In this episode, I welcome Piers Fallowfield Cooper—executive coach and author of Are You Still the Future?—to explore one of the most critical career transitions in product management: moving from individual contributor to product leader. We discuss why success as a product manager doesn’t guarantee success in leadership, the mindset and skills required to thrive as a product VP, the importance of personal strengths and adaptability, and practical advice for building a successful, energized team.

Let me paint a picture of a common occurrence. Product VPs and leaders start out as individual contributors, i.e., product managers. Because of their outstanding work, delivering value for the organization and delighting customers, the product manager’s responsibilities and influence quickly increases, resulting in a promotion to Product VP. Sounds great, right? Maybe not—a couple months after the promotion they are struggling and their teams are frustrated. If you were that newly promoted VP, you would be wondering if you made a terrible mistake. 

Let’s turn that around. This discussion will help to equip you for the most critical transition in product management careers—the leap from individual contributor to product leader. This isn’t just about getting promoted; it’s about fundamentally shifting how you think, act, and add value. And, if you are already a product leader, this discussion will also help you improve and how you mentor your ICs. 

Our guest is Piers Fallowfield-Cooper, who has coached over 130 C-suite executives through major leadership transitions. He’s spent 30 years in senior executive roles himself scaling companies across finance, technology, and e-publishing. His book Are You Still The Future? was a Business Book of the Year finalist in 2024. He knows how to effectively navigate the journey from individual contributor to executive leader. 

The Challenge of the Transition:
Many product VPs begin as outstanding product managers, but leadership requires a shift from “I” to “we.” The skills and knowledge that led to promotion often don’t translate to success at the next level—leadership is less about specific expertise and more about asking the right questions, fostering a broader perspective, and leading through others.

T-Shaped Leadership:
Piers explains the necessity of moving from being a deep specialist to developing broad horizontal skills—an essential shift in most careers, including product management.

Find Your Sweet Spot:
Ambition doesn’t always mean you want or would be happier in a leadership role. Ask yourself why you want to get promoted and consider what trade-offs come with increased responsibility.

Key Shifts for Aspiring Leaders:

Strengths, Energy & Environment:

Leadership Pitfalls & Practical Advice:

“The robots will adapt, will you?” – Piers Fallowfield-Cooper

“Today’s certainties are tomorrow’s absurdities.” – Peter Drucker

“Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.” – Yogi Berra

Described by a number 10 insider as “The anti establishment, establishment coach”, Piers Fallowfield-Cooper’s goal is to help business leaders to be more successful, fulfilled and to support them in their journey from good to exceptional.

His bestselling book, Are You Still The Future?: How learning to be flexible and read the signals in the system kept me relevant and prepared for every step on my leadership journey, was a finalist for the Business Book Awards 2024 Leadership category.

Piers works with clients globally – in the UK, US, Europe, the Middle and Far East, Australasia and Southern Africa. He is currently celebrating 20 years of making a difference in leader’s lives (and having great fun). His experience includes over 30 years as a senior executive with various MD, President, CEO, and Chairman roles in global finance, digital media and technology. Clients value the fact that Piers has walked in their shoes and can genuinely and authentically empathise with their situation.

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.

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In this episode of Product Mastery Now, we’re joined by Robin Champ, VP of Strategic Foresight at LBL Strategies and Harvard Extension School instructor. Robin shares practical approaches for product managers and leaders to anticipate, rather than merely react to, disruptions in the market and competitive landscape. Through the Strategic Foresight Framework, scenario planning, and trend scanning, Robin explains how to create agile strategies that help organizations deliver value in uncertain futures.

Any product manager with some experience knows the frustration of being blindsided—competitor launches that catch you off-guard, market shifts that kill your roadmap, or customer behaviors that seemingly emerge overnight. Many product teams are in a cycle of reacting to change and putting out fires. Instead, what if you could anticipate change? By the end of this episode, you’ll have the strategic foresight framework that is taught at Harvard and applied in organizations.

