Product Mastery Now for Product Managers, Leaders, and Innovators

In this episode of Product Mastery Now, I interview James Whitman, author of LAUNCH Code and founder of Growth Guidepost. James shares insights from his research studying companies that consistently launch successful products. His LAUNCH Code framework offers a practical approach to product launch management that any organization can implement.

James explains that Launch Code emerged from studying public companies that grew successfully through their product portfolios. These organizations share common practices that form the foundation of the LAUNCH framework:

Organizations are adapting to rapid changes in how AI affects product launches. James shares that many teams are now working with their second or third generation of AI tools, particularly in sales and marketing. This raises important questions about balancing human and machine roles in the launch process and keeping employees engaged when AI takes over some of their work.

A significant shift has occurred in venture funding, with more money moving toward AI investments. James describes working with one organization that had five different sales leaders in 18 months due to these pressures. This example revealed a deeper structural issue: The company needed to move up-market from a commoditized position to remain competitive.

James points out common decision-making problems in product launches. He describes what he calls the “Your PowerPoint is better than mine, but you’re wrong” syndrome – where strong presentation skills can override better strategic choices. Instead, organizations need to:

A key insight from our conversation is how product launches require coordination across departments. James shares an example where changing product strategy meant completely rethinking the sales approach. The company needed salespeople who could sell complex solutions instead of commoditized products, showing how product decisions affect the entire organization.

James emphasizes the importance of vocabulary in cross-team work. For example, he notes that “discovery” means different things to sales and product teams:

Using clear, shared terms helps prevent misunderstandings and builds better collaboration.

Culture plays a vital role in launch success. James points to Atlassian as an example of intentional culture-building that supports product success. Their approach includes:

James explains that PLG companies like Zoom, ClickUp, and Pendo demonstrate the Launch Code principles naturally. These organizations:

During our conversation, James shares how LinkedIn uses what he calls the “Tranche Model” for product launches. This approach involves:

For smaller markets, James recommends adapting this approach by creating representative samples. For example, if targeting 1,000 CFOs, start with 150 that represent different company sizes and industries.

James describes several approaches to controlling launch risks:

James shares an interesting observation: organizations often find it easier to test new approaches with new products. For example, if a new service guarantee works well during a launch, teams might then apply it to existing products. This makes product launches valuable testing grounds for innovation.

James identifies several patterns that can reduce launch effectiveness:

In this episode, James Whitman shares valuable insights about creating reliable product launch processes. The LAUNCH Code framework offers a structured approach that organizations can adapt to their needs. By focusing on continuous improvement, cross-functional alignment, and risk management, teams can build sustainable launch practices that support growth through innovation.

Remember that successful launches depend on more than just the product itself—they require careful attention to organizational dynamics, market conditions, and emerging technologies. Organizations that build these capabilities systematically while remaining adaptable position themselves for sustained growth.

“Build self-correcting mechanisms to dampen issues as they emerge.” – James Whitman

James Whitman is the author of LAUNCH Code: A Playbook for Continuous Growth and the founder of Growth Guidepost. He works with corporate leaders to help them make their most important decisions and achieve critical growth objectives. He has held senior positions in public and private organizations, where he successfully established repeatable commercial practices, launching dozens of products, building high-performing teams, and scaling organizations.

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.

https://youtu.be/yf9QcefToDg

In this episode of Product Mastery Now, I interview Jay Nakagawa, Director of Competitive Intelligence at Dell Technologies and a 25-year product management veteran. Our discussion reveals proven methods for understanding competitors and developing effective product strategies. Jay shares practical tools and frameworks product managers can use to gather competitive intelligence ethically and systematically. One compelling insight is that looking at competitors through our own lens often leads to misunderstandings – we need frameworks and methods to see the market from their perspective.

Jay has an interesting background that shapes his perspective on competitive intelligence. After spending over 20 years as a product manager, he found himself increasingly drawn to analyzing competition and developing strategies to outperform rivals. When Dell acquired EMC, Jay had the opportunity to transform this skill into a new career direction, leading competitive intelligence efforts.

His experience reveals an important shift in how companies approach competitive analysis. While understanding customer needs remains essential, gaining deep competitive insights has become equally valuable for product success.

Many product managers rely on SWOT analysis for competitive insights. However, Jay explains that in his field, they jokingly call SWOT a “Silly Waste of Time” because it reveals little about competition. Instead of providing deep insights into competitor strategies and capabilities, SWOT tends to focus on internal factors and broad market opportunities.

Jay learned about competitive intelligence from the Academy of Competitive Intelligence, which teaches product managers not only frameworks but also how to use them practically. Based on Jay’s experience at Dell Technologies, effective competitive intelligence includes:

Jay shares an example of how to apply Porter’s Five Forces using the large aircraft manufacturing industry:

Jay shares a metaphor about competitor analysis: Picture a kitten looking in a mirror and seeing a lion’s reflection. While we see the kitten, we need to understand that the competitor sees themselves as a lion. This perspective helps explain why competitors’ actions that seem irrational often make perfect sense from their viewpoint.

Jack recommends you focus on your primary competitors. Use Four Corners Analysis to understand their market:

The answers to these questions give you a good idea of what your competitor will do over the next 24 months. Then understand their biases and blind spots that you can exploit.

