live has never missed a deadline in 50 years, not by aiming to be perfect, but by presenting the best version they can get done by Saturday. Rather than trying to figure out the most efficient way of landing the plane, they figure out the most valuable way of landing the plane. Opportunities to Play:At John’s company, Sketch, the product development teams take dedicated “play days” to play with and react to each others’ ideas, whether good or bad. Autonomy and Accountability:At SNL, sketch writers have 100% autonomy over writing their sketches during the week, but the director has accountability over the final show by choosing which sketches are performed. Similarly, product teams can balance autonomy and accountability by allowing independent units to build features, while having overarching accountability to select which features make it into the final product. Agile and Scrum:In an analogy to Scrum, on SNL, the director Lorne Michaels is the product owner, who articulates the vision for the product. The sketch writers and cast members are the development team, which executes on the vision. State managers and directors facilitate the execution and support the development team. The Role of the Product Owner:The product owner knows more about the customer than anyone else on the team. John suggests that the product owner should spend a third of their t

Winning product portfolios in physical product development Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode, Matt Carr, VP of Design at Umbra, joins us to discuss the intersection of design leadership, product strategy, and innovation in physical product development. Matt shares practical frameworks Umbra uses to balance creative vision and business reality, offers insights into managing a global product portfolio, discusses approaches to cross-functional collaboration, and highlights how direct customer interaction (especially via e-commerce and social media) drives rapid product iteration. Product managers will find actionable tactics for portfolio balancing, design decision-making, and fostering a design-led culture. Introduction What does it take to design products that delight consumers while hitting profit targets? We are examining design leadership and product strategy with someone who has mastered both. If you’ve ever struggled to balance creative vision with commercial reality, or wondered how to scale design across global teams, this episode will give you frameworks you can use immediately. Matt Carr is VP of Design at Umbra, the Canadian-based company that designs products for every room of the home. He’s spent 25 years at Umbra, from junior designer to leading their global design operations. He’s created products that have been featured in The New York Times, Surface Magazine, and Met Home. More importantly, he’s built systems for “balancing business and imagination” that keep Umbra at the front of innovation. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Umbra’s Global Design DNA:Matt explains how Umbra crafts products “for every room in your home.” Their five core values guide design: modern aesthetic, originality, casual sensibility, accessibility (price), and functionality. Product Portfolio Management:Umbra maintains long-standing lines (the maintenance bucket), continually innovates with blue sky ideas, and expands on successes through thoughtful derivatives, all while staying globally relevant. Case Study: Bellwood Photo Frame:As part of Umbra’s long-standing commitment to picture frames—a core “maintenance” product category—Matt Carr and his team recognized the need to innovate in a saturated market. Unlike traditional frames, the Bellwood features a single, continuous curve around the corners, giving it a modern, sculptural feel. It’s designed to look attractive from all angles, not just the front—a key differentiator from standard frames with plain or unsightly backs. The price-point allows Umbra to deliver premium feel at a price accessible to their global customer base. Practical Design Process:Matt outlines the design journey from early sketch and cardboard prototypes to iterative 3D models and tooling, emphasizing early, low-cost experimentation and the importance of cross-functional team input. The process involves: Identifying the Need or Opportunity Cross-Functional Brainstorming Early Concept Development Iterative Refinement and Prototyping Continuous Cross-Departmental Input Alignment with Brand DNA Customer Feedback and Iteration Final Development and Launch Consumer-Driven Innovation:Umbra’s internal team members often represent the target customer, but rapid feedback loops with end users—especially via e-commerce and social media—now accelerate product refinement, color choices, and new category opportunities. Ensuring Design Consistency at Scale:Matt explains how Umbra collaborates with external designers worldwide while maintaining brand DNA. Matt shares how great ideas are adapted through internal “design massage” to align with company ethos. Useful Links Learn more about Umbra Connect with Umbra on Instagram Connect with Matt on LinkedIn Innovation Quote “Your last impression is your lasting impression.” – Matt Carr Application Questions How can you adopt Umbra’s approach of balancing “blue sky” innovation and “maintenance” portfolio projects in your own product line? What are ways to involve cross-functional teams (manufacturing, sales, marketing) early and meaningfully in your design and development process? In what ways are you soliciting and incorporating direct customer feedback into product iteration, and how might you leverage newer channels like social media more effectively? How do you ensure that new product ideas—whether internal or external—consistently align with and reinforce your brand’s design principles? What prototyping strategies could you use to rapidly test and improve product concepts before significant investment in tooling or development? Bio Matt’s passion for design was first sparked when he interned at Douglas Cardinal Architects. He went on to study at Humber School of Industrial Design, where he received an ‘All-Canadian Academic’ award for scholastic and varsity achievements. An integral part of the Umbra design team since 2001, Matt has contributed countless designs to

Focused product strategy and teams Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode, Blair LaCorte—seasoned leader, investor, former CEO of AEye, and coach to 50+ CEOs— breaks down the keys to building product teams that win. Blair shares insights on aligning product strategy with company goals, the importance of saying no and making trade-offs, and why team culture and people patterns matter more than anything. He draws on experiences across tech, aviation, private equity, and defense, offering memorable lessons on scaling organizations, product leadership, and the human side of performance (including when and how to part ways with team members). The episode closes with advice for product managers seeking purpose, growth, and ways to elevate themselves and their teams. Introduction Whether you’re a product manager trying to get your team aligned, or a product leader striving to translate executive vision into actionable roadmaps, this episode addresses the real challenges you face every day. You’ll hear from a leader who has built high-performing product teams and grown organizations across different industries, from taking autonomous vehicle tech company AEye through a $1.8 billion IPO while launching products across automotive and defense markets, to scaling XOJET into one of the fastest-growing companies in aviation history. He’s worked with over 40 companies as a private equity Operating Partner at TPG and now coaches 50+ CEOs through his Pinnacle Performance Elite mastermind. His career started in tech at Sun Microsystems and Autodesk and has spanned hardware, software, and services. If anyone knows what separates high-performing product teams from the rest, it’s our guest, Blair LaCorte. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Focused Product Strategy & Team Alignment:Success starts with product managers who grasp both internal operations and external market realities, aligning product decisions tightly to company strategy. Focus is critical—great leaders say no more than yes. Scaling & Market Fit:Blair details how autonomous vehicle tech company AEye shifted from pure autonomous vehicles to ADAS (Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems), aligning their tech roadmap with realistic market cycles and cash flow needs. Team Dynamics & Culture: For a product team, the type of culture is less important than the consistency of the culture and the consistency of the team. Teams with alignment and clear expectations outperform more talented but chaotic groups. Winning builds healthy cultures; the feeling of progress is essential. Hard Choices & Leadership:Removing the wrong team members is tough but essential. Blair emphasizes the importance of honest feedback, quick decision-making, and quickly firing weaker performers to allow the rest of the team to move forward. Personal Growth & Knowing Yourself:Blair dives into psychology, personality frameworks, and patterns—urging product leaders to understand themselves, seek feedback, show vulnerability, and continually develop their Johari Window (the intersection of self-perception and how others see you). Technology vs. Humanity:As technology advances rapidly, keeping humanity at the center becomes more important than ever. Product managers must weigh the impact of their products, striving for both business value and societal good. Useful Links Connect with Blair on LinkedIn Learn more about PPE Mastermind Innovation Quote “The biggest threat to mankind is when our technology outstrips our humanity.” – Albert Einstein Application Questions How do you decide which product opportunities or features to say no to, and what’s your process for making those tough calls? In your experience, what factors contribute most to a consistent and winning team culture? How do you maintain this as the team grows or changes direction? What practices have you found effective (or ineffective) when giving feedback or offboarding team members who aren’t the right fit? How do you identify your own blind spots as a product leader? Which personality or feedback frameworks have helped you most? How could you practice being more vulnerable as well as accepting criticism? Bio Blair LaCorte is a groundbreaking and battle-scarred business executive and transformational leader who has leveraged his curiosity, collaborative nature and his competitive spirit into an unconventional and remarkable career journey. His experiences are also very unique from a functional perspective having taken on full time executive roles across a wide spectrum of business stages, ranging from startup to growth and from restructuring to liquidity events including sales, mergers and several IPO’s. Thanks! Thank you for taking the journey to product mastery and learning with me from the successes and failures of product innovators, managers, and developers. If you enjoyed the discussion, help out a fellow product manager by sharing it using the social media