Our guest is Robin Champ, Vice President of Strategic Foresight at LBL Strategies and Harvard Extension School instructor. Robin spent 33 years applying foresight in the highest-stakes environments—the U.S. Secret Service and Department of Defense. She trains executives on the strategic planning methodologies that equips them to stay ahead of competitive threats and create opportunities.

Also, Robin is speaking on Tuesday, September 16th, 2025, at my favorite product innovation conference, the Product Development and Management Association’s Ignite Innovation Conference. Learn more about the conference at www.PDMAsummit.com.

“Organizations have to make their futures or risk being overtaken by the future.” – Clark Murdock, Future Making

Robin L. Champ is Vice President of Strategic Foresight at LBL Strategies;  a Certified Strategy Management Professional (SMP);  and an instructor at Harvard Extension School. She helps organizations anticipate change, navigate uncertainty, and design strategies that drive real impact. With a background that includes leading foresight and strategy efforts at the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Defense, Robin brings a practical, future-focused approach grounded in decades of experience. Today, she works with leaders across sectors to turn insight into action. 

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.

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Juanjo Duran, Chief Product Officer & Chief Marketing Officer at Exoticca, joins Product Mastery Now to share how to create AI-powered product features customers actually love, not just features that sound impressive. Drawing on 25+ years in diverse leadership roles, Juanjo discusses leveraging customer obsession, data-driven decisions, and practical frameworks to balance innovation with execution. Learn how to embed AI across teams, structure innovation projects, and use the customer journey—from inspiration through to objection handling—as your roadmap for building differentiated products that deliver real value.

Picture this: You’re a product leader trying to build AI features that customers actually use, not just technology that sounds impressive in board meetings. You’re scaling your product organization while maintaining innovation momentum. And you’re doing all this in an industry where the stakes for getting it wrong are high. We are discussing building smarter products that integrate AI that customers actually want. We’ll also explore practical frameworks for balancing innovation with execution in rapidly scaling organizations. 

Our guest is Juanjo Duran, Chief Product Officer and Chief Marketing Officer at Exoticca, a leading travel tech platform that provides multi-day travel packages. Juanjo brings a unique perspective—25+ years in consumer goods at P&G and Mars, operations leadership at easyJet, marketing at eDreams, and now product leadership at Exoticca.  

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”  – attributed to Peter Drucker

“Inspiration? Of course it exists but it has to find you working.” – Pablo Picasso

Juanjo Duran is a Global Travel and FMCG Executive (CEO/CMO/CPO) passionate about how Technological transformation can improve consumers’ lives. Currently CPO and CMO of a game changing travel tech disruptor where he is exploring AI as a Value Accelerator for consumers. Juanjo was previously CEO of Deliberry, a game changing grocery business disruptor and also Venture Capital Investor and Consumer & Brand Tech Advisor.  

Juanjo is passionate about change and leadership. He was lucky to learn from the best leaders and the best companies: 20 years in P&G learning from the best about proactively and methodically driving brand’s constant growth, 7 years in Mars Inc learning from the best about leading people through values and principles and learning from the best about digital transformation in the most evolved industry, TravelTech, at easyJet and eDreams ODIGEO, still the biggest e-commmerce in Europe. 

Juanjo believes that technology has to help us to live better and wants to be an active part of that. He is now leading a very promising project that will allow people to travel more and better.

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.

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Today I’m sitting down with Bill Reed and Spike Ross-Corbett, PDMA board members and co-chairs of the 2025 Ignite Innovation Conference planning committee. We reflect on top takeaways from past PDMA conferences, including invaluable lessons on customer research, adaptive product development, building cultures of innovation, and leveraging networking opportunities. Spike and Bill also offer a sneak peek into this year’s conference in Chicago, highlighting fresh formats, hands-on workshops, and powerful networking. Get practical insights to elevate your product management game and learn how to unlock a special discount for the upcoming summit.

