Product Mastery Now for Product Managers, Leaders, and Innovators

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 marketing, and empathetic leadership, Rebecca has led high-growth companies in education, healthcare, and SaaS to impressive success. Her approach is rooted in a research background, allowing her to blend analytical thinking with creative marketing strategies. As a Forbes contributor and recognized thought leader, Rebecca brings insights into the societal impacts of technology, particularly in areas such as AI’s role in solving global issues and fostering diversity in tech. Her ability to align technology-driven solutions with broader missions while driving substantial business results sets her apart in the marketing and leadership landscape. 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

Join Scot and Walter Herbst, a dynamic father-son duo, as they share their invaluable insights on product innovation. With over 230 patents to their names, they discuss the importance of understanding customer problems and structured methodologies in successful product development. Hear about their innovative journey in enhancing medical tools and the pivot that transformed a ceramic box cutter. They emphasize adaptability, user needs, and how to avoid common pitfalls, making their expertise essential for product managers and innovators alike.

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 Check out the PDMA Ignite Innovation Conference, where Ben will be a keynote speaker 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 campaign look in your industry to celebrate and understand your end users? Bio Bennett Brenton joined Snap-on Incorporated as Chief Innovation Officer and Vice President of Innovation in February 2007.  Snap-on is a leading global innovator, manufacturer and marketer of tools, diagnostics and equipment solutions for professional users.  Ben’s role is to drive innovative products, solutions and processes that fundamentally change the markets Snap-on serves and enhance customer perception of its brands. Ben has helped to create, support and institutionalize a culture at Snap-on that embraces creativity, risk, change and fearless innovation.   In early 2009 Ben launched Innovation Works! – a physical center for innovation at Snap-on’s office in Kenosha Wisconsin. Prior to joining Snap-on, Ben spent 4 years in Marketing at PepsiCo, most recently as the Director of Innovation for the Frito-Lay Convenience Foods division.  At PepsiCo he also led innovation as Director of Innovation for Tropicana and prior to that as Director of Innovation for Shelf Stable Beverages.  Before joining PepsiCo, Ben was Marketing Director of New Products at Kraft Foods.  He spent over 14 years at Kraft Foods, starting as a Research Scientist in Biotechnology and working in various roles with increasing responsibility and scope across R&D and Marketing.  Ben has over 20 years of experience focused on new product development, marketing and innovation.  Ben is a recognized expert in innovation and an expert at facilitating ideation sessions and customer interviews.    Ben holds a Bachelors degree in Biology and a Masters degree in Microbial Genetics from the University of Nebraska.  He was awarded a fellowship in Biotechnology from the National Academy of Sciences and received a Ph.D, in Food Science and Nutrition with an emphasis in Molecular Genetics from the University of Massachusetts.  He is an active runner, cyclist and triathlete.   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

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 US and transitioned to the Toyota Supplier Support Center (TSSC), a non-profit organization Toyota in North America established dedicated to the practical application of the Toyota Production System (TPS). While their, he worked to extend TPS beyond manufacturing into healthcare and non-profits, which remains a key focus of TSSC’s mission.  Mark joined Toyota’s Corporate Strategy group in North America in 2001, serving as Assistant General Manager. He managed Toyota’s North American hoshin kanri process during a period of significant growth that saw sales and production nearly double over the next decade. Hoshin kanri was essential for aligning the organization during this transformative time.  In 2011, Mark transitioned to the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) and has held several positions, including Chief Operating Officer and, since 2018, Senior Coach and Chief Engineer of Strategy. He has led lean transformations and coached executives in hoshin kanri across various industries, with clients including GE Appliances, Legal Sea Foods, Michigan Medicine, Nucleus Software, and others.  Mark recently authored the book Managing on Purpose. This workbook is vital for leaders looking to implement hoshin kanri effectively within their organizations. It provides practical insights into developing corporate and departmental hoshins while fostering leadership development and innovation. The book includes a fictional case study, allowing readers to apply hoshin kanri concepts in a relatable context.  Mark earned his bachelor’s degree from Ohio Wesleyan University and specialized in Japanese studies at Nanzan University. He resides outside of Cincinnati with his wife and daughters. He is fluent in written and spoken Japanese.  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

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 Check out the PDMA Ignite Innovation Conference, where Jod will be giving a keynote address 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 collection in your daily routine, and what sources beyond your industry bubble should you be monitoring? What would happen if the most interesting technological development you’ve read about recently became the new normal—what would it threaten or enable in your product space? How might you use evidence-based imagination techniques like detailed future-state prototyping or scenario videos to help your team move beyond short-term thinking and explore bolder possibilities? Bio Previously, as Head of Product Design & Research at Oracle, Jod led a global design practice delivering SaaS solutions that supported critical energy and construction services. Today, he heads the service design practice at Launch by NTT Data, where he is shaping the future of service innovation and helping organizations craft transformative, human-centered systems and experiences.  With over 20 years of experience designing cross-channel platforms for companies such as Sony, Google, and Wells Fargo, Jod has consistently championed human-centered business strategies that foster resilience and long-term value. By weaving strategic foresight into his design and coaching practice, he empowers organizations and individuals to embrace adaptive agility and drive innovation through personal agency. His leadership is grounded in a commitment to long-term thinking, aligning business visions with the evolving needs of society.  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

Kristyn Corrigan, Principal at Applied Marketing Science and PDMA Board member, dives into the transformative power of Voice of the Customer (VOC) research. She explains how many product managers rely on assumptions rather than real insights, urging a shift in approach. The discussion reveals effective methodologies for gathering customer insights, like qualitative interviews and AI analysis. Kristyn shares practical advice on engaging customers through active listening, and highlights how these insights can unlock innovation and enhance product development.