Product management lessons from Amazon’s $4 billion acquisition of One Medical Watch on YouTube TLDR Dr. Joseph Michelli—speaker, consultant, and bestselling author—joins me to explore how product innovation and exceptional customer experiences can transform industries, with a deep dive into One Medical, the patient-centered healthcare startup recently acquired by Amazon for $4 billion. The conversation sheds light on designing human-centric experiences, the strategic use of technology and AI, and the importance of empowering both employees and customers in service delivery. Practical takeaways for product managers include blending automation with empathy, continuous improvement through design thinking, and fostering workplace environments where innovation thrives. Introduction If you’ve ever struggled with whether to automate a customer touchpoint or keep it human, if you’ve wondered how to measure the “personal” side of your product experience, or if your team debates where AI helps versus where it hurts customer relationships—this discussion is for you. We’ll examine how companies dominate their markets through product innovation and customer experience that creates loyal fans, with a focus on One Medical, a start-up that Amazon acquired for $4 billion. Our guest is Dr. Joseph Michelli, an internationally sought-after speaker and organizational consultant. He is a New York Times #1 bestselling author who has spent his career inside the world’s most customer-obsessed companies—from Starbucks and Ritz-Carlton to Mercedes-Benz and Zappos. His latest book, All Business Is Personal, examines the human-centered approach that made One Medical stand out in healthcare. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers The One Medical Story:Founded by innovator Tom Lee, One Medical reimagined primary healthcare by leveraging technology for convenience, accessibility, and eliminating pain points (like waiting in both the waiting room and exam room). Their membership model allows customers to view providers’ schedules directly and schedule appointments online. Ninety-seven percent of their patients wait for less than three minutes to be seen by their provider. One Medical’s model integrates with existing health insurance, while streamlining scheduling, communication, and clinical experiences. Designing for People:One Medical designs not only for customers but also for employees. Especially in healthcare, where burn-out and lack of talent are serious challenges, a humane experience for employees is essential. One Medical leverages user experience (UX) research, streamlines workflows, and uses AI to handle administrative burdens and enhance face-to-face interactions. Practical Innovation:With influences from design thinking and Lean methodologies, One Medical empowers all team members as “spotters and solvers.” Practices like job rounding, customer walks, huddle boards, and cross-functional problem-solving are part of their DNA. Amazon’s Influence:Joseph discusses Amazon’s acquisition, culture clashes (and blends), and the unique challenge of integrating a highly human service business into Amazon’s tech-forward ecosystem. Healthcare of the Future:The integrated experience—app-based triage, same-day appointments, telehealth, and even Amazon Pharmacy delivery—showcases the potential of digital-centric, consumer-driven healthcare. Useful Links Check out All Business is Personal Connect with Joseph on LinkedIn Visit Joseph’s website Innovation Quote “Anyone can invent. Very few can innovate.” – unknown Application Questions Where do you see opportunities in your organization to redesign both customer and employee experiences using human-centered design thinking? How can your product team balance the use of automation and AI with the need for genuine human connection? What barriers currently prevent your team from regular customer empathy activities, such as shadowing or role rotation? How can frontline employees become more confident and able to solve problems in real-time? What processes or traditions does your organization repeat “because they always have”—and how could they be challenged or reimagined? Bio Joseph A. Michelli, Ph.D., C.S.P., is an internationally sought-after speaker, author, and organizational consultant who transfers his knowledge of exceptional business practices in ways that develop joyful and productive workplaces with a focus on customer experience. His insights encourage leaders and frontline workers to grow and invest passionately in all aspects of their lives. Dr. Michelli is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Nielson BookScan, and New York Times #1 bestselling author. His books include: Stronger Through Adversity: World-Class Leaders Share Pandemic-Tested Lessons on Thriving During the Toughest Challenges The Airbnb Way: 5 Leadership Lessons for Igniting Growth through Loya

The biggest challenges when moving from individual contributor to product VP Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode, I welcome Piers Fallowfield Cooper—executive coach and author of Are You Still the Future?—to explore one of the most critical career transitions in product management: moving from individual contributor to product leader. We discuss why success as a product manager doesn’t guarantee success in leadership, the mindset and skills required to thrive as a product VP, the importance of personal strengths and adaptability, and practical advice for building a successful, energized team. Introduction Let me paint a picture of a common occurrence. Product VPs and leaders start out as individual contributors, i.e., product managers. Because of their outstanding work, delivering value for the organization and delighting customers, the product manager’s responsibilities and influence quickly increases, resulting in a promotion to Product VP. Sounds great, right? Maybe not—a couple months after the promotion they are struggling and their teams are frustrated. If you were that newly promoted VP, you would be wondering if you made a terrible mistake. Let’s turn that around. This discussion will help to equip you for the most critical transition in product management careers—the leap from individual contributor to product leader. This isn’t just about getting promoted; it’s about fundamentally shifting how you think, act, and add value. And, if you are already a product leader, this discussion will also help you improve and how you mentor your ICs. Our guest is Piers Fallowfield-Cooper, who has coached over 130 C-suite executives through major leadership transitions. He’s spent 30 years in senior executive roles himself scaling companies across finance, technology, and e-publishing. His book Are You Still The Future? was a Business Book of the Year finalist in 2024. He knows how to effectively navigate the journey from individual contributor to executive leader. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers The Challenge of the Transition:Many product VPs begin as outstanding product managers, but leadership requires a shift from “I” to “we.” The skills and knowledge that led to promotion often don’t translate to success at the next level—leadership is less about specific expertise and more about asking the right questions, fostering a broader perspective, and leading through others. T-Shaped Leadership:Piers explains the necessity of moving from being a deep specialist to developing broad horizontal skills—an essential shift in most careers, including product management. Find Your Sweet Spot:Ambition doesn’t always mean you want or would be happier in a leadership role. Ask yourself why you want to get promoted and consider what trade-offs come with increased responsibility. Key Shifts for Aspiring Leaders: The move from “doing” to “thinking and leading.” Creating regular thinking time with diverse stimuli. Observing and reflecting on effective leadership styles, then building a personal leadership approach authentic to you. Focusing on helping the team succeed, rather than being everyone’s friend. Strengths, Energy & Environment: Use tools like Strengths Finder to identify what energizes you, not just what you’re competent at. Play to your energizing strengths, focus on what the business needs, and work where you add the most value. Provide an environment that fosters high performance: ensure adequate sleep, a positive environment, and fair, slightly challenging deadlines. Adaptability is key; those who are flexible can thrive in changing environments. Leadership Pitfalls & Practical Advice: Avoid “day one stupid”—don’t rush to fix things before understanding what works. Ask, “What do we do really well here?” and “Are there dumb things we should stop?” Don’t overthink or second-guess; often learning comes from experience, not theory. As a leader, work to not trigger the fight/flight/freeze response in your team by ensuring fairness, and predictability. Foster trust by showing vulnerability. Create a coaching and learning environment for your team, helping others to succeed rather than micromanaging. Useful Links Connect with Piers on LinkedIn Check out Are You Still The Future? Visit Piers’s website Innovation Quotes “The robots will adapt, will you?” – Piers Fallowfield-Cooper “Today’s certainties are tomorrow’s absurdities.” – Peter Drucker “Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.” – Yogi Berra Application Questions What was the most surprising challenge you faced (or anticipate facing) in moving from an individual contributor role to a leadership role? How can product leaders create an environment that maximizes team performance and individual energy? Why is it important to reflect on your own motives for pursuing leadership, and what tools or approaches help with th