Jay explains how his team combines multiple sources to build reliable competitive insights:

Jay shares an example about a team that used a creative but ethical way to gather competitive intelligence for a pharmaceutical company. The team needed to understand a competitor’s capacity for manufacturing vaccines but couldn’t access internal information. Their solution? They contacted the local fire department to review the building’s fire mitigation plan, which revealed details about the facility’s size and potential production capacity.

Here are specific places where product managers can find competitive insights:

Jay observes that many product managers have become highly specialized, focusing deeply on specific features or release optimization. While specialization has its benefits, it can lead to:

Jay shares four common ways competitors respond to market moves:

When competitors can’t innovate quickly, they often try to copy successful features. Jay references Tony Fadell’s experience with the Nest thermostat as an example of how established companies respond to innovative products.

Some competitors will develop alternative approaches rather than direct copies. This often leads to market differentiation and can benefit customers through increased choice.

Jay notes that when competitors can’t compete effectively through products, they may turn to legal challenges, particularly around patents or regulatory compliance.

Larger competitors might attempt to buy innovative companies rather than competing directly, especially when facing significant technical or market barriers.

Jay’s organization looks at publicly available data to figure out the market direction where competitors are going in the next four years. They try to answer the questions, “Why does a company do what they’re doing? Why are they investing in that technology?”

Jay shares a quote from a friend: “Vision without execution is called delusion.” If a competitor claims a particular business objective is part of their vision, you should investigate whether they really have the ability to execute on that vision.

Drawing from his experience, Jay shares these warning signs of a disconnect between vision and execution:

Jay shares how competitive intelligence can reveal innovation opportunities. He uses the example of Tony Fadell’s development of the Nest thermostat:

Throughout our discussion, Jay emphasizes that competitive intelligence isn’t about following competitors – it’s about understanding the market landscape to make better product decisions. The goal is creating differentiated products that solve real customer problems while maintaining awareness of competitive dynamics.

“Ideas can come from anywhere.” – based on the story of Tony Fadell, inventor of the Nest thermostat

Jay Nakagawa is a 25+ year veteran product manager, with a track record of successfully building new products and developing turn-around strategies resulting in high revenue growth. As director of Competitive Intelligence with Dell Technologies, he and his team have been instrumental in providing critical guidance to product management teams providing insights that encompass how to create differentiated offerings to the market.

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.

In this episode of Product Mastery Now, I speak with Jack Hsieh about successful product development strategies. Jack brings 20 years of experience managing innovation projects at companies like Sony Ericsson and Logitech. He shares practical insights from the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) framework and explains how product managers can use these principles to improve their product development process. Through real examples from his work in consumer electronics and aerospace industries, Jack shows how PDMA’s body of knowledge helps create successful products while avoiding common pitfalls in portfolio management.

Key topics discussed:

While recording this episode at the PDMA Inspire Innovation Conference, I had the opportunity to talk with Jack Hsieh about product development evolution. PDMA has been supporting product professionals since 1976, making it the oldest organization dedicated to product management. Jack explains how PDMA’s comprehensive knowledge base helps companies innovate effectively across different industries and cultures.

Jack breaks down new product development (NPD) into clear components that every product manager should understand:

Jack describes how product development needs alignment at multiple levels:

During our conversation, Jack shares valuable insights from managing product portfolios at Sony Ericsson. He explains how the company handled three distinct product lines:

This experience taught him important lessons about resource allocation. For example, his business unit needed to coordinate holidays across three regions: Sweden, Taiwan, and Japan. The overlapping work schedule only provided 190 days per year for full team collaboration, making resource planning especially important.

Jack uses Boeing and Airbus as examples to illustrate key portfolio management principles:

Organizations need different development processes based on their specific needs. Jack explains several approaches:

Jack mentions that he has personally used more than 70% of the tools in PDMA’s Body of Knowledge. These tools span different product development stages:

Jack emphasizes that market research remains the most important skill for product managers. Modern approaches include:

Organizational culture significantly affects product development success. Jack shares team structures that work:

Jack shares a personal story about understanding market adoption patterns. When he started his consulting business, he initially focused on multinational companies in Taiwan, thinking his experience with foreign companies would be an advantage. Despite getting over 50 inquiries in his first year, he secured no deals. Reading Crossing the Chasm helped him understand why – these companies were early majority adopters, not early adopters, making them hesitant to work with a new consulting firm.

Jack shares an interesting case study from his time at Logitech. The project, named “Sicily Left,” aimed to create a mouse specifically for left-handed users. Key insights include:

Jack learned that the wrong business case for a project leads to a sub-optimal result.

Jack’s experience managing mobile phone portfolios provides valuable lessons:

During our discussion, Jack helps clarify the important differences between project and product management:

In this episode, Jack demonstrates how PDMA’s framework guides successful product development. His experiences at global companies like Sony Ericsson and Logitech show how these principles help product managers handle complex challenges. Whether you’re managing consumer electronics, aerospace products, or software, these insights can help you create better products and advance your career in product management.

“Innovation takes dedication, but the choice is more important than the dedication.” – Jack Hsieh

Jack Hsieh has 20 years of experience in planning, executing, managing, and consulting on innovation projects across the world. Jack is the President at Maestro Project Management Consultants, which helps clients with innovation management, new product development, and project management. Previously, at Sony Ericsson, he led a cross-functional international team to develop handheld devices that served millions of users worldwide.