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 Guard, Payments, and Screening businesses (GPS). In his current role, he is responsible for driving product strategy, innovation, and growth in one of the company’s most dynamic and strategic areas.  Adam joined AppFolio in 2019 and has played a key role in scaling multiple lines of business through a blend of customer empathy, operational rigor, and cross-functional leadership. Before finding his home in proptech, Adam spent the early part of his career in semiconductor equipment manufacturing. Source

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 Need to Balance Speed with Strategic Thinking One of the most pressing challenges facing product teams today is managing the tension between development velocity and strategic depth. The efficiency with which teams can move from concept to execution in both design and development is accelerating. At the same time, a deliberate slowdown is necessary in research and strategy phases. While teams can rapidly prototype and build, the most successful products emerge when organizations invest time in observational studies and ethnographic research before entering the development pipeline. Fast Thinking (Execution) 26564_bb84d1-49> Slow Thinking (Strategy) 26564_1bf094-de> Design toolsComponent librariesAutomated developmentRapid prototyping 26564_40cf21-e8> Ethnographic researchObservational studiesStrategic reflectionCustomer empathy building 26564_b6a667-87> Product teams must understand which methods to choose based on the pace that allows for proper digestion and processing of insights. This isn’t about slowing down everything—it’s about strategic allocation of time resources. When development becomes more efficient, wise product leaders reinvest that saved time into better customer research and strategic thinking. De-risking Product Development Through Customer Research The concept of de-risking became central to Nick’s approach when working with clients who prioritized backend efficiency over frontend strategy. He developed this framework while consulting with an IT services firm that excelled at development execution but struggled with understanding whether they were building the right products for their clients. Nick created the DOA (Dead on Arrival) framework, which helps teams identify products likely to fail before significant development resources are invested. This approach treats customer research methods as insurance policies that protect against building products nobody wants. Ethnographic Research: Breaking Out of the Corporate Echo Chamber Corporate environments naturally create what Nick called “vicious agreement”—a phenomenon where teams become trapped in cycles of mutual affirmation that prevent genuine innovation. Ethnographic research methods serve as an antidote to this problem by introducing outside perspectives into internal discussions. When research teams bring back authentic customer voices—complete with emotional reactions, unexpected pain points, and surprising use cases—it disrupts the comfortable internal narrative that teams have constructed. Case Study: Global Ethnographic Research in Video Game Commerce Nick shared an example of how ethnographic research methods can reveal cultural insights that transform product strategy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he worked with a client who needed to understand how different subcultures within a multinational video game identified with each other and used in-game commerce features for buying and selling items. Travel restrictions prevented traditional on-site ethnographic research, but the client needed deep cultural insights from seven different countries. Nick had to completely reimagine his research approach, coordinating with local interviewers and photographers across Brazil, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. This remote ethnographic research strategy proved remarkably effective. Rather than trying to understand global customers from a single perspective, Nick’s team gathered authentic voices from each region, documenting how different subcultures expressed their identity through virtual items and digital commerce within the game environment. Cultural Insights That Shaped Product Strategy The research revealed profound cultural differences that directly impacted product development decisions. Each country’s players approached virtual identity and commerce in fundamentally different ways, reflecting deeper cultural values that traditional market research might have missed. These cultural insights directly informed product strategy in ways that would have been impossible without ethnographic research. The video game company knew which players were connected through their platform’s social features, enabling them to create targeted recommendation systems based on cultural preferences. Rapid Research Methods for Time-Pressured Teams Most product teams face the reality of competing priorities and compressed timelines, making extensive ethnographic studies seem impractical. Nick addressed this challenge by emphasizing that rapid research methods can be highly effective when designed with the same attention to user experience that teams apply to their actual products. Like products, surveys themselves also need high quality UX. When someone agrees to participate in a survey or research study, they’re essentially becoming a user of your research process. If that experience is frustrating, confusing, or poorly designed, participants will abandon the research just like users abandon poorly designed products. The mathematics of participant attention are unforgiving. Nick explained that researchers typically have five minutes of genuine participant attention, maybe ten minutes if compensation is involved. Within that narrow window, every aspect of the research experience must be carefully crafted to maintain engagement and gather meaningful insights. Designing Elegant Surveys The key to successful rapid research lies in creating elegant forms—survey instruments that feel pleasurable rather than burdensome to complete. These research tools avoid repetitive questions, maintain clear logical flow, and respect participants’ time investment. Poor Survey Design 26564_fc17b3-d5> Elegant Survey Design 26564_30780d-99> Repetitive questionsConfusing logic flowPoor user experienceHigh abandonment ratesUnreliable data quality 26564_68a929-26> Clear, focused questionsLogical conditional routingPleasurable completion experienceHigh completion ratesQuality insights gathered 26564_bec845-59> Managing the Data Volume Challenge Nick warned that increased data collection capabilities create new challenges. With more data comes the responsibility for more sophisticated analysis and interpretation. Teams must feel