How product managers can make their own futures Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode of Product Mastery Now, we’re joined by Robin Champ, VP of Strategic Foresight at LBL Strategies and Harvard Extension School instructor. Robin shares practical approaches for product managers and leaders to anticipate, rather than merely react to, disruptions in the market and competitive landscape. Through the Strategic Foresight Framework, scenario planning, and trend scanning, Robin explains how to create agile strategies that help organizations deliver value in uncertain futures. Introduction Any product manager with some experience knows the frustration of being blindsided—competitor launches that catch you off-guard, market shifts that kill your roadmap, or customer behaviors that seemingly emerge overnight. Many product teams are in a cycle of reacting to change and putting out fires. Instead, what if you could anticipate change? By the end of this episode, you’ll have the strategic foresight framework that is taught at Harvard and applied in organizations. Our guest is Robin Champ, Vice President of Strategic Foresight at LBL Strategies and Harvard Extension School instructor. Robin spent 33 years applying foresight in the highest-stakes environments—the U.S. Secret Service and Department of Defense. She trains executives on the strategic planning methodologies that equips them to stay ahead of competitive threats and create opportunities. Also, Robin is speaking on Tuesday, September 16th, 2025, at my favorite product innovation conference, the Product Development and Management Association’s Ignite Innovation Conference. Learn more about the conference at www.PDMAsummit.com. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers What is Strategic Foresight? Foresight vs. Forecasting: Foresight embraces uncertainty and explores multiple possible futures rather than making a single prediction. Scenario Planning: Organizations develop strategies by considering different directions the future could take, enabling agility and preparedness for disruption. Why Product Managers Need Foresight Competitive Advantage: With foresight, product managers are better equipped to stay ahead of market changes, competitor launches, and evolving customer behavior. Case Example: Robin describes applying scenario planning with a senior living community to anticipate shifting senior preferences and invent innovative solutions. Foresight Methodologies Environmental Scanning: Deliberately monitoring signals and trends in the market and society via tools like LinkedIn, futurist publications, and AI-powered analytics. Futures Wheel: Mapping out potential first-, second-, and third-order impacts of proposed changes or emerging trends. Bringing in Creativity: Leveraging both human creativity (e.g., involving science fiction writers) and AI tools to generate diverse and imaginative future scenarios. Practical Application Use scenario planning and futures wheels to consider the implications of market shifts, like changing education delivery models with AI and shorter attention spans. Scanning can be both manual and AI-assisted; following futurists can keep PMs ahead of upcoming trends. Strategic foresight enhances not just resilience, but also innovation and relevance. Useful Links Connect with Robin on LinkedIn Check out the Harvard course Robin teaches, Mastering Foresight: Scenario-Based Planning Register for the PDMA Ignite Innovation Conference and use code PDMAChad20 for 20% off your registration for the All-Access Pass or the Summit Pass Learn more about LBL Strategies  Innovation Quote “Organizations have to make their futures or risk being overtaken by the future.” – Clark Murdock, Future Making Application Questions How could scenario planning or the futures wheel help your product team be more agile in the face of uncertainty? In what ways are you currently scanning for trends or signals in your market? What could you do to improve this process? Where could your organization benefit from shifting from forecasting to strategic foresight in its strategy or product planning? What are the most disruptive “unknowns” facing your product category—how well prepared are you? How might you use AI or creative exercises (like science fiction narratives) to inspire future-focused thinking within your product team? Bio Robin L. Champ is Vice President of Strategic Foresight at LBL Strategies;  a Certified Strategy Management Professional (SMP);  and an instructor at Harvard Extension School. She helps organizations anticipate change, navigate uncertainty, and design strategies that drive real impact. With a background that includes leading foresight and strategy efforts at the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Defense, Robin brings a practical, future-focused approach grounded in decades of experience. Today, she works with leaders across sectors to turn insight into action.  Thanks! Thank you for t

How product managers can build customer-centric AI products Watch on YouTube TLDR Juanjo Duran, Chief Product Officer & Chief Marketing Officer at Exoticca, joins Product Mastery Now to share how to create AI-powered product features customers actually love, not just features that sound impressive. Drawing on 25+ years in diverse leadership roles, Juanjo discusses leveraging customer obsession, data-driven decisions, and practical frameworks to balance innovation with execution. Learn how to embed AI across teams, structure innovation projects, and use the customer journey—from inspiration through to objection handling—as your roadmap for building differentiated products that deliver real value. Introduction Picture this: You’re a product leader trying to build AI features that customers actually use, not just technology that sounds impressive in board meetings. You’re scaling your product organization while maintaining innovation momentum. And you’re doing all this in an industry where the stakes for getting it wrong are high. We are discussing building smarter products that integrate AI that customers actually want. We’ll also explore practical frameworks for balancing innovation with execution in rapidly scaling organizations.  Our guest is Juanjo Duran, Chief Product Officer and Chief Marketing Officer at Exoticca, a leading travel tech platform that provides multi-day travel packages. Juanjo brings a unique perspective—25+ years in consumer goods at P&G and Mars, operations leadership at easyJet, marketing at eDreams, and now product leadership at Exoticca.   Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Key Topics & Takeaways From FMCG to Travel Tech: The Leadership Thread Juanjo describes his journey from Procter & Gamble and Mars, to travel and product leadership at Exoticca. The unifying principle? Putting the customer at the center, leveraging data-driven decisions, and focusing on how brands create value. The Travel Customer Journey Redefined In travel, the journey starts the moment a customer begins browsing for trips, not just when booking or traveling. Product pages are transformed to make users fall in love with destinations, describe the experience simply, and address objections upfront. Structuring Innovation: Purpose-Driven Evaluation Initiatives at Exoticca are filtered by their fit with company purpose: making dream trips accessible, creating extraordinary experiences, and serving customers end-to-end. Innovation efforts are prioritized by value to customers, strategic fit, feasibility, and business impact. The AI Journey: From Efficiency to Customer Value Early AI efforts focused on automating repetitive tasks for efficiency. The real shift came from asking: “How can AI deliver better value for customers?” AI is embedded across every team, used in personalizing customer experiences, managing dynamic trip pricing, addressing customer queries (pre/post booking), and predicting pricing far in advance. Innovation Project Structure Cross-functional discovery and alignment at the outset saves time later. Prototyping, rapid iteration, and A/B testing form the foundation of execution. Not every tool or solution needs to be built in-house—focus in-house efforts on core differentiators, and look outward for other solutions. Useful Links Connect with Juanjo on LinkedIn Learn more about Exoticca Innovation Quotes “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – attributed to Peter Drucker “Inspiration? Of course it exists but it has to find you working.” – Pablo Picasso Application Questions How can your organization better map and influence the customer journey to enhance product experiences? When thinking about adopting AI, how do you balance efficiency gains versus solving genuine customer problems? What criteria should guide your decision to build versus buy AI or tech solutions? How can cross-functional collaboration be improved during the innovation process in your organization? Which part of your product experience could be transformed by focusing on customer emotions rather than solely on features or benefits? Bio Juanjo Duran is a Global Travel and FMCG Executive (CEO/CMO/CPO) passionate about how Technological transformation can improve consumers’ lives. Currently CPO and CMO of a game changing travel tech disruptor where he is exploring AI as a Value Accelerator for consumers. Juanjo was previously CEO of Deliberry, a game changing grocery business disruptor and also Venture Capital Investor and Consumer & Brand Tech Advisor. Juanjo is passionate about change and leadership. He was lucky to learn from the best leaders and the best companies: 20 years in P&G learning from the best about proactively and methodically driving brand’s constant growth, 7 years in Mars Inc learning from the best about leading people through values and principles and learning fro