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.

In this episode of Product Mastery Now, I’m interviewing Leah and Philip Abraham, a creative duo with expertise in songwriting, acting, music production, and filmmaking. Their diverse background offers valuable lessons for product managers looking to improve their innovative thinking techniques. Throughout our conversation, we explore insights from their creative process that can be applied to product innovation and management.

This episode explores insights from creative professionals that can be applied to enhance innovation in product management, offering practical strategies for product managers to foster creativity, leverage rapid feedback cycles, and overcome challenges in the innovation process.

We start by addressing common misconceptions about innovation, particularly the belief that creativity is an innate talent rather than a skill that can be developed. This idea is especially important for product managers and leaders responsible for driving innovation within their organizations. Leah and Philip share their experiences, showing that innovation is indeed a process that can be learned and improved over time.

Leah and Phillip have experience in acting and film production and are now most famous for cinematic shorts on social media. They explain that they enjoy creative collaboration in many areas, including filmmaking, photography, music, and art.

Leah and Phillip share that their creativity is complementary and they bring out creativity in each other. Phillip has a technical background while Leah focuses on character arcs.

When making a skit, Leah and Phillip often start with a sketch of the story and improv to fill in the details. They’re often inspired to make a skit based off something that happens in their lives. For example, a recent video called “When they cancel plans but you’re both introverts,” was inspired by Leah and Phillip’s introvertedness.

Leah and Phillips use a  “no bad ideas” approach, which creates a safe space for sharing and building upon concepts. They give each other permission to throw out ideas without shame and then make those ideas better together.

Compared to producing a whole film, creating short-form content on social media provides more opportunity to receive rapid feedback and iterate. Analytics let Leah and Phillip see what aspects of their content viewers are engaging with most. Sometimes the parts of their content they almost didn’t include end up being the most popular with their audience.

Leah and Phillip share that feedback from viewers has been affirming and eye-opening, and the most fulfilling part of their creative process is figuring out what viewers like about their content and building an intuition for creating engaging content.

Leah and Phillip explain that they’re learning about to balance intuition with data-driven decision making. I think of intuition as my experience taking shape that my brain hasn’t recognized yet. Leah describes intuition as your body knowing something before your mind can articulate it. She had an intuition that she and Phillip should start doing social media and that it made sense for their hodgepodge of creative skills. They observed that most viral TikTok videos were not high-quality narrative skits and decided to use their skills to fill that gap.

This episode offers valuable perspectives on fostering creativity and innovation in product management. By embracing collaborative approaches, rapid prototyping, and a willingness to learn from failures, product teams can enhance their innovation capabilities and create more successful and impactful products.

Key takeaways for product managers:

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” – unknown

“Success is stumbling from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill

Leah and Phillip Abraham are an up-and-coming social media couple known for their highly cinematic viral skits, which have gained over 85 million views since their launch in February of 2024. Having both spent over a decade hustling in Hollywood, and acting on shows like Aquarius, CSI, Ballers, and Good Trouble, they found a ceiling placed on their potential as creatives, ultimately moving to Nashville and starting their production company, Philea Media. Together they wrote, produced, and acted in a feature-length musical that is loosely based on how they met, which is scheduled to premiere at film festivals in 2025. 

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.

https://youtu.be/14cLrVAu7BA

In this episode of Product Mastery Now, I’m interviewing Chris Elmore, a tech entrepreneur and college professor who helped found Avid Exchange, a unicorn startup that went public in 2021. Chris brings years of experience in product innovation and management, and he’s here to share his thoughts on driving innovation and keeping businesses growing for the long haul. Here are the key points from our conversation:

As we start our chat, Chris highlights why innovation matters so much in today’s fast-moving business world. Products and services don’t stay relevant as long as they used to. Because of this, companies can’t just rely on what worked in the past. Innovation is key to keeping a business growing and thriving.

One of the main topics we explore in this episode is how a company’s culture can help or hinder innovation. Culture is the unwritten rules of an organization – what people are allowed and expected to do. Chris shares his experience of keeping a strong culture, and even improving it, as his company grew. This challenges the common idea that company culture always gets worse as a business gets bigger.

Chris says that the quickest way to destroy culture is to put someone in charge of it. When someone is in charge of culture, the culture becomes that person’s version of culture.

Instead of taking charge of culture, leaders can use stories to reinforce a culture of innovation. For example, Chris tells his teams a story of how he tells his kids that he doesn’t care about their grades as long as they’re putting in full effort, but usually full effort leads to good grades. This communicates to his team that effort will eventually lead to the desired outcome.

We also discuss Chris’s thoughts on how company structure can affect innovation. He critiques traditional hierarchies, suggesting they can make it hard for innovative ideas to flow, especially ideas from employees who work closely with customers.

Chris observes that most good ideas come from the middle third of an organizational chart. Often, people in the middle or bottom third of an organization try to communicate their ideas to leadership who don’t understand the idea or are scared of innovation, so many great ideas fail.

Instead of a traditional org chart, Chris proposes thinking of the organization as a curve that represents everyone’s understanding of where the organization is going. The beginning of the curve represents where the organization is today, and the end represents where the organization needs to go. The goal of a leader is to get the organization over the valleys to go further down the curve. This approach focuses on aligning everyone in the organization towards common goals and outcomes, rather than rigid reporting structures.