confident that their research questions are correct before launching large-scale data collection efforts. The ease of survey deployment can tempt teams to gather data without sufficient strategic thinking about what they actually need to learn. Nick emphasized the importance of defining clear research objectives before designing any rapid research instrument, regardless of how simple the technology makes the deployment process. Mixed Methods Approach: Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Research The most valuable research insights emerge when teams combine the emotional depth of qualitative research with the statistical validation of quantitative data. Nick shared his philosophy about creating research approaches that preserve authentic human voices while providing the numerical evidence that drives organizational decision-making. Nick described observing a colleague present research findings for a financial services company that demonstrated both the power and limitations of traditional research presentation methods. The presentation included all the expected elements: sticky notes, organized boards, pull quotes organized by themes, and detailed tables breaking down user needs by jobs-to-be-done frameworks and pain points. However, Nick noted what was missing from this otherwise comprehensive research presentation: the actual voices of the human beings who had provided these insights. The research had been processed and organized in ways that removed the emotional context, tone, and sentiment that make customer feedback truly compelling and actionable. Preserving Human Emotion in Research Nick recommended a video production approach to research presentation. Rather than simply organizing quotes into categories, he suggested creating supercuts of customer voices around specific themes. These compilations allow stakeholders to hear the actual language, tone, and emotional inflection that customers use when discussing problems or experiences. The themes that emerge from this approach carry much more emotional weight when presented through actual customer voices rather than sanitized summaries. This emotional connection often drives more meaningful organizational change than statistical data alone. When research involves written feedback, surveys, or other text-based data collection, Nick emphasized the importance of mapping those responses back to real human stories. This might require developing personas or conducting follow-up interviews, but the effort to maintain human connection in research findings significantly improves their impact. Traditional Research Presentation 26564_a27811-db> Mixed Methods with Human Voice 26564_993796-7a> Organized sticky notesCategorized themesStatistical summaries Pain point tablesAbstract insights 26564_7341f5-b1> Video compilations of voicesEmotional tone preservedHuman stories maintainedStatistical validation includedActionable insights with context 26564_690df1-ca> The Risk of Sanitizing Customer Feedback During our conversation, I raised concerns about how organizations often sanitize customer feedback as it moves through internal processes. Teams learn valuable insights from customer research, then translate authentic customer language into corporate jargon before presenting findings to leadership. Nick acknowledged this issue, particularly when research involves internal feedback that might reflect poorly on specific teams or individuals. He noted the delicate balance required when presenting customer feedback that might implicate someone’s job performance or strategic decisions. Nick suggested a democratic approach to managing this challenge. Rather than filtering or sanitizing customer feedback, he recommended providing leadership with access to complete, unfiltered research data while presenting interpreted insights as examples rather than definitive conclusions. This approach positions researchers as facilitators who demonstrate possible interpretations while allowing stakeholders to examine source material and draw their own conclusions. This transparency reduces the appearance of researcher bias while ensuring that authentic customer voices remain accessible to decision-makers. Practical Research Strategies for Resource-Constrained Teams Most product teams don’t have the luxury of dedicated researchers or extensive research budgets, but Nick shared practical strategies for gathering meaningful customer insights without significant resource investments. His approach focuses on being strategic about when, where, and how to connect with target customers. Nick introduced the concept of guerrilla research through an example from his work with a highly technical and typically inaccessible target audience. His client needed insights from infrastructure DevOps professionals—individuals who Nick described as reclusive, introverted, and well-paid professionals who were nearly impossible to reach through traditional research methods. These technical professionals typically avoided marketing outreach and weren’t easily influenced by conventional research recruitment approaches. However, Nick discovered that several times per year, these same individuals emerged from their usual isolation to attend industry conferences and networking events focused on open source technologies, AWS, and similar technical gatherings. Nick attended these conference to talk with DevOps professionals. He analyzed their social media feeds and conference communications to identify when target personas would be attending specific events. Nick would then arrange brief research conversations between conference sessions, leveraging the natural networking atmosphere that conferences create. This approach proved remarkably effective for reaching specialized personas who would be impossible to recruit through traditional methods. The conference environment created a natural context for professional conversations, and participants were often more willing to share honest feedback about products and services within the industry networking atmosphere. Traditional Recruitment Challenges 26564_776bc8-97> Guerrilla Research Solutions 26564_db3245-83> Hard-to-reach personasExpensive recruitment costsLow response ratesArtificial research environmentsLimited access to specialists 26564_6e4a7a-78> Natural networking environmentsCost-effective accessHigher engagement ratesAuthentic professional contextDirect access to specialists 26564_6740c3-c0> Capturing Authentic Feedback Nick shared an example of gathering feedback like “the one thing I hate most about your product,” delivered with the kind of directness that comes from peer-to-peer professional conversations. This level of honest, unfiltered feedback is often more valuable than carefully moderated focus group discussions or formal interview