The 2025 PDMA Ignite Innovation Summit Watch on YouTube TLDR Today I’m sitting down with Bill Reed and Spike Ross-Corbett, PDMA board members and co-chairs of the 2025 Ignite Innovation Conference planning committee. We reflect on top takeaways from past PDMA conferences, including invaluable lessons on customer research, adaptive product development, building cultures of innovation, and leveraging networking opportunities. Spike and Bill also offer a sneak peek into this year’s conference in Chicago, highlighting fresh formats, hands-on workshops, and powerful networking. Get practical insights to elevate your product management game and learn how to unlock a special discount for the upcoming summit. Introduction As a product professional, what is your favorite conference to attend? We have a lot of good options, but mine has been Ignite Innovation, which the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) runs annually. I attended the first one in 2006 after hearing about it in a local group of product professionals. Since then, I have attended most years when I could, and I will be there again this year. It is being held at the Marriott Marquis in Chicago from September 13th-16th. This episode will discuss examples of what we have learned at past conferences and what we expect to learn this year. Joining me are two board members of PDMA who are also the co-chairs for the committee planning the conference—Bill Reid and Spike Ross-Corbett. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers PDMA Ignite Innovation Conference:My favorite product development and management conference, hosted in Chicago, September 13th-16th, 2025. Meet the Guests: Bill Reed: Leads product and innovation teams at Boulder Imaging, with a rich history in innovation, patents, and engineering. Spike Ross Corbett: Heads product development at Portland Marketing Analytics, focusing on making marketing ROI analysis accessible. Past Conference Takeaways: Geoff Thatcher’s Experience Design Model: Apply theme park design (attract, trust, inform, internalize, act) to product management. (423: Transforming products into experiences – with Geoff Thatcher) Andrea Ruttenberg on Voice of Customer: Needs-based interviews are the foundation for innovation success. You don’t need hundreds—just strong qualitative insights. (477: Three-step VOC system – with Andrea Ruttenberg, PhD) Marissa Mayer’s 20% Time Story: Google’s AdSense was born from a culture that allows even “bad ideas” to be pursued, powering breakthrough innovation. Networking Impact: Random dinner groups at past conferences fostered lasting professional connections. Peter Monkhouse on Embracing Uncertainty: Adaptive, iterative development and embracing uncertainty helps PMs tackle ambiguity with confidence. (439: Differences and similarities between product and project management – with Peter Monkhouse) Sarah Robb O’Hagan on Qualitative Interviews: One-on-one interviews with 12 high school athletes gave Gatorade the insights they needed to turn around a struggling company. DFW Innovation Culture (Outstanding Corporate Innovator Award Winner): Everyone can be an innovator. Cross-org training fosters every-employee innovation, even in public sector contexts. (508: The practices of the most innovative companies – with 2024 Outstanding Corporate Innovator winner) Stop the Stupid: Doug Hall’s catchphrase to remind everyone on your team to innovate. (522: Stop the stupid using proactive problem solving – with Doug Hall) AI-Accelerated Design Sprints: Hands-on workshops integrating AI with design sprints showcased in St. Louis. (517: How to conduct an AI Design Sprint – with Mike Hyzy) 2025 Conference Preview: Tangible, Practical Tools: Sessions will give attendees actionable frameworks and tools. Themed Tracks: Innovation execution Product and innovation strategy Deming Institute track on applying systems thinking to innovation Outstanding Corporate Innovator (OCI) Winners: Insights from a century-old company that’s reinventing itself and a fast-growing new entrant. Research to Reality: Engaging academics and practitioners in high-energy, collaborative sessions. Workshops Featuring Industry Experts: Competitive analysis with Dell’s Jay Nakagawa and AI applications in product with MIT’s Dave Robertson. Mastermind Sessions: Guided problem-solving sessions and deep discussions about real problems that product managers face Networking Opportunities: City tours and excursion to innovation hub (MHUB). Innovation Cafe: I’ll be conducting podcast interviews in the Innovation Cafe—come find me! Useful Links Register for the PDMA Ignite Innovation Conference and use code PDMAChad20 for 20% off your registration for the All-Access Pass or the Summit Pass Listen to interviews with Ignite keynote speakers Listen to 546: Strategic foresight gives product managers a competitive edge – with Jod Kaftan Listen to 548: Building a culture of fearless product innovation

Why product managers need a systematic framework to de-risk innovation Watch on YouTube TLDR This episode dives deep into the new ISO 56001 standard for innovation management with Dr. Magnus Karlsson, a global leader in the field and a key contributor to the standard. Learn why systematic innovation matters, how ISO 56001 can help organizations move beyond ad hoc creativity to reliable business results, and what practical steps product managers and leaders can take to build innovation capabilities—plus resources for making the standard actionable in your organization. Introduction Are your innovation efforts consistently delivering results, or do they feel more like a series of random experiments? We’re diving into systematic innovation management with one of the foremost experts in the field. This isn’t just about being more creative – it’s about transforming how your organization turns ideas into market success, reliably and repeatedly. Every product leader faces the challenge of delivering value that drives business growth while managing risk. Without a systematic approach, you’re essentially gambling with your innovation resources.  In this episode, you’ll discover exactly how to implement a systematic innovation management approach based on the recently published ISO 56001 framework. Our guest is Dr. Magnus Karlsson, Adjunct Professor in Innovation Management at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Magnus has over a decade of experience as Director of New Business Development and Innovation at Ericsson, where he developed approaches to collaborative innovation. He built on that experience and for nearly 20 years has been instrumental in developing international innovation management standards with the Swedish Institute for Standards, a key contributor to ISO standards. Magnus is also a partner at Amplify, a Sweden company that helps organizations across the world to innovate. While your competitors might still be relying on inspiration and luck, you could be implementing a proven system that delivers consistent innovation results. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Systematic vs. Random Innovation:Most organizations still treat innovation as a series of random experiments. ISO 56001 offers a holistic management system, making consistent innovation possible. The Need for Standards:Despite abundant research on what drives innovation, companies struggle to apply best practices at scale, and some organizations risk losing their innovative capability. The ISO 56001 standard codifies proven methods for innovation into a plug-and-play framework. Origins & Purpose of ISO 56001:Developed out of real-world challenges at companies like Ericsson, the standard helps organizations measure, sustain, and grow their innovation capability with clear, certifiable requirements. Framework Overview:Core elements include: Context Analysis: Understand new technologies and opportunities. Innovation Intent: Consider why you need to innovate and what you must achieve. Leadership Involvement: Engage top management in innovation, including defining innovation strategy and promoting innovation culture. Five Building Blocks of the Innovation Process: Identifying opportunities Generating ideas Validating concepts (hypothesis-driven, low-cost experiments) Development Deployment Continuous Improvement:The standard emphasizes ongoing assessment, maturity modeling, and the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle to adapt and grow innovation practices. Roles in Innovation:While no fixed roles are prescribed, clear assignment and development of competencies (with a forthcoming competency framework) are critical for success. Senior leadership engagement is vital, with product managers well-positioned to drive bottom-up and top-down adoption. How Product Managers Can Use ISO 56001:Product managers can consider how their current practices may already be aligned to the ISO 56001 framework and how they could improve their practices, then fill any gaps. Certification & Practical Adoption:Adoption of ISO 56001 not only improves internal capability but also bolsters branding, customer trust, and talent attraction. While certification is new, interest is growing, especially among organizations wanting to benchmark or externally validate their innovation maturity. Useful Links Connect with Magnus on LinkedIn Check out Amplify for more resources about ISO 56001 Innovation Quote “Spend a little to learn a lot.” – Vijay Govindarajan Application Questions How would your organization’s approach to innovation change if you adopted a systematic, standard-based framework like ISO 56001? What are the biggest cultural and leadership barriers to consistent innovation in your workplace, and how could a formal management system help address them? In your product management practice, which of the five process building blocks (identify, generate, validate, develop, deploy) tends to be weakest