To explain what the organization is working toward and get a team aligned around common goals, Chris concentrates on three things: mission, purpose, and outcome. The mission and purpose should be aligned with the organization’s outcomes. If not, we have work to do. If someone can’t get behind the mission and purpose, they can’t be in the organization anymore.

Chris takes an unusual approach to hiring. He focuses on the person rather than their resume. In fact, he says he’s never read a resume in his life. This approach allows him to assess candidates based on their potential and how well they fit with the company culture, rather than just their past experiences and qualifications.

Chris offers a simple definition of innovation: “It’s better than what it was.” This straightforward idea makes innovation something everyone in the company can understand and participate in, not just the people in research and development or product design.

Chris advocates for a broad definition of “customer” that goes beyond just the end-users of a product or service. He explains that customers include internal and external stakeholders and even employees’ families. Product managers should think about serving all of those customers.

This wider view encourages product managers and leaders to consider the needs and perspectives of various stakeholders when driving innovation. By considering a wider range of “customers,” organizations can ensure their innovations create value not just for end-users, but for employees, investors, partners, and even the families of team members.

Chris wants everyone in his organization to be aware that they can be an innovator. In his company, every time someone was hired, Chris gave them his definition of innovation and told them it’s their job to be an innovator.

While big, disruptive innovations often get the most attention, Chris emphasizes the importance of small, ongoing improvements. He explains that small innovations over a long period of time is a huge thing.

This view encourages product managers and leaders to focus not just on big breakthroughs, but also on the cumulative impact of smaller, incremental improvements over time.

Driving innovation in product management is about more than just developing new features or technologies. It’s about creating an environment where innovation can thrive at every level of the organization. A culture of innovation leads to better products and more resilient organizations. Innovation is simply about making things “better than they were.” As product managers and leaders, our challenge is to embody this principle in our daily work and inspire our teams to do the same so that we can ensure our organizations not only keep pace with change but lead the way in creating value for our customers and stakeholders.

“Luck is when opportunity meets preparedness.” – Earl Nightingale

Chris Elmore is a seasoned tech entrepreneur and a respected college professor. Chris played pivotal roles in the founding of fintech AvidXchange, a unicorn startup that went public in 2021 with a $2.3B valuation. At AvidXchange his roles spanned numerous functions, including development, product, marketing, and mergers and acquisitions. Chris is also a passionate musician, performing solo and in bands as a singer with his guitar and ukulele.

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.

In this episode, I’m interviewing Brian Collard, an expert in managing big projects and plans for global companies. Brian has been working for 15 years in different industries like finance, healthcare, and technology. We’re talking about how artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way we manage products and come up with new ideas.

As people who manage products, lead teams, or come up with new ideas, we’re right in the middle of this AI revolution. We need to figure out how to use AI to make products that customers will love, while also dealing with all the new things AI brings to the table.

Before using AI, check your organization’s policy to make sure you’re in compliance. Be careful when using AI, especially with sensitive information.

Large language models can come up with ideas, but always keep humans in the loop. AI is a great way to augment the discovery process, but it won’t completely replace traditional research methods.

Brian recommends a three-step formula for prompting AI:

One area where Brian sees significant promise is in the creation of product briefs. He shares that product managers are reporting efficiency gains of around 50% when using AI to assist in drafting these important documents. AI can help with:

Brian notes that while AI can significantly speed up the process of creating product briefs, these documents often require nuanced understanding and strategic thinking. He advises using AI as a starting point, but always reviewing and refining the output to ensure it aligns with product strategy and organizational goals.

Large language models can hallucinate, or make up information, such as links that do not exist. Brian recommends the tool Perplexity.ai, which removes hallucinations and brings in real-time information. He also recommends that we trust but verify when using information from AI.

Brian gives some tips for talking with AI tools, or prompt engineering.

Brian explains that when we use AI tools, we need to give them clear background information. This helps the AI understand exactly what we’re working on and what we need.

Brian introduces the idea of chain of thought prompts. This means guiding the AI through a series of steps. It’s especially useful for complex tasks.

For example, “Here are three product ideas. Based on these ideas, please give me another one.”

Encourage AI to use logical reasoning by giving it examples or frameworks. This can be particularly helpful for tasks like figuring out market size or making financial projections.

For example, “Given a particular market size and capture rate, how many sales do I need to break even?”

You can get similar results by including the words, “think step by step,” in your prompt.

You can ask the AI model, “How would you improve this prompt?”

The AI tends to remember the beginning and end of a prompt. Instead of providing one long prompt, provide a series of short prompts, asking the AI to refine its response each time.

For example, begin with an outline of a product brief, and then ask the AI to fill in the sections. This also helps make your work more defensible in front of an executive, because you can explain how you created it.

Brian recommends the tool Superpower GPT, which allows you to run a series of prompts (a prompt chain) all at once.

Brian explains how AI is revolutionizing market research, offering new ways to gather and analyze data. He mentions using tools like Perplexity.ai for real-time information gathering and fact-checking.

AI can help create more detailed and data-driven user personas, including the generation of synthetic personas based on market trends and user data.

AI can assist in documenting and organizing product requirements, including automated extraction of requirements from various sources.

AI tools can enhance traditional strategic analysis frameworks like SWOT and PESTLE analysis.