responses. Budget and Time Management For product teams concerned about research budgets, Nick pointed out that good researchers are available for project-based work that can be built into development budgets. However, he identified time allocation as often being more challenging than budget constraints. The key insight for product managers involves strategic scheduling decisions. When building project timelines, teams must decide whether to front-load time investment in design and development phases or allocate time for research and strategy upfront. Nick strongly advocated for the latter approach. Conclusion The insights Nick Cawthon shared reveal that customer research represents far more than a preliminary step in product development—it’s a strategic capability that determines whether teams build products customers actually need or waste resources on solutions nobody wants. As AI tools accelerate design and development processes at unprecedented speeds, the most successful product teams will be those that reinvest efficiency gains into deeper customer understanding rather than simply faster delivery cycles. The democratization of research tools means that sophisticated customer insights are now accessible to any product team willing to develop systematic research capabilities, regardless of budget constraints or dedicated research personnel. The path forward requires balancing technological acceleration with human understanding, treating research design with the same rigor applied to product design, and maintaining authentic customer voices throughout the product development process. Product managers who develop research skills, cultivate genuine customer empathy, and master the art of translating human needs into technical solutions will create sustainable competitive advantages that pure technological capabilities cannot replicate. In an era where development tools become quickly commoditized, deep customer understanding remains a differentiating factor that drives breakthrough products and lasting business success. Useful Links Check out Nick’s Dead-On-Arrival framework Learn more about Gauge Connect with Nick on LinkedIn Learn more about the California College of the Arts Design Strategy MBA Innovation Quote “Specialization is for insects.” – Kevin Farnham, Nick’s professor Application Questions 1. Breaking Out of Echo Chambers: How could you identify whether your product team is trapped in “vicious agreement” about customer needs, and what specific steps could you take to introduce authentic external customer voices into your next strategic planning session? 2. Time Investment Strategy: Given your current project timelines, how could you reallocate time from design and development phases to invest more heavily in upfront customer research, and what efficiency gains from AI tools could you leverage to enable this strategic shift? 3. Guerrilla Research Implementation: How could your team use industry conferences, professional events, or online communities to conduct “guerrilla research” with hard-to-reach customer personas, and what specific approaches would work best for your target audience? 4. Service Design Perspective: How could you expand your current customer research beyond end-users to include all stakeholders affected by your product (like customer support teams, implementation specialists, or business partners), and what operational challenges might you discover that traditional user research would miss? 5. Mixed Methods Integration: How could you combine qualitative customer stories with quantitative validation in your next research presentation to preserve authentic customer voices while providing the statistical evidence your stakeholders expect, and what tools or techniques would help you maintain the emotional impact of customer feedback? Bio Nick Cawthon 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. 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

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 opportunities. The portfolio management function helps leaders make informed decisions about where to invest limited resources for maximum strategic impact. Good portfolio management provides leadership with clear visibility into all innovation activities, progress metrics, and resource utilization. This transparency supports strategic planning and helps identify opportunities for synergy or collaboration between different innovation initiatives. Perhaps most importantly, effective portfolio management enables organizational agility in response to constant market change. The pace of business disruption continues accelerating, making it essential for organizations to pivot quickly when circumstances shift. Portfolio management systems that provide real-time visibility and flexible resource allocation capabilities allow organizations to adapt their innovation strategies as new opportunities and threats emerge. The Strategy-Innovation Alignment Problem Colin identified a challenge that undermines many innovation efforts: Most backend development problems actually start as frontend alignment issues. When innovation projects fail to gain traction or deliver expected results, the root cause often traces back to poor strategic alignment rather than execution problems. Organizations frequently generate ideas and concepts that contradict existing strategic directions or compete with other initiatives for the same resources. Without strong portfolio management oversight, these alignment issues remain hidden until projects reach advanced stages, wasting time and resources. Successful innovation portfolio management addresses alignment problems by establishing clear strategic frameworks before development work begins. These frameworks help innovation teams understand which opportunities align with organizational priorities and which ones should be deferred or eliminated. Building Strategy Through Foresighting and Understanding Core Competencies Strategic innovation requires organizations to master two complementary capabilities that are essential for effective portfolio development. The most successful organizations combine external market intelligence with deep internal self-awareness to create robust innovation strategies that guide portfolio decisions. The Dual Approach to Strategic Direction Leading organizations excel at balancing present-moment awareness with future projection capabilities. They invest in understanding emerging trends and technologies while simultaneously analyzing how these external forces might create opportunities for their specific organizational context. This dual approach involves systematic foresighting activities that help organizations anticipate market changes, regulatory shifts, and technological breakthroughs before they become mainstream. However, external