How product managers can master go-to-market strategies Watch on YouTube TLDR Most product launches fail not because the product is flawed, but because the launch strategy misses the mark. In this episode, product marketing expert Rebecca Shaddix shares a blueprint for go-to-market strategies that drive real impact. Discover why product and marketing must build launch plans together, how to create alignment through ongoing collaboration, and the pillars of an effective go-to-market framework, even in large or siloed organizations. Plus, learn why defining acceptable mistakes can spur faster, safer innovation, and how internal enablement and the Rolling Thunder launch approach create momentum that lasts. Introduction Let’s say you’ve built an incredible product. Your engineering team delivered exactly what you envisioned. The stakeholders are excited and you are feeling good. But guess what, 95% of product launches fail not because the product isn’t good enough, but because it wasn’t brought to market effectively. Let’s help with that by discussing the steps for creating go-to-market strategies that actually work. If you’ve ever watched a brilliant product struggle to find its audience, or felt that sinking feeling when marketing says they need “just a few more weeks” to figure out positioning, or witnessed the chaos that happens when product and marketing teams aren’t aligned, then this episode is for you.  Our guest, Rebecca Shaddix, knows a lot about creating go-to-market plans. She has built go-to-market strategies for some of the fastest-growing tech companies in the US. As Senior Director of Product Marketing at 15Five and founder of the award-winning consulting firm Strategica Partners, she’s helped launch complex products that went on to drive millions in revenue. She’s the former marketing director at GoGuardian—the fastest-growing education company in US history—and she’s been a contributor to Forbes for more than a decade.   Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers The Real Reason Most Launches Fail:95% of launches stumble due to poorly executed market communication, not underlying product issues. Collaborative Go-To-Market Planning:The handoff between product and marketing is a recipe for confusion and missed opportunity. Instead, Rebecca recommends an ongoing, bidirectional process where insights are shared, teams are co-creators, and monthly (or more frequent) joint meetings ensure mutual investment and understanding. Customer Advisory Boards:Minimize silos and increase trust and credibility across teams by creating cross-functional customer advisory boards. These boards amplify customer insights and bring users closer to product leaders—and to each other. Acceptable Mistakes:Frame launches as controlled experiments. By agreeing upfront on specific, acceptable mistakes, teams can move faster, reduce anxiety, and tailor their efforts to the business’s top priorities. Rebecca’s Four Pillars of Go-To-Market: Market Insights & Research: Validate you’re building the right thing for the right people. Positioning: Clarify theme and messaging before creative work or marketing begins. Internal Enablement: Ensure every team has the right info (and only what they need) to do their job, and establish clear communication channels for post-launch feedback and problem-solving. Product Launch – Rolling Thunder Approach: Continue to respond to customer feedback and iterate after launch. Pre-Mortem and Post-Mortem Reviews:Use pre-launch (pre-mortem) meetings to predict risks and tripwires, and post-launch (post-mortem) retrospectives to reflect and continuously improve. Useful Links Connect with Rebecca on LinkedIn Learn more about Strategica Read Rebecca’s Forbes article, “Why Every Strategy Needs An ‘Acceptable Mistake” Read Rebecca’s Forbes article, “How To Create Great Go-To-Market Strategy” Innovation Quote “Know your miss” – from playing disc golf Application Questions What communication or collaboration barriers exist between your product and marketing teams, and how could you break them down? How do you currently gather and share customer insights? Could a customer advisory board improve your internal alignment or product decisions? Have you ever explicitly discussed acceptable mistakes ahead of a launch, and how might that change your team’s willingness to experiment? Of the four go-to-market pillars Rebecca describes, which is your organization strongest in, and which is most overlooked? How could you apply the “Rolling Thunder” approach to an upcoming product or feature launch in your organization? Bio Rebecca Shaddix is a seasoned marketing executive and go-to-market strategist with a proven track record of driving significant revenue growth across various industries. With a unique background that combines deep technical expertise, data-driven

A product management methodology that guarantees market success Watch on YouTube TLDR This episode is a deep dive into practical product innovation with Walter and Scott Herbst—a legendary father-son duo boasting over 230 patents and decades of product success. They share their proven, data-driven methodology, pivot stories, and the importance of truly understanding customer problems. Listeners learn how to avoid common innovation pitfalls, leverage multiple solution paths, and set themselves up for product success, whether they’re in a Fortune 100 or a startup. Introduction How does product innovation really work? This episode is a master class in the art and science of product innovation with two masters of the craft – a father and son duo who together hold over 230 patents and have shaped products you likely use every day. Innovation isn’t a buzzword for our guests – it’s the family business spanning three generations. For product managers feeling the constant pressure to create the next big thing while managing stakeholders, resources, and market realities, you’ll learn how creative ideas become commercial successes.  Our guests are Walter and Scot Herbst of the Herbst Produkt design firm. They bring an extraordinary perspective to product innovation. Dr. Walter Herbst, recognized by Business Week as one of the ‘Fathers of Product Design,’ founded his first design consultancy in 1962 and later created Northwestern University’s prestigious Master of Product Design and Development Management program. His son Scot now leads their Silicon Valley design firm, partnering with Fortune 100 companies and breakthrough startups alike on award-winning products across healthcare, consumer tech, and more.  We are about to learn practical wisdom earned through sixty years of successful product development – insights that could make the difference between your next product’s success or failure.  Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Iconic Product Stories: Smith & Nephew: A company that makes tools for medical procedures. Tasked with “how do you sell more knees?” The answer wasn’t a new product, but a redesign of the surgical tools—leading to increased sales through better ergonomics and usability. Slice: Pivoted from crowded home goods to the overlooked commercial cutting space, ultimately building a 70+ product portfolio and a successful acquisition. The Proven Herbst Innovation Methodology: Phased approach: Discovery & definition Concept development Refinement Final design Commitment to a proven, repeatable process—so much so they’ve guaranteed client success. Heavy emphasis on understanding the real problem before jumping to solutions. Tools & Tactics: Deep user research: Ethnography and direct observation to catch customer pain points and behaviors not revealed in surveys. Collaborative, iterative solution generation: Encourages bringing multiple ideas to the table, and rigorous filtering before converging on the best one. Documenting “what it is and what it is not” early, then posting for persistent team alignment. Organizational Wisdom: Methodology is the backbone—style isn’t enough. Success comes from open-mindedness and the discipline to revisit assumptions. Teams should be comfortable discarding ideas and avoiding low-hanging fruit to pursue truly valuable innovations. Useful Links Learn more about Herbst Produkt Check out the Master of Product Design and Development Management at Northwestern Check out Mastering Product Innovation Connect with Herbst Produkt on LinkedIn or Instagram Innovation Quote “There is no prize for solving correctly what proves to be the wrong problem.”  – Emeritus Dean Julio Ottino from Northwestern University “Lasting products are built on a solid foundation. A strategic approach is your bedrock.”  – Scot Herbst Application Questions How do you ensure your team truly understands the real problem before moving to solutions? What methods or rituals help your organization resist the temptation to chase the first or most obvious solution? How do you incorporate ethnographic research or direct observation into your product development process? In what ways could your innovation process benefit from more rigorous segmentation or user criteria early on? What practices do you have in place to keep teams open to pivoting—like Slice’s shift from consumer to commercial markets? Bio Walter is a partner in Herbst Produkt, Santa Cruz, CA, which has won more design awards in the US, per employee, and has been honored by the Edison Foundation every year for the last 13 years. He holds 124 US patents in housewares, hardware, medical, and commercial products. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and the recipient of the “Distinguished Professor” award from Northwestern University where he founded the Master of Product Design and Development Management program. Additionally