Brian emphasizes the importance of viewing AI as a complement to, rather than a replacement for, traditional product management methods. He discusses the use of synthetic data and personas, and the importance of balancing AI insights with direct customer interaction.

Brian shares several best practices for integrating AI into product management workflows:

In this episode, we’ve explored with Brian Collard how bringing AI into product management offers significant opportunities for innovation and efficiency. Brian reminds us that AI is a tool, not a replacement for human expertise. The most successful product managers will be those who can effectively combine AI-driven insights with their own experience, intuition, and strategic thinking.

“I haven’t failed. I just found 10,000 ways the product hasn’t work yet.” – based on a quote from Thomas Edison

Brian Collard has 15 years of experience in managing strategic project portfolios for global organizations. He has proven success across multiple industries including finance, healthcare, and technology. Brian holds a degree in engineering and an advanced business degree and is the co-founder of the St. Louis PDMA chapter.

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.

In this episode of Product Mastery Now, I’m talking with Dr. Matthew Wettergreen, Associate Teaching Professor at the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK) at Rice University. We discuss the benefits of low-fidelity prototyping, the engineering design process, and how to use prototypes effectively to solve problems and validate ideas. The episode also covers potential pitfalls in prototyping and best practices for product managers.

The Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen at Rice University is an academic makerspaces where students learn innovation and product development skills. This 20,000 square foot facility has top-notch machines for digital and 3D prototyping, allowing students to create products that look like store-bought items.

Prototyping is a key tool for product managers who want to create value for customers. Matthew explains that prototypes help product managers confidently develop solutions that make customers happy. By using prototypes wisely, product teams can figure out what truly meets customer needs and test solutions before launching them in the market.

Matthew has discovered that in many parts of the world, people build things with no budget at all, not just a low budget. He saw this resourcefulness in places like Ethiopia, where everyday items are reused in clever ways. For example, highway dividers made from cut-up palm oil containers show how people can create solutions with limited resources.

In the OEDK, students have access to high-tech equipment, but they won’t always have the OEDK available to them. At the ODEK, students always start with no budget and prototype using readily available materials.

This approach, called low-fidelity prototyping, has several benefits:

Prototyping is a method of problem-solving that creates physical or digital objects, called artifacts.

Matthew introduces the seven-step Engineering Design Process used at the OEDK:

This approach begins with understanding the problem before jumping to solutions. Fifty-one percent of the design experience should be spent in the prototyping, testing, and iterating phase.

One of the main challenges in product development is the tendency to rush into solutions without fully exploring the problem. Matthew offers several strategies to overcome this:

Matthew also addresses the myth of the lone innovator: People who seem like lone innovators, like Steve Jobs or Thomas Edison, actually represent an immense number of humans who supported their accomplishments. Successful innovation is almost always a team effort. Matthew tells his students, “Work with people who are smarter than you and work with people who think differently from you. You will be better as a result of that.”

To show how prototyping works in real-world scenarios, Matthew shares two interesting case studies from the OEDK:

The challenge was to extend the feeding time for giraffes in captivity to better match their natural eating habits. This project shows how prototyping often involves multiple attempts:

The final prototype has been used at the Houston Zoo for nearly a decade and has been adopted by other zoos.

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the OEDK team quickly developed a bridge ventilator called the Apollo BVM. This project highlights the power of rapid prototyping and iteration:

Prototypes can be used in a misleading way, such as presenting a beautiful prototype to convince stakeholders that it’s a good solution, rather than collecting feedback. It is acceptable to produce an ugly prototype, but it is less acceptable to produce a beautiful prototype that lacks all functionality in order to mislead people.

Matthew recommends that his students prepare focused questions for client conversations about prototypes and share assumptions built into the prototype’s design with the client. This allows clients to give suggestions for revising these assumptions.

Key takeaways from this episode include the value of starting with simple prototypes, the importance of focusing on the problem before rushing to solutions, and the need for well-supported decision-making throughout the product development process. By applying these insights to their work, product managers can drive innovation and create more value for their customers and organizations.

“Make defensible decisions.” – Matthew Wettergreen

Matthew Wettergreen is Director of the Global Medical Innovation Master of Bioengineering program and the Program Director of the NSF-funded I-ACED Scholar Program at Rice University. He is also an Associate Teaching Professor at the award-winning Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK) at Rice University, recruited as the first full-time faculty hire in 2013. At the OEDK he co-developed the engineering design curriculum, including the flagship first-year engineering design course and the Prototyping and Fabrication course. Wettergreen is the co-author of the textbook Introduction to Engineering Design. Over nearly fifteen years of developing client-based engineering design courses and with a deep interest in engineering education, Dr. Wettergreen has deployed engineering design curriculum and helped to support the development of makerspaces on five continents. His design work has been featured on the cover of NASA Tech Briefs, in the Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Make Magazine, and Texas Monthly. 

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.

In this episode of Product Mastery Now, I’m interviewing Jodie Brinkerhoff, VP of Innovation at DFW Airport, about DFW’s journey to winning PDMA’s Outstanding Corporate Innovator (OCI) Award. The discussion covers DFW’s approach to airport innovation, including their dedicated innovation team, strategic focus areas, and unique challenges as a government organization. Brinkerhoff shares insights on fostering an innovation culture, collaborating across departments, and balancing innovation with operational demands in a complex airport environment. The episode provides valuable lessons for product managers and innovators in various industries, highlighting the importance of executive sponsorship, employee engagement, and a structured innovation process.