trend analysis alone provides insufficient guidance for innovation portfolio decisions. Organizations must marry this external intelligence with a clear understanding of their internal capabilities and strategic assets. The iterative process requires organizations to continually ask themselves what macro trends might impact their business environment and where these changes could generate new opportunities. This external scanning must connect directly to internal capability assessment to identify realistic pathways for innovation development. Understanding Core Competencies Organizations must distinguish between what they sell versus what they excel at doing. Core competencies often extend far beyond current product offerings. Colin illustrated this concept using McDonald’s as an example. While most people believe they could create better burgers than McDonald’s, the company remains the world’s most successful burger chain. This apparent contradiction makes sense when you examine McDonald’s true competencies: real estate management, marketing excellence, logistics optimization, and operational consistency. McDonald’s succeeds not because of superior burger quality, but because they leverage competencies beyond food preparation. Their innovation portfolio opportunities should focus on applications of these core strengths rather than just menu improvements. This insight applies broadly to organizations across all industries. The core competency analysis process requires organizations to honestly assess their unique capabilities, institutional knowledge, and strategic assets. These competencies might include manufacturing excellence, customer relationship management, regulatory expertise, brand recognition, distribution networks, or technological capabilities that competitors cannot easily replicate. Case Study: The Wheel Manufacturer’s Innovation Journey Colin shared an example of how strategic innovation develops through the intersection of external insights and core competency understanding. He worked with an automotive wheel manufacturer that felt trapped in a commodity business with limited innovation opportunities. The company decided to analyze external trends affecting their industry and customer experience. They discovered that consumers increasingly preferred larger wheels for aesthetic reasons, but this preference created unintended consequences. Larger wheels required thinner tire sidewalls, and when combined with deteriorating road conditions, this led to increased tire blowouts and poor customer experiences. Rather than accepting these market constraints, the wheel manufacturer asked themselves what core competencies they could apply to solve this emerging problem. They recognized their manufacturing excellence and metallurgy expertise, but acknowledged they lacked knowledge about flexible rim technology that could address the blowout issue. This honest capability assessment led them to pursue a strategic partnership with Michelin, a company with leading expertise in flexible wheel technology. Together, they developed innovative wheels with flexible rims that work harmoniously with tire sidewalls to reduce blowout risks while maintaining the aesthetic appeal of larger wheels. The success of this innovation came from combining external market intelligence about customer experience problems with a realistic assessment of internal capabilities and strategic partnership opportunities. The resulting product aligned perfectly with their brand identity and manufacturing strengths while addressing a genuine market need that competitors had overlooked. This example demonstrates how effective innovation strategy emerges from systematic analysis of external trends, honest evaluation of internal capabilities, and creative thinking about how to bridge capability gaps through partnerships or acquisitions. Organizations that master this strategic foundation create innovation portfolios that deliver sustainable competitive advantages rather than just incremental improvements. Building Agility into Portfolio Management Modern innovation portfolio management must incorporate flexibility as a core design principle rather than an optional feature. Static portfolios create significant risks in today’s rapidly changing business environment, where innovation timelines often extend far beyond the predictability of market conditions. Portfolio Flexibility Innovation projects face a timing challenge that makes agility essential for success. Aerospace companies might spend decades bringing new aircraft to market; pharmaceutical organizations often require 13 to 15 years for successful drug development; and even consumer goods companies need multiple years for complex product innovations. During these extended development periods, market conditions continue evolving at accelerating rates. Organizations that maintain rigid portfolio structures risk investing years of effort in innovations that no longer match market realities when they finally reach completion. Colin highlighted professional services as an example of industries experiencing rapid disruption that demands portfolio agility. Law firms that never needed innovation capabilities for survival now must rapidly adapt to artificial intelligence technologies that can generate legal contracts faster than human attorneys. This disruption creates urgent needs for business model innovation and portfolio restructuring to remain competitive. The solution is designing portfolio management systems that assume change rather than stability. These systems incorporate regular review cycles, flexible resource allocation mechanisms, and decision-making frameworks that support rapid pivoting when circumstances require strategic adjustments. Designing Agility by Design Effective portfolio agility requires establishing common data standards across all innovation projects regardless of their scope, timeline, or organizational location. This standardization enables holistic portfolio visibility and supports informed decision-making about resource reallocation. Data Category 26565_5399bf-b0> Information Required 26565_cf1e95-d9> Portfolio Impact 26565_2a1cca-7c> Financial Metrics 26565_d3061d-62> Investment levels, expected returns, timeline to revenue 26565_348279-53> Enables resource reallocation decisions 26565_faa438-b4> Timeline Progress 26565_44ddd9-95> Current milestones, remaining phases, critical path dependencies 26565_0cc5c9-7f> Supports prioritization and capacity planning 26565_f59095-3f> Confidence Levels 26565_7b4139-07> Technical feasibility, market readiness, competitive positioning 26565_3290dc-af> Guides risk management and pivot decisions 26565_2431ce-f9> The Globally Visible Innovation Pipeline Colin described working with an energy company in Texas that