As a product professional, what is your favorite conference to attend? We have a lot of good options, but mine has been Ignite Innovation, which the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) runs annually. I attended the first one in 2006 after hearing about it in a local group of product professionals. Since then, I have attended most years when I could, and I will be there again this year. It is being held at the Marriott Marquis in Chicago from September 13th-16th. This episode will discuss examples of what we have learned at past conferences and what we expect to learn this year. 

Joining me are two board members of PDMA who are also the co-chairs for the committee planning the conference—Bill Reid and Spike Ross-Corbett. 

“Someone is going to make your product obsolete. Make sure it’s you.” – Edwin Land

“I can’t spare this man: He fights.” – Abraham Lincoln

Spike Ross-Corbett is the Summit Chair and a member of the Board of Directors for the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), where he leads the vision and execution of the annual Ignite Innovation Summit. Professionally, Spike is a Product Manager at Portland Marketing Analytics (PortMA), managing SaaS platforms that deliver data-driven insights and operational efficiency. Spike holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of Southern Maine. Before his career in product management, he served in the United States Coast Guard, where he oversaw ordnance programs and training initiatives. He currently resides in Maine. 

Bill Reid brings over 35 years of experience in all aspects of product development, from start-ups to global corporations like Ford, GE Aircraft Engines, GM, and Covidien. Since 2007, he has led innovation and consulting efforts through his company, Immersed, and currently serves as Vice President at Boulder Imaging, overseeing hardware engineering, production, supply chain, and professional services. Bill is a certified New Product Development Professional, serves on the PDMA board, and holds degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering. He is the inventor or co-inventor on 24 U.S. patents and the author of Immersed in the Cave, a self-published book on innovation.  

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.

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This episode dives deep into the new ISO 56001 standard for innovation management with Dr. Magnus Karlsson, a global leader in the field and a key contributor to the standard. Learn why systematic innovation matters, how ISO 56001 can help organizations move beyond ad hoc creativity to reliable business results, and what practical steps product managers and leaders can take to build innovation capabilities—plus resources for making the standard actionable in your organization.

Are your innovation efforts consistently delivering results, or do they feel more like a series of random experiments? We’re diving into systematic innovation management with one of the foremost experts in the field. This isn’t just about being more creative – it’s about transforming how your organization turns ideas into market success, reliably and repeatedly. Every product leader faces the challenge of delivering value that drives business growth while managing risk. Without a systematic approach, you’re essentially gambling with your innovation resources.  In this episode, you’ll discover exactly how to implement a systematic innovation management approach based on the recently published ISO 56001 framework.

Our guest is Dr. Magnus Karlsson, Adjunct Professor in Innovation Management at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Magnus has over a decade of experience as Director of New Business Development and Innovation at Ericsson, where he developed approaches to collaborative innovation. He built on that experience and for nearly 20 years has been instrumental in developing international innovation management standards with the Swedish Institute for Standards, a key contributor to ISO standards. Magnus is also a partner at Amplify, a Sweden company that helps organizations across the world to innovate.

While your competitors might still be relying on inspiration and luck, you could be implementing a proven system that delivers consistent innovation results.

“Spend a little to learn a lot.” – Vijay Govindarajan

Dr. Magnus Karlsson is a senior innovation management expert at Amplify, adjunct professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, contributor to international standardization at ISO, CEN, and SIS Swedish Institute for Standards, and has a background in group-wide innovation management at Ericsson HQ in Stockholm.

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.

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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.

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.  

“Know your miss” – from playing disc golf

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.

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.

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This episode is a deep dive into practical product innovation with Walter and Scott Herbst—a legendary father-son duo boasting over 230 patents and decades of product success. They share their proven, data-driven methodology, pivot stories, and the importance of truly understanding customer problems. Listeners learn how to avoid common innovation pitfalls, leverage multiple solution paths, and set themselves up for product success, whether they’re in a Fortune 100 or a startup.

How does product innovation really work? This episode is a master class in the art and science of product innovation with two masters of the craft – a father and son duo who together hold over 230 patents and have shaped products you likely use every day. Innovation isn’t a buzzword for our guests – it’s the family business spanning three generations. For product managers feeling the constant pressure to create the next big