For 37 years, companies have competed each year to be recognized as the Outstanding Corporate Innovator, awarded by the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA). The selection process seeks companies that consistently generate and harness long-term value through exceptional product and service innovation. Winning companies demonstrate well-defined new product development practices and processes which have contributed to their innovation success. Open to companies worldwide, the award epitomizes innovation excellence.

One of the 2024 winners is the DFW Airport. Let’s find out what makes this airport an exceptional innovator. I’m with Jodie Brinkerhoff, the VP of Innovation at DFW Airport.

The PDMA, founded in 1976, is the longest-running professional association for product managers, leaders, and innovators worldwide. PDMA contributes significantly to research and knowledge in the field of product innovation. I recorded this interview at the 2024 Inspire Innovation Conference, which serves as a platform for sharing insights and best practices in product development and innovation management.

DFW Airport’s commitment to innovation dates back to its inception 50 years ago. However, recognizing the need for a more structured approach to innovation, the airport established a dedicated innovation team in 2018. This decision was driven by several factors:

Brinkerhoff explains that innovation has always been part of DFW’s DNA, baked into the mission, vision, and values of the organization. However, as technology continued to change and the pace of change grew, there was a recognition that a more formalized approach was needed.

As one of the world’s busiest airports, DFW faces unique challenges in implementing innovation:

Managing an airport operation is complex. This operational focus can often draw attention away from innovation efforts, especially during busy periods or when issues arise.

The airport’s innovation strategy aligns closely with its overall strategic planning, focusing on four key areas:

The innovation team at DFW plays a crucial role in advancing these strategic objectives by:

The innovation team’s approach involves working closely with business executives and people on the front line to ensure they’re listening to instances where things could have been done better or where issues arose due to unforeseen circumstances, such as severe weather.

Fostering an innovation culture is a key priority for DFW Airport. The organization has implemented several initiatives to promote innovative thinking:

The innovation mindset training focuses on three main principles:

DFW Airport’s journey to winning the OCI Award spanned two years. Their first application in 2023 provided valuable feedback, particularly regarding the need to improve their innovation metrics. The second application in 2024 included an on-site review process, allowing the PDMA team to experience DFW’s innovation initiatives firsthand through presentations and an airport tour.

The on-site review was an intensive 10-hour day, which included:

This comprehensive review process allowed DFW to demonstrate the depth and breadth of their innovation efforts, ultimately leading to their OCI Award win.

Effective innovation at DFW Airport relies on several key elements:

Brinkerhoff emphasizes the importance of having executive buy-in and a dedicated budget for innovation activities. When she joined DFW, she asked three crucial questions:

These questions ensured that the innovation team had the necessary resources and support to drive meaningful change within the organization.

DFW Airport has developed a structured innovation process that includes:

The front-end innovation team is responsible for being out in the operation on a monthly basis, listening for problems, and seeking out opportunities. The team meets every other month to discuss new ideas based on trends, marketplace observations, or feedback from operational staff.

The process also includes multiple checkpoints with executive sponsors to ensure projects remain aligned with strategic goals and receive necessary resources.

Innovating in an airport environment presents distinct challenges:

As a government organization, DFW Airport has different priorities compared with private companies. Their focus is on delivering a great customer experience and being good stewards of the community, rather than solely on revenue and shareholder value.

She also noted the additional complexities of procurement and compliance in a government setting, which can make implementing new technologies and processes more challenging.

At the core of DFW’s innovation efforts is the slogan “DFW Innovates.” This philosophy is built on the belief that everyone within the organization can contribute to innovation. Brinkerhoff noted that this approach has had a significant impact on the airport’s organizational culture, fostering a more engaged and forward-thinking workforce.

The innovation team at DFW has successfully integrated this philosophy into their daily operations, creating opportunities for employees at all levels to participate in the innovation process. This inclusive approach has led to a more dynamic and responsive organization, better equipped to address the complex challenges of modern airport management.

DFW has created a network of innovation ambassadors across various departments, helping to spread the innovation mindset throughout the organization. This network has been crucial in building support for innovation initiatives and encouraging participation from employees at all levels.

As the third busiest airport in the world, DFW faces unique challenges in maintaining operational excellence while driving innovation. The complexity and diversity of airport operations require a multifaceted approach to innovation, involving stakeholders from various departments and considering a wide range of factors, from customer experience to safety and security.

DFW’s commitment to innovation, as exemplified by their “Future of Travel Transformed” motto, positions them at the forefront of airport innovation. Their success in winning the OCI Award demonstrates the effectiveness of their structured approach to innovation management and their ability to balance short-term operational demands with long-term strategic goals.

The lessons learned from DFW Airport’s innovation journey offer valuable insights for product managers and innovators across industries. By fostering a culture of innovation, securing executive support, and implementing a structured innovation process, organizations can drive meaningful change and create lasting value for their customers and stakeholders.

“We believe that everyone can innovate.” – Jodie Brinkerhoff, describing the culture of innovation at DFW

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.

In this episode, I’m interviewing Greg Coticchia, an experienced CEO and product management expert. The discussion focuses on the challenges and strategies involved in expanding from a single product to multiple products. Key points include:

The episode provides valuable insights for product managers looking to navigate the complexities of product diversification and enhance their leadership skills.