implemented a globally visible innovation pipeline. This system created transparency across all innovation activities, from incremental improvements to strategic disruptions, giving leadership and strategists comprehensive portfolio visibility. The pipeline served multiple critical functions beyond simple project tracking. It helped identify potential overlaps between different teams working on similar challenges, revealed opportunities for synergy and collaboration, and highlighted gaps where strategic priorities lacked adequate innovation support. Most importantly, it provided the information foundation needed for agile decision-making. The globally visible pipeline concept works because it treats all innovation activities as part of a connected system rather than isolated projects. Teams could see how their work related to other initiatives, identify opportunities for collaboration, and understand how their projects contributed to overall strategic objectives. This visibility created natural alignment and reduced the likelihood of conflicting or competing efforts. Leadership gained the ability to make informed decisions about resource allocation, project prioritization, and strategic direction changes. When market conditions shifted or new opportunities emerged, they could quickly assess portfolio implications and make necessary adjustments without lengthy analysis periods that might delay critical pivots. The pipeline approach also improved communication between different organizational levels and functions. Innovation teams understood how their work connected to business strategy, while executives gained insight into operational realities and resource constraints that affected strategic implementation. The Innovation Shelf Strategy One of the most valuable yet underutilized concepts in innovation portfolio management involves creating systematic storage for viable ideas that cannot be pursued immediately. Colin introduced the innovation shelf as a strategic repository that transforms how organizations handle promising concepts that face timing, resource, or market readiness challenges. Concept and Implementation The innovation shelf is a home for concepts that demonstrate genuine potential but cannot receive immediate development resources. Colin explained that these ideas often emerge from solid market insights or technical breakthroughs that face obstacles beyond their inherent quality or feasibility. Several common scenarios lead to shelf placement rather than project termination. Technology readiness issues occur when organizations identify valuable applications for capabilities that remain too expensive, complex, or immature for current implementation. Market timing problems arise when customer segments show insufficient readiness for innovative solutions, even though future adoption seems likely. Capacity constraints represent another frequent reason for shelf placement. Organizations often generate more promising concepts than their available resources can support simultaneously. Rather than abandoning these excess opportunities, the innovation shelf preserves institutional knowledge and maintains option value for future consideration. Colin emphasized that shelf placement should not carry negative connotations for innovation teams. Instead, organizations must position shelving decisions as smart business choices that preserve valuable work while focusing current resources on higher-priority initiatives. This cultural shift prevents teams from pursuing low-probability projects simply to avoid perceived failure. Innovation shelf implementation requires systematic documentation that captures key insights, development progress, and future trigger conditions that might justify project revival. Organizations need clear criteria for shelf placement decisions and regular review processes that evaluate whether shelved concepts deserve renewed attention based on changing circumstances. Resource Optimization and Allocation Every organization faces the challenge of unlimited innovation opportunities competing for limited resources. Resource optimization is one of the most critical aspects of portfolio management, requiring sophisticated approaches to maximize innovation impact while acknowledging capacity constraints. Prioritization Effective resource optimization requires dynamic prioritization systems that can respond to changing market conditions, competitive pressures, and organizational capabilities. These systems must balance current resource commitments with future opportunity evaluation to avoid both underinvestment in promising areas and overcommitment to declining prospects. Colin noted that resource allocation decisions become particularly challenging when innovations require long development timelines. Organizations must make resource commitments based on current market understanding while accepting that circumstances may change significantly before projects reach completion. This uncertainty demands portfolio approaches that build in flexibility and regular reassessment opportunities. Internal vs. External Resource Strategies Modern innovation portfolio management increasingly relies on external partnerships and collaborations to extend organizational capabilities beyond internal resource limitations. Colin explained how organizations can leverage supply chain partners, academic institutions, and other external entities to accelerate innovation while reducing internal capacity requirements. External collaboration strategies offer several advantages for resource-constrained organizations. Partners often bring specialized expertise that would be expensive and time-consuming to develop internally. They may also provide access to research facilities, testing capabilities, or market knowledge that supplement organizational resources effectively. Supply chain partnerships create particularly attractive resource optimization opportunities because supplier motivations align naturally with customer innovation goals. Suppliers have clear incentives to collaborate on innovations that could increase their sales volumes or create new market opportunities for their products and services. These external resource strategies also provide risk mitigation benefits by spreading development costs and technical risks across multiple organizations. When innovations fail to meet expectations, losses are shared rather than absorbed entirely by the lead organization. This risk sharing enables organizations to pursue more ambitious innovation portfolios than their internal resources alone could support. However, external collaboration requires careful management to maintain strategic control and intellectual property protection. Organizations must develop clear partnership frameworks that define roles, responsibilities, and