How Snap-On puts customers at the center of product management Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode, Ben Brenton, Chief Innovation Officer at Snap-on, joins me to share practical strategies for fostering a sustainable, fearless culture of innovation. Ben reveals how Snap-on transformed a traditional manufacturing mindset into one deeply centered on real customer insight. He details actionable systems that drive continual breakthrough products—not through motivational rhetoric, but through persistent field engagement, cross-functional collaboration, and relentless focus on customer needs. Whether you work in tools, software, or services, this conversation is packed with lessons on making innovation succeed in any industry. Introduction We have all been in a meeting where someone says “we need to be more innovative” but nobody can explain how to actually make that happen. These are organizations where innovation gets relegated to a buzzword in a value statement instead of becoming the driving force behind breakthrough products. This discussion will change that, providing practical insights into how to build and sustain a culture of innovation – not through motivational speeches or innovation theater, but through practical systems, processes, and frameworks that actually work.  My guest is Ben Brenton, Chief Innovation Officer at Snap-on, who for the last 18 years has built what he calls a “culture of fearless innovation” at a company known for making the tools that fix the world. Ben took a traditional manufacturing company and transformed how they approach product development by putting customer insights at the center of everything and creating systems that encourage calculated risk-taking. He’s done this across industries – from consumer goods at Kraft and PepsiCo to industrial tools at Snap-on – supporting that these principles work regardless of your market. You’ll hear practical guidance that separates companies that consistently deliver breakthrough products from those that just hope innovation will somehow happen.  Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Customer-Centric Innovation:Ben attributes Snap-on’s innovation success to putting the end user at the center of everything. Product managers, engineers, and even software developers regularly get out into the field to truly understand customer needs and pain points. Field Research Over Innovation Theater:The company invests in real-world ethnographic research—visiting customers in their environments rather than relying on surveys or remote interviews, which can result in curated or less honest feedback. Prototyping and Iteration with Customers:Snap-on involves customers throughout the development process, from early concepts to full prototypes, ensuring the team doesn’t drift from the original customer needs as ideas become reality. Cross-Functional Collaboration:Great innovation requires breaking down silos. Ben encourages engineers, marketers, product managers, and even finance and legal to participate in customer visits and debriefs, supporting a diversity of insights and buy-in. Customer Interviews:At Snap-on, product managers, engineers, and employees from all functions interview customers in the field, practicing active listening to catch deep insights. They then must bring those insights together into a business recommendation. Scaling the Culture:Ben discusses the importance of top-level support and slow organizational growth—hiring based on need and early wins, rather than building large teams up front. Storytelling Over Pure Data:To drive decisions, Ben emphasizes crafting compelling stories from real customer interactions, rather than just presenting data. Useful Links Learn more about Snap-on Check out Snap-on’s Makers and Fixers initiative Connect with Ben on LinkedIn Register for the PDMA Ignite Innovation Conference and use code PDMAChad20 for 20% off your registration for the All-Access Pass or the Summit Pass Listen to episode 120: Product development and management at Snap-on – with Ben Brenton, PhD Innovation Quote “The biggest mistakes in innovation are the products you don’t launch, not the ones you launch and fail.” – Ben Brenton “No one ever makes a decision based on data. People only make decisions based on great stories.” – paraphrase of Daniel Kahneman Application Questions What practical steps can your organization take to ensure product teams have regular, direct exposure to real customers? Have you observed innovation theater in your company, and how did it affect results? What would real fieldwork change? How can cross-functional teams be more effectively included in your product discovery and prototyping processes? What are some stories you’ve encountered where listening to customers fundamentally changed your product direction or messaging? How would a “Makers and Fixers” style camp

Vertical and horizontal alignment in product management Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode of Product Mastery Now, I’m interviewing Mark Reich, senior coach at Lean Enterprise Institute and former Toyota executive, to demystify hoshin kanri—a Japanese strategic framework that transformed organizations like Toyota and powered major innovations such as the Lexus launch. Mark outlines how hoshin kanri enables both top-down and bottom-up alignment, creating a culture where strategy and innovation are owned at every level of the organization. Introduction Product managers know they need to align their work with their organization’s strategy. Often, it’s not clear how to actually accomplish this. We need a strategic framework that can transform how your organization innovates to support strategic objectives. Hoshin kanri is such a framework and has worked for other organizations, including helping Toyota launch Lexus, one of the most successful automotive innovations in history. By the end of this conversation, you’ll understand specific frameworks and tools, like catchball, for connecting your work to the organization’s strategy. Our guest is Mark Reich, Senior Coach at the Lean Enterprise Institute and author of the new book Managing on Purpose. Mark spent 23 years at Toyota, including six years in Japan working directly with Chief Engineers during the Lexus launch. He then managed Toyota’s North American strategic planning process during a period when the company nearly doubled in size. For over a decade, he’s coached executives at companies like GE Appliances, Turner Construction, and Nucleus Software on implementing hoshin kanri for breakthrough results. If anyone can show you how to turn strategic planning into an innovation engine, it’s Mark Reich. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers What is Hoshin Kanri?Hoshin kanri is a management methodology that defines organizational strategy and engages people at all levels to execute on core objectives. It facilitates both vertical (top-down and bottom-up) and horizontal (cross-functional) alignment. Hoshin refers to the direction of an organization and can also refer to a document of strategic objectives and actions. Kanri refers to the management necessary to execute those actions and achieve those objectives. The Power of AlignmentMark shares how Toyota’s breakthrough with the Lexus brand was achieved by aligning the whole organization—product development, marketing, sales, and manufacturing—around a clear, bold objective using hoshin kanri. It’s Not Just Top-DownSuccessful strategic execution requires both leadership direction and frontline insight. Innovation often emerges from understanding real customer problems at the ground level. Vertical & Horizontal AlignmentVertical alignment connects executive strategy with actions at every management and frontline level. Horizontal alignment ensures departments and functions work together toward shared objectives, rather than working at cross-purposes. Catchball: The Engagement MechanismThe Catchball process is a key component of hoshin kanri. It facilitates structured dialogue up and down the organization (vertical) and across teams (horizontal), fostering ownership, learning, and consensus on strategic objectives and how to execute them. Practical First Steps for Product LeadersMark explains how product leaders can start using hoshin kanri by focusing on a handful of clear objectives, breaking them down into actionable departmental and individual goals, and engaging the necessary cross-functional support. Useful Links Connect with Mark on LinkedIn Check out Managing on Purpose Learn more about Lean Enterprise Institute Innovation Quote “Innovation is a bottom-up phenomenon.” – Matt Ridley Application Questions Where does your organization currently struggle most with alignment—vertically between strategy and frontline execution, or horizontally across teams and functions? How could adopting a framework like hoshin kanri help your team connect day-to-day tasks to high-level strategic objectives? What processes (if any) does your organization have in place to capture the raw voice of the customer from those on the frontlines, and how could this be improved? In the context of your current or most recent product launch, what would catchball look like as a structured approach to achieving cross-functional buy-in and action? What three to five strategic priorities would make the biggest impact in your organization if everyone was genuinely aligned and accountable for them? Bio Mark Reich spent 23 years working for Toyota, starting in 1988 with six years in Japan in the Overseas Planning Division, where he was responsible for Product Planning and collaborated with Chief Engineers to define vehicle specifications for overseas markets. This pivotal time was when Toyota introduced the Lexus to the world.  In 1994, Mark returned to the