Your organization’s survival depends on its ability to successfully expand from a single product to multiple products. This episode features an in-depth conversation with Greg Coticchia, CEO of SE Healthcare and product management expert. Greg shares his extensive experience and insights on the challenges and strategies involved in product portfolio management and business growth strategies.

As product managers advance in their careers, understanding portfolio management becomes increasingly crucial. Greg explains that while senior product leaders recognize the necessity of portfolio management, product managers often question its relevance to their role. The key takeaway is that understanding how projects are selected is essential for gaining support for new ideas and initiatives.

Greg introduces the concept of the Second Product Problem, highlighting the difficulties organizations face when transitioning from a single product to multiple offerings. He emphasizes several key points:

Greg points out that it’s extremely rare for a software product to reach $100 million in revenue. This reality underscores the importance of diversifying a company’s product portfolio to achieve significant growth and longevity.

One of the most significant obstacles in product diversification is the cultural shift required within the organization. Greg identifies several challenges:

Greg explains that these cultural challenges often lead to resistance when introducing new products. Employees who have been with the company for a long time may find it difficult to adapt to new directions, especially if they’ve been successful with the original product.

To overcome these challenges, Greg suggests several strategies:

Following the example of Apple’s Macintosh development, physically separating new product teams can foster innovation. Greg shares the story of how Steve Jobs moved the Macintosh team to a separate building and raised a pirate flag, symbolizing their independence from the rest of Apple.

Recognizing the importance of having the right people and dealing with resistance to change is crucial. Greg emphasizes that sometimes, clearing the decks and letting go of team members who aren’t aligned with the new direction is necessary for success.

Shifting from a product-centric to a company-centric approach and delegating product responsibilities effectively is essential. This change requires executives to focus on overall company strategy rather than getting involved in specific product decisions.

Greg discusses various structural approaches to product expansion:

Creating a separate, autonomous team for new product development can help foster innovation and avoid interference from existing product teams.

This approach can help reduce interference from existing product teams and foster a unique culture. Greg shares an example from his consulting work with Vertex, a tax software company. Vertex successfully expanded its product line by physically separating its new SaaS cloud solution team from the main organization.

Greg explains how Vertex allowed its new product team to establish everything from pricing to terms and conditions independently. This separation continued until the new product reached $5-10 million in revenue before being reintegrated into the main organization.

Greg discusses how Apple was willing to cannibalize its successful iPod product line by introducing the iPhone. This move demonstrates the importance of innovation and risk-taking in maintaining market leadership.

This example showcases the value of anticipating market changes and adapting business models accordingly. Netflix made the bold decision to shift its focus from DVD rentals to streaming, effectively disrupting its own successful business model.

Greg acknowledges that not all product expansions are successful. Possible steps toward handling these situations include:

Greg emphasizes that these decisions, while difficult, are necessary for the long-term success of the company. He stresses the importance of putting the company’s needs first when making these tough choices.

A significant portion of the discussion focuses on how product managers can build influence without formal authority. Greg introduces the concept of the “trust bank account” and identifies three key constituents whose trust product managers must earn:

Greg explains that building trust with these groups is essential for product managers to gain the influence needed to drive product success.

Tailor your approach to each group’s specific needs and goals. For example, developers are often more risk-averse and need to see how your input will make their work more valuable.

Recognize that salespeople have flexibility in what they sell and focus on making your product attractive to them. Greg emphasizes the importance of understanding the sales cycle and demonstrating how your product can help salespeople meet their financial goals.

Instead of trying to win over the entire sales force, focus on a few key individuals who can become champions for your product. Greg shares advice from a former colleague who suggested targeting specific salespeople in different regions to create early success stories.

The strategies and experiences shared by Greg Coticchia provide a roadmap for navigating the complex landscape of product portfolio management and business growth strategies. Successful product portfolio management is not just about creating new products; it’s about fostering a culture of innovation, building trust with key stakeholders, and continuously adapting to market changes. By applying these principles, product managers can drive their organizations towards sustainable growth and long-term success in today’s competitive business environment.

“Kill your cash cows rather than trying to milk them dry.” – Greg Coticchia

Greg Coticchia is a seasoned, award-winning entrepreneur, CEO, business leader, professor, and author with over thirty years of experience in technology products and services. Currently, he serves as the CEO of SE Healthcare, a leading company in digital therapeutics focused on nurse burnout, and as a coach for CEO Coaching International.

Previously, Greg was the CEO and a Board Member of Sopheon (LON: SPE), a leader in enterprise innovation and product management software and services, where he successfully led the company to a private equity exit. He also established and launched Carnegie Mellon University’s Master’s Program in Product Management (MSPM), the world’s first product management degree, serving as its founding executive director.

Earlier in his career, Greg was a prolific entrepreneur, participating in fourteen startups (founding four) and holding executive roles in organizations ranging from startups to billion-dollar enterprises. He has raised over $73 million in venture capital and has been actively involved in more than seventeen mergers and acquisitions. Greg has held titles including CEO (six times), President, and COO, and has been responsible for the launch of over 100 products and solutions across various companies.