benefit sharing while preserving their ability to capture value from successful innovations. Independent Forecasting Systems Colin identified a flaw in many innovation portfolio management approaches: allowing project teams to evaluate the commercial potential of their own innovations. This practice introduces bias that distorts resource allocation decisions and undermines portfolio optimization efforts. The problem occurs because innovation teams naturally develop emotional attachments to their projects and may lack the market expertise needed for accurate commercial assessment. Engineers might excel at technical development but lack the business knowledge required to distinguish between hundred-million-dollar and billion-dollar opportunities. Colin recommended separating concept development activities from commercial forecasting responsibilities. Independent teams should evaluate market potential across entire innovation portfolios, providing objective assessments that enable better resource allocation decisions. These independent evaluators can develop specialized expertise in market analysis and opportunity assessment. Evaluation Approach 26565_26b81e-6f> Advantages 26565_619cf8-34> Limitations 26565_855dca-fb> Team Self-Assessment 26565_c7ad80-ec> Deep technical knowledge, immediate availability 26565_c0b1dd-fe> Emotional bias, limited market expertise 26565_ba4c1c-e9> Independent Forecasting 26565_136f0b-20> Objective analysis, specialized market knowledge 26565_86b5dd-7c> Distance from technical details, additional resource requirements 26565_226dbd-3a> Hybrid Model 26565_fd4878-b3> Combines technical insight with market objectivity 26565_ed4972-27> Requires coordination, potential for conflicting assessments 26565_213163-e3> Leveraging Collective Intelligence Innovation challenges often require knowledge and expertise that extends far beyond individual teams or even entire organizations. Colin emphasized how collective intelligence approaches can dramatically accelerate innovation timelines while reducing resource requirements and failure rates across innovation portfolios. Breaking Down Innovation Silos Traditional innovation approaches often trap teams in isolation when they encounter technical obstacles or market challenges. Colin observed that most innovation teams, when facing roadblocks, typically consult only their immediate colleagues or nearby team members for solutions. This limited consultation approach wastes valuable time and often fails to identify optimal solutions that exist within the broader organizational network. The silo problem becomes particularly acute in large organizations where expertise often resides in unexpected departments or business units. Teams struggling with specific technical challenges may not realize that other parts of their organization possess relevant knowledge or have solved similar problems in different contexts. Entire organizations should participate in supporting innovation initiatives rather than leaving individual teams to solve complex problems independently. The collective intelligence of internal networks, combined with external partnerships and academic collaborations, often provides breakthrough solutions that isolated teams cannot achieve alone. Colin worked with a client in the chemicals industry that had struggled with a specific chemistry challenge for approximately two years without finding acceptable solutions. The internal team had exhausted their technical approaches and continued investing significant time and resources attempting to solve the problem through incremental experimentation. Despite their expertise and dedication, they remained unable to achieve the breakthrough needed for their innovation project to proceed successfully. Colin suggested the organization reach out to their existing academic partners. An academic expert identified the solution within twenty minutes of reviewing the problem description. The solution involved existing research and established techniques that the internal team had not encountered in their problem-solving efforts. No financial compensation was required – the academic expert simply shared a research paper that contained the necessary methodology. Portfolio Structure and Management Effective innovation portfolio management requires thoughtful organization that reflects the different characteristics, risks, and management approaches needed for various types of innovation projects. Colin outlined a systematic framework for structuring portfolios that enables organizations to balance incremental improvements with strategic breakthroughs. The Three-Tier Portfolio Framework Colin recommended organizing innovation portfolios into three distinct categories that each require different management approaches, resource allocation strategies, and success metrics. This structure helps organizations maintain appropriate balance while applying suitable oversight to each innovation type. Incremental Innovation represents the foundation tier that focuses on improvements to existing products and services for current customer segments. These projects typically offer high predictability with clear market validation and relatively short development timelines. The technical and market risks remain low because organizations build upon established capabilities and proven customer needs. Incremental innovations provide steady revenue growth and operational efficiency improvements that support ongoing business performance. These projects often deliver measurable returns within months rather than years, making them attractive for organizations seeking near-term innovation impact. However, incremental innovation alone cannot protect organizations from market disruption or competitive displacement. Adjacent Innovation occupies the middle tier and involves developing new capabilities for new customer segments or applying existing capabilities to different market applications. These projects carry moderate risk and uncertainty while offering greater potential impact than incremental improvements. Adjacent innovations might require acquiring new technical skills or understanding different customer needs. This category includes efforts to expand into related markets, develop complementary products, or serve adjacent customer segments with modified offerings. The development timelines typically extend longer than incremental projects but remain shorter than radical innovation initiatives. Success rates fall between incremental and radical innovation levels. Radical or Disruptive Innovation forms the highest tier and pursues revolutionary changes that could transform entire industries or create completely new market categories. These projects involve significant uncertainty about technical feasibility, market acceptance, and