How product managers can see around corners Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode of Product Mastery Now, I’m interviewing Jod Kaftan, service design leader at Launch by NTT Data and former head of product design and research at Oracle, to explore strategic foresight—a methodology that moves product managers beyond traditional road mapping to anticipate and shape the future their products will compete in. Jod explains how evidence-based imagination creates competitive advantage and shares practical tools for applying futuristic methodologies to product development, helping teams escape short-term thinking and position themselves for the futures they can see coming. Introduction Too many product managers are building tomorrow’s products with yesterday’s planning methods. While your competition is reacting to trends after they’ve already taken hold, what if you could be the one who sees the trends coming? In this episode, we are exploring a methodology to give you that advantage—strategic foresight for product managers. This allows you to move beyond traditional road mapping to anticipate and shape the future your products will compete in. This is evidence-based imagination that gives you a real competitive edge. Our guest is Jod Kaftan, previously the Head of Product Design and Research at Oracle and now the service design leader at Launch by NTT Data. With over 20 years of experience helping organizations from Sony, Google, Wells Fargo, and others navigate uncertain futures, Jod is known for moving teams beyond traditional 3-horizon planning to apply real futurist methodologies. He’s pioneered approaches that turn “evidence-based imagination” into competitive advantage. Also, Jod is keynoting at my favorite product innovation conference, the Product Development and Management Association’s Ignite Innovation Conference. It is Sept 13th-16th in Chicago. Go to PDMAsummit.com for details about the conference. Miss this conversation and your roadmaps will stay trapped in short-term thinking while more strategic competitors position themselves for the futures they can see coming. That’s a risk you can’t afford, and this episode will equip you to avoid it. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Human-Centered Approach to InnovationJod emphasizes expanding human-centered design beyond end users to include all stakeholders—frontline employees, partners, and anyone involved in delivering customer value. This front-stage/backstage perspective recognizes that improving employee experience inevitably improves customer experience. What is Strategic Foresight?Strategic foresight is an evidence-based imagination approach that moves beyond prediction to explore what’s probable, possible, and preferable. It’s about getting out of the prediction business and into building more agile, adaptive organizations by using personal agency to curate preferred futures anchored in values. The Triangle Framework: Probable, Possible, PreferrableJod outlines a framework starting with probable futures (what’s likely), expanding to possible futures (what could be), and culminating in preferred futures (what we want based on our values). This creates guiding images that point back to actions we should take today. Evidence-Based ImaginationStrategic foresight uses detailed, systematic imagination that activates multiple brain regions. By imagining futures with painstaking detail, teams can create more robust strategic responses. Scanning SignalsPractical foresight begins with collecting signals—evidence of the future in the present—organized in some way, such as by industry or by Social, Technological, Environmental, Economic, and Political (STEEP) categories. Signals from outside your industry can be particularly valuable. These signals become themes that inform scenario planning and strategic action. The Future of Product ManagementJod envisions product managers becoming orchestrators of the product development cycle, working with AI tools while maintaining the uniquely human capabilities of collaboration, novelty, and innovation that prevent commoditization. Useful Links Connect with Jod on LinkedIn Learn more about Jod’s executive coaching, Design-Led Futures Register for the PDMA Ignite Innovation Conference and use code PDMAChad20 for 20% off your registration for the All-Access Pass or the Summit Pass Innovation Quote “The skill of the 21st century will be unlearning and learning.” – Alvin Toffler Application Questions What signals are you currently seeing in your industry that could indicate major shifts in the next 10 years, and how might these impact your product strategy? If you applied the probable-possible-preferrable framework to your product roadmap, what preferrable future would you want to work toward, and what values would anchor that vision? How could you start building the muscle memory of signal colle

How PDMA used VOC research to drive innovation Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode, Kristyn Corrigan shares insights from a recent Voice of the Customer (VOC) research project for the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA). We explore how product professionals can move beyond assumptions to capture meaningful customer insights, the methodologies behind robust VOC research, and actionable findings that can transform both products and organizations. Key takeaways include practical steps for conducting qualitative and quantitative VOC and understanding how to identify the most valuable unmet customer needs. Introduction Here’s the brutal truth about customer research: Most product managers and innovators think they know their customers, but they’re building products for assumptions, not real people. In this discussion, we are detailing a recently completed Voice of the Customer project that’s helping the longest existing professional association for—guess who—product managers and innovators! That’s right—the VOC project was to better understand who the ideal customers of the professional association are and what their needs are. The association is one I’ve talked about before—PDMA, the Product Development and Management Association. If you’ve ever struggled to get meaningful customer insights, felt overwhelmed by diverse customer segments, or wondered how to turn research findings into actual product changes, this episode is for you. Our guest is Kristyn Corrigan, Principal at Applied Marketing Science and PDMA Board of Directors member. With 17 years of consulting experience, she’s helped companies transform customer insights into successful products. She leads the Insights for Innovation practice, has published work in Fast Company, and guest lectured at MIT Sloan. Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Genesis of the PDMA VOC Project:Motivation behind conducting formal VOC research for PDMA after a 20-year gap—driven by the need to understand current and prospective members’ needs, retention, and engagement strategies. Segmentation Strategy:PDMA membership includes academics, practitioners, and service providers. The research intentionally sampled a mix across these segments and various career stages (early, mid, late). Methodological Approach: Qualitative, in-depth interviews kicked off at the 2024 PDMA conference (21 interviews with diverse participants). Ensured unbiased sampling, including non-members and attendees at other industry events. Use of open-ended discussion guides and a focus on eliciting stories and real experiences to minimize bias and dig deeper into needs. Transcription and Analysis: All interviews were transcribed verbatim. Introduction of a fine-tuned AI model specifically developed for qualitative VOC analysis, trained on numerous past studies. Side-by-side analysis showed high overlap between AI and human analysts, but each also uncovered unique needs. Quantitative Follow-Up: Validated qualitative insights with a broader online survey. Built an opportunity matrix based on need importance and market performance, highlighting areas for innovation. Insights PDMA Learned from VOC Research: Certification is important, but well met in the market—opportunities for innovation exist in building meaningful community, providing personalized and actionable knowledge, and enabling networking. The dangers of jargon and acronyms for newcomers—need to create an inclusive onboarding experience. Emphasis on listening, story-based interviewing, and detaching from bias or defensiveness during research. Tips for Conducting VOC Interviews: Start with easy, open-ended questions. Move from broad to specific, anchoring discussions in the customer’s actual experiences. Build trust, clarify you’re there to listen (not sell), and focus on what genuinely matters to the customer. Useful Links Learn more about Applied Marketing Science Connect with Kristyn on LinkedIn Listen to episode 071: How product managers can conduct Voice of the Customer research Listen to episode 529: Is this the best AI-powered market research approach? – with Carmel Dibner Innovation Quote “It takes as much time to solve a bad problem as it does a good problem. And if you’re not working on good problems, you’re really wasting your time.” – Abbie Griffin Application Questions What assumptions about your customers guide your current product decisions, and how might VOC research challenge or refine them? How does your team currently segment customer research participants, and are you capturing the full spectrum of user experiences and needs? What practices could you adopt to ensure interviews produce genuine, story-driven insights rather than surface-level feedback or solution requests? Where could incorporating AI tools into your VOC process save time or reveal new types of customer needs not easily visible through manual analysis? How can findings from VOC resear

A product manager’s journey to Product VP Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode, I talk with Adam Feinstein, Vice President of Product at AppFolio, about what makes a great product leader in technology organizations. Adam shares his journey from electrical engineering in semiconductors to leading product teams in software, discussing the transitions, challenges, and valuable lessons he’s learned along the way. We explore topics like transitioning between industries, moving from individual contributor to leader, the importance of people problems over technical ones, business acumen, collaborating across functions, the value of mentors and coaching, and Adam’s strategies for staying organized and effective as a VP of Product. Introduction What distinguishes great product leaders in complex technology companies, and how do you become a great product leader? Is it technical knowledge, business acumen, or something else entirely? In this discussion, we’ll examine product leadership in tech organizations.  Our guest is Adam Feinstein. We met at a product leadership group Rich Mironov organized to help product leaders excel. Adam is Vice President of Product at AppFolio. He has navigated the challenging journey from individual contributor to executive leadership, including switching from the hardware industry to software. AppFolio is transforming property management through innovative cloud-based solutions. Whether you’re an aspiring product manager wondering about your career trajectory or a seasoned leader facing complex challenges, Adam’s candid insights on successes and trials will be helpful.  Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers Adam Feinstein’s Career Path: Transitioned from semiconductor physics to software product management. Valued curiosity and willingness to learn over static domain knowledge. Took a step back in job title to move into software, which paid off in the long run. Key Product Leadership Transitions: Moving from individual contributor to group product manager was a significant growth point, emphasizing hiring, networking, and giving away ideas. Director and VP roles require more focus on people and cross-organizational collaboration. Learned the mantra: “Every problem is a people problem.” Importance of Business Acumen: Early exposure to business fundamentals (P&L, costing, pricing) was important. Understanding the business “money story” and being able to speak the language of business helped in senior roles. Collaboration and Communication: “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast” – taking time to align stakeholders leads to better and faster outcomes. Effective communication and ensuring others truly understand intentions and strategy is vital. Coaching, Mentorship, and Growth: Adam benefited from a variety of mentors, each teaching a different skill (business, marketing, strategy). Personal coaches were instrumental, especially in creating frameworks and honing people skills. Role of a VP of Product: A typical month is focused on clear priorities, impactful writing, coaching, product reviews, and cross-functional advocacy. Leverages AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude for clarity and efficiency in writing. Notes the reality of long hours and the need to balance family commitments. Challenges in Product Leadership: VP roles require balancing multiple priorities, not just optimizing for one goal. Clarity, focus in communication, and creative problem-solving are critical. Training and Continuous Learning: Foundational product management courses and ongoing coaching have been vital. Most recent coaching is focused more on human psychology and interpersonal dynamics rather than just product methods. Useful Links Connect with Adam on LinkedIn Learn more about AppFolio Innovation Quote  “Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.” – Adam Feinstein Application Questions How does the perspective that “every problem is a people problem” shift the way you think about solving organizational or product challenges? When communicating with your team or cross-functional teams, what are some practical tactics to ensure your message is both clear and empathetic? What role have mentors or coaches played in your growth as a product professional, and how did you find or select them? If you don’t have a mentor, how could you find one? Or how could you be a mentor to someone else? How do you balance personal life with demanding leadership roles, and what boundaries or strategies have worked for you? Bio Adam Feinstein is the Vice President of Product Management at AppFolio, where he leads the Resident Industry Segment, a business dedicated to creating a modern, connected experience for renters—from application through move-out—and helping property managers deliver exceptional service throughout the resident journey.  Since March 2025, Adam has embraced this new strategic focus, after previously leading product management for AppFolio’s