He has served on numerous boards, both profit and nonprofit. Greg holds a degree in Industrial Engineering and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh, where he also teaches courses in B2B marketing at the Katz School of Business. He has certificates in Entrepreneurial Management from Carnegie Mellon University and Professional Coaching from Duquesne University. Greg was a three-time finalist for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and for the Tech 50 CEO of the Year. Additionally, he was named a Distinguished Graduate of the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz School of Business in 2006 and the Swanson School of Engineering in 2023. His book, Start Your Startup Right, is available on Amazon.

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.

The Targeted Innovation Process is a practical framework that helps product managers drive innovation in their organizations. This approach focuses on understanding customer needs, generating quality ideas, and turning those ideas into real value. The process has five main steps:

Innovation is key to product management. It’s what helps create products that customers love and keeps companies successful in the long run. As a product manager, knowing how to use effective innovation processes is crucial to stay competitive in today’s market.

In this episode, Jerry Fix and Terry Carroll explained the Targeted Innovation Process, a practical way for product managers to drive innovation in their companies. They described each step of the process, shared a real-world example, and discussed how to show the value of innovation programs in your company.

Think of innovation in product management as filling a funnel with high-quality ideas. This approach involves coming up with lots of concepts and gradually refining them through different stages of development. The goal is to have a strong innovation process that provides a steady stream of valuable ideas for product managers to work with.

A big part of successful innovation is keeping a close connection with customers. This involves:

By staying close to customers, product managers can make sure their innovation efforts match real market demands.

Jerry and Terry shared how they think about innovation:

Terry: Creating a better mousetrap: This means making meaningful improvements to existing products or creating new, viable solutions that add real value for customers.

Jerry: Turning ideas into value: Innovation isn’t just about coming up with ideas. It’s about turning those ideas into tangible benefits for customers and the company.

The Targeted Innovation Process is a practical approach to innovation that focuses on generating high-quality ideas and efficiently turning them into valuable products. This framework has five key steps:

This process is designed to be more focused and practical than traditional open-ended innovation approaches. It encourages product managers to consider real-world constraints and their organization’s capabilities throughout the innovation journey.

Jerry and Terry explained each step of the Targeted Innovation Process in more detail:

The first step in the process is to clearly articulate the problem or opportunity you’re addressing. This involves:

By taking the time to thoroughly understand and define the problem, you set a strong foundation for the rest of the innovation process.

Different problems require different approaches to solve them. In this step, you’ll:

Understanding these styles helps ensure that your innovation efforts align with your organization’s strengths and the nature of the problem you’re addressing.

Creative pathways are routes that connect ideas with innovation. This step involves:

By creating these pathways, you establish a framework for guiding your ideation efforts in a focused and productive manner.

With a clear problem statement, appropriate problem-solving style, and defined creative pathways, you can now focus on generating ideas. This step includes:

The goal is to produce a diverse range of potential solutions that address the stated problem and align with your organization’s capabilities.

The final step in the Targeted Innovation Process is to assess and select the most promising ideas for further development. This involves:

By carefully evaluating ideas, you ensure that only the most promising concepts move forward in the product development process.

To show how the Targeted Innovation Process works in practice, Terry shared a real-world example involving the development of an innovative floor cleaning system.

The product team started by doing extensive customer research, which included:

This thorough approach to customer research allowed the team to gain deep insights into user needs and pain points.

Through their research, the team identified several key things that customers valued in a new floor cleaning system:

These findings guided the development of the new product, ensuring that it addressed the most important customer needs.

Based on the initial research, the team developed prototypes for further testing:

This step-by-step approach to prototype testing allowed the team to refine their product concept based on real-world usage and feedback.

Through the Targeted Innovation Process, the team discovered several unexpected innovations:

These innovations show how powerful the Targeted Innovation Process can be in uncovering valuable product features that might not have been obvious at the start.

While innovation is crucial for long-term success, innovation programs are often among the first to be cut when companies need to reduce costs. To justify and protect innovation initiatives, product managers need to show their value using appropriate measurements.

Here are some key metrics to consider when justifying innovation programs:

Recent studies highlight how important innovation is for organizational success:

These findings show why it’s important to maintain strong innovation programs, even during challenging economic times.

The Targeted Innovation Process provides a practical framework for product managers to drive innovation within their organizations. By following this approach, product managers can:

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” – Alan Kay

“The value of an idea lies in the using of it.” – Thomas Edison

Jerry Fix is an experienced Marketing and Product Management professional with Digital Transformation experience that has successfully launched new products and transformed teams in retail, distribution and OEM channels across a variety of markets. He has significant experience managing global organizations to develop and support products and brands, build communication strategies, and guide the commercialization of products and technologies. Jerry is also experienced in guiding teams through various digital transformations and agile processes. His areas of expertise include:

Terry Carroll has been working in product management for the past 20+ years.  His background includes cross-functional experience in engineering, finance, pricing strategy, marketing and product leadership.  Terry has always been interested in understanding the interworking of business and how companies decide on what products/services to produce and market.  Working in product management has given him a front roll seat in being part of this process.  Terry has a bachelor’s degree in Finance and an MBA from Belmont University.

Terry has been fortunate to work on some really cool innovative product solutions during my career.  In the 2024 PMDA Innovation Conference in September, Jerry and Terry shared some excerpts from a new Product Management book they are working on and plan to publish in 2025.  The focus of their presentation was on practical innovation, and their book shares best practices in product management and is written from a practitioners’ point of view.

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.