competitive response. Development timelines often span multiple years with substantial resource requirements. Radical innovations offer the highest potential rewards but also carry the greatest risks of failure. Organizations cannot predict outcomes with confidence, but successful radical innovations can create sustainable competitive advantages and entirely new revenue streams. These projects require patient capital and tolerance for uncertainty. Separating Incremental from Strategic Innovation Colin emphasized the importance of managing incremental innovation separately from more strategic innovation efforts due to their fundamentally different characteristics and requirements. This separation enables organizations to apply appropriate management approaches rather than forcing all innovation types into uniform processes. Incremental innovation benefits from efficiency-focused management that emphasizes speed, cost control, and predictable delivery. These projects can use traditional project management approaches with clear milestones, defined resource requirements, and measurable progress indicators. Success metrics focus on implementation effectiveness and incremental performance improvements. Strategic innovation requires exploratory management approaches that accommodate uncertainty, encourage experimentation, and support learning through failure. These projects need flexible resource allocation, adaptive timelines, and success metrics that value knowledge generation alongside commercial outcomes. The management approach must balance persistence with smart stopping decisions. The separation also helps organizations communicate different expectations to innovation teams and stakeholders. Incremental projects should deliver predictable results within specified timeframes, while strategic projects should generate valuable learning and market insights even when original objectives prove unattainable. Moving Beyond the Golden Ratio Colin challenged the traditional “golden ratio” approach to portfolio allocation that historically recommended specific percentage distributions across innovation categories. Colin argued that modern portfolio allocation decisions must consider industry-specific circumstances, competitive pressures, and disruption threats rather than applying universal percentage formulas. Industries facing rapid disruption require greater allocation to strategic and radical innovation regardless of traditional practices. Organizations in declining markets cannot survive by focusing primarily on incremental improvements to obsolete products or services. The pace of technological change and market disruption demands more dynamic allocation approaches. Conclusion Innovation portfolio management is the missing link that transforms good product managers into strategic leaders who can navigate complex organizational challenges while delivering sustainable competitive advantages. Colin’s framework demonstrates that mastering portfolio thinking involves far more than project coordination—it requires developing strategic foresight, building systematic resource optimization capabilities, and creating agile decision-making systems that respond effectively to accelerating market change. Product managers who embrace these portfolio management principles position themselves as invaluable strategic assets while building the foundational skills that senior leadership roles demand. The path from individual contributor to executive leadership runs directly through portfolio management expertise that balances tactical execution with strategic vision. Organizations need product managers who can champion individual innovations while optimizing entire portfolios, leverage collective intelligence while maintaining strategic focus, and build tomorrow’s capabilities while delivering today’s results. The frameworks, tools, and implementation strategies explored throughout this discussion provide practical roadmaps for developing these capabilities while demonstrating the strategic thinking that accelerates career advancement and organizational success in innovation-driven markets. Useful Links Check out HYPE Innovation  Connect with Colin on LinkedIn  Take a Free Innovation Management Assessment Listen to The Innovation Room Podcast Innovation Quote “Where’s your innovation shelf? Do you have a home for the things you’d like to do when the opportunity arises?” – Colin Nelson Application Questions 1. How could you conduct a systematic audit of your current innovation projects to identify alignment gaps with organizational strategy? 2. How could your team establish an innovation shelf system that captures valuable concepts you cannot pursue immediately? 3. How could you systematically leverage both internal expertise and external partnerships to accelerate innovation problem-solving within your organization? 4. How could you apply the three-tier portfolio framework (incremental, adjacent, radical) to evaluate your current resource allocation patterns? What percentage of your innovation capacity currently focuses on each category, and how might you adjust this allocation based on your industry’s disruption threats and competitive dynamics? 5. How could you create dashboard visibility that enables leadership to make informed portfolio decisions while demonstrating your strategic understanding of innovation management? What common data standards and performance metrics would best support both tactical project management and strategic portfolio optimization within your organizational context? Bio Colin Nelson is the Chief Innovation Consultant at HYPE Innovation, the global leader in online innovation management solutions. He’s a thought leader on innovation management, collective intelligence, online innovation, and open innovation, helping to connect people, ideas, and data. He helps both companies and communities to engage diverse thinking in support of innovation programs, harnessing both the workforce and an organizations entire eco-system. Colin has supported MBA teaching programs at Exeter and Durham Business Schools. His clients have included: Airbus, Fujitsu, Harley-Davidson, NASA, the NBA, the United Nations, and Unilever.  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

Join Steve Johnson, a seasoned product coach and author, as he dives into the evolving world of product management. He emphasizes how AI is revolutionizing the field by handling tactical tasks, freeing product managers to focus on strategy. Steve discusses the importance of understanding customer problems over rushing to solutions and how organizational silos can stifle innovation. He also highlights the vital role of Product Ops in enhancing collaboration and suggests that the key to success lies in embracing a problem-centered approach.