What do you do if your executive role in Product Management lacks innovation and creativity?

From my experience, if you feel a lack of innovation and creativity in your Product role, it is a clear sign that you are on the tail end of the Product S-Curve. There maybe a lot of main street business still to be had, however, it is a sign that for the long term survival of your business, you need to start preparing to transition to a new S-curve. Go read Clayton Christensen's Innovator's dilemma as you are likely about to be facing one. Adopt a growth mindset and start identifying opportunities for launching a new S-curve by branching into an adjacency - explore both organic and inorganic avenues for future growth opportunities.

Invest time in conducting market research and competitive analyses to identify emerging trends and innovative practices in the industry. By staying on top of the latest developments, we can bring fresh ideas and insights to the table. Also, try to explore diverse sources of inspiration beyond the product management field. This could involve attending conferences or workshops in related industries, engaging with creative communities, and exploring design thinking methodologies to spark innovative thinking.

Innovation and creativity are the two most important factors to ensure that the market competitiveness of the brand remains, if it lacks then the first approach should be to know about the trending technologies emerging in the market on which the brand can work, or something on which competitions are already working. It's ok not to have a first mover advantage as launching a better seamless experience can beat this advantage. Once the goals are identified, then it's just a matter of implementation and driving resources toward innovative products making consumers' life and experiences easy and rememberable

If your executive role in Product Management lacks innovation and creativity: 💡 Assess Current Processes: Use tools like LeanKit or KanbanFlow to identify outdated or inefficient processes. 💡 Adopt Agile Methodologies: Implement agile methodologies like Scrum or Kanban to encourage flexibility and iterative development. 💡 Encourage Experimentation: Create a culture where team members feel empowered to experiment with new ideas and approaches. 💡 Foster Continuous Learning: Utilize tools like Coursera or Udemy to provide training and resources for continuous skill development. 👍 Save this post by "liking" if you're into Product/Growth as this will come in handy later.

Look beyond your industry for creative solutions and innovations. Attending cross industry conferences, engaging with diverse thought leaders, or exploring breakthroughs in unrelated fields can provide fresh perspectives that ignite creativity and can be adapted to your role.

Look inside your organisation for inspiration. Look outside of your organization for inspiration and new ideas from industry experts, seasoned product managers. Attend industry webinars, conferences, network with other professionals, and stay informed about emerging trends and technologies in your field. Look globally for changes happening in the industry and try to be ahead of the curve.

Creo que fomentar la colaboración es clave en el caso de que tus ideas ya no sean la mejores Ocares, cando innovación, probablemente en el equipo y gente que puede aportar y entregar ideas frescas. Es importante tener claro que si bien uno puede estar a cargo del producto, no es la biblia ni la única persona que puede aportar en general ideas diferentes.

Importante alocar as pessoas certas nas funções certas. Vejo muitos profissionais criativos sufocados por funções operacionais. A inovação começa com o apoio e incentivo a pequenas mudanças, pequenas implementações e melhorias possíveis que revertem a inovações.

Es muy importante considerar la inversión de tiempo o recursos para estar actualizado y esto permita tener una visión actual y alineada a los requerimientos propios del mercado. La curiosidad que tengamos sobre el mercado nos hace tener charlas de creatividad con el cliente, dando ejemplos que han sido implementados por otros colegas, los cuales pueden ser casos de éxito y algunos que no hayan sido con el resultado ideal, esto logrará un dialogo de mejora que otorgue un reto sobre la actualidad en nuestra gestión.

Establish a continuous feedback loop with customers, stakeholders, and team members. This direct input can disclose unmet needs and enable out-of-the-box thinking and innovative solutions. Encourage ideation sessions where feedback is brainstormed into actionable and creative product enhancements.

La retroalimentación es una herramienta poderosa y la mayoría de las ocasiones es gratis, por lo tanto, recomiendo tenerla presente constantemente. Además de ser necesaria tenerla considerada la retroalimentación como parte del servicio al cliente. Nos llevara a tener una mejor empatía con el mismo. Esta situación genera un circulo virtuoso, donde se posiciona nuestro cliente como prioridad y en efecto, nos permitirá tener una óptica mas amplia de las áreas de oportunidad que ayuden directamente o en su caso, a otros clientes a una mejora continua.

Let's face the truth: 'innovation' & 'creativity' often sound like overused buzzwords. However, their true value isn't in their ubiquity but in their foundational role in product strategy from the outset. Recognizing their importance isn't a revelation that comes during execution; it's a principle that should be embedded from the beginning. However, if they are found lacking during the project's execution phase, it becomes crucial to formalize innovation & creativity within the project's process framework. Approaches like design thinking or the double diamond design process offer structured methods to weave innovation & creativity into the fabric of our work.

Fostering a culture of creativity and idea generation within your team-members. Encourage brainstorming sessions, promote cross-functional collaboration, seek inspiration from other industries and allocate dedicated time and resources for innovation projects. Additionally, consider conducting market research, gathering customer feedback, implement lessons learned and staying updated on emerging technologies and industry trends to spark innovative ideas.

Muchas veces consideramos que la inversión para estar actualizado es monetaria, sin embargo, muchas veces con creatividad, podemos buscar medios en los cuales el aprendizaje puede ser continuo y de manera accesible. Utilizar las redes sociales como medio de contacto a benchmark, blogs, tutoriales, tendencias, etc, son un motor accesible para la mayoría de las personas. Solo nos hace falta ser curiosos, preguntas base que nos permitan encontrar el medio de actualización que necesitamos.