UX research practices to maximize product team resources Watch on YouTube TLDR During my conversation with Nick Cawthon, a UX research expert who drives innovation at Gauge and teaches at the California College of Arts, we explored how product teams can strengthen their customer research capabilities without slowing down development. Nick emphasized that while technology is accelerating design and development at unprecedented speeds, successful product managers must balance this velocity with strategic research methods like ethnographic studies and observational research. The key insight: Investing time upfront in understanding what customers actually need—not just what they say they want—prevents building dead-on-arrival products and saves significant development resources. Nick shared practical approaches for resource-constrained teams, including guerrilla research techniques at conferences and mixed methods combining qualitative insights with quantitative data. Key Topics De-risking product development through upfront customer research investment Ethnographic research methods Rapid research strategies AI integration in research Guerrilla research techniques Building research capabilities within existing product teams without dedicated researchers Service design perspective for understanding complete customer journey experiences Introduction We’re talking about research methods and tools that drive smarter product decisions. This is research that helps you uncover what customers really need, not just what they say they want. If you’ve ever wondered how to get better insights without slowing down development, this episode is for you. You’ll walk away with practical advice on how to strengthen your team’s research muscle, even if you don’t have a dedicated researcher. To help us, our guest is Nick Cawthon. Nick has been shaping the UX and research space in San Francisco for decades. He’s spoken at Google’s Tech Talks, Stanford, and PARC. He is an adjunct professor at the California College of the Arts and a Data Science Program Mentor at the University of California. He now drives innovation at Gauge, which helps companies solve complex design challenges. They integrate mixed methods research approaches into product design process to create products customers want, need, and love. The Evolution of UX Research in Product Development The landscape of product development fundamentally shifted when Apple introduced the iPhone, and with it, a new understanding of what makes technology truly user-friendly. During my recent conversation with Nick Cawthon, a seasoned UX research expert who has been shaping the research space in San Francisco for decades, he reflected on this pivotal moment that transformed how we approach customer research methods. Before 2010, Nick explained, anyone claiming to be a UX practitioner would raise eyebrows because the field simply wasn’t mainstream. The concept of user experience research was largely unknown outside specialized circles. However, the iPhone’s success sparked a question across the tech industry: Why do Apple’s products “just work” while others require extensive user manuals and troubleshooting? The iPhone marked a fundamental shift from subjective design approaches to objective, research-driven product development. Nick described how designers previously operated from a place of personal expression, creating products based on individual aesthetic preferences rather than user needs. The iPhone era forced a dramatic change in methodology—designers could no longer rely on personal taste alone. The transformation introduced behavioral sciences into mainstream product development. Research methods that were once confined to academic settings suddenly became essential tools for product teams. This evolution moved design from being an expression of self to a systematic approach focused on guiding users through experiences as intuitively as possible. Nick noted that early attempts at understanding user behavior included primitive methods like heat maps and click tracking during the Web 1.0 era. These tools attempted to decode where users focused their attention, though the insights were often scattered and difficult to interpret. This historical context matters for product managers because it highlights how recently customer research became integral to successful product development. Understanding this evolution helps explain why many organizations still struggle to implement effective research practices—they’re building capabilities that only became industry standard within the last fifteen years. The shift from subjective to objective design thinking represents more than just a methodological change. It established the foundation for modern product management research strategies that prioritize user needs over internal assumptions, setting the stage for the sophisticated research approaches that drive successful products today. The Ne

Product portfolio management skills that transform product managers into strategic leaders Watch on YouTube TLDR Innovation portfolio management is the bridge between strategy and execution that many product managers overlook, yet mastering it becomes essential for both successful idea championing and career advancement into senior leadership roles. Colin Nelson, Chief Innovation Consultant at Hype Innovation, explains how effective portfolio management requires strategic alignment through foresighting and core competency analysis, agile design with regular review cycles, and the implementation of an “innovation shelf” to store viable concepts for future development. Organizations must balance resources across incremental improvements, adjacent innovations, and disruptive projects while leveraging both internal teams and external partnerships to accelerate development and reduce risk. The key lies in creating transparency across all innovation efforts, establishing common data collection methods, and building flexibility into the portfolio to pivot when market conditions change. Key Topics Portfolio Management Fundamentals Strategic Innovation Alignment The Innovation Shelf Strategy Agile Portfolio Design Resource Optimization Three-Tier Portfolio Structure Collective Intelligence Portfolio Review Processes Introduction Have you ever pitched a brilliant product idea only to watch it disappear into the corporate abyss? When I teach product managers about the seven elements of product mastery, their eyes often glaze over when we reach portfolio management. “That’s someone else’s job,” they say, usually referring to senior leadership. But here’s the wake-up call that changes their perspective: First, you’ll never successfully champion your ideas if you don’t understand how they fit into the larger portfolio puzzle. And second—for the career-minded among you—you won’t ascend to senior leadership positions without understanding how portfolios are constructed and managed. Those are two good reasons to learn more about portfolio management, which is why Colin Nelson is joining us. Colin is the Chief Innovation Consultant at HYPE Innovation, a leading provider of innovation management software and consulting services. He is an expert in the field of Collective Intelligence, supporting global organizations and communities on how to achieve efficient, effective, and sustainable innovation and business change using online tools and processes. Colin is a respected thought leader on several innovation subjects, including Innovation Management, Enterprise Collaboration, and Innovation Portfolio Management, publishing numerous articles on these topics. So whether you’re trying to get your product ideas noticed or plotting your path to senior leadership, today’s conversation will equip you with the portfolio management knowledge you need to succeed. The Four Pillars of Innovation Performance In Colin’s work helping companies improve their innovation performance, he noticed four main themes that create the foundation for effective innovation portfolio management and provide a roadmap for systematic improvement. Absorbing External Signals Employee Involvement in Innovation Value Chain Innovation Effective Portfolio Management Today, we’ll focus on portfolio management. Why Product Managers Must Master Portfolio Management Colin described portfolio management as the journey that determines whether innovations move from ideas to market reality. Without mastering these skills, product managers remain stuck at the tactical level, unable to influence strategic decisions or demonstrate the business acumen that senior roles require. Understanding innovation portfolio management transforms how product managers approach their work. Instead of focusing solely on individual projects, they begin thinking about how their initiatives contribute to the organization’s overall innovation strategy. This shift in perspective not only increases the likelihood of project approval but also positions product managers as strategic contributors who can see the bigger picture and make decisions that benefit the entire organization. Objectives of Portfolio Management The primary objective of innovation portfolio management is protecting the organization’s future relevance in world of regular disruption. Innovation represents tomorrow’s sales, making portfolio decisions critical for long-term survival and growth. Organizations that fail to manage their innovation portfolios effectively often find themselves unprepared for market disruptions or changing customer needs. Portfolio management also creates efficiency in the development process by establishing clear frameworks for resource allocation and project prioritization. This efficiency becomes especially important when organizations face capacity constraints and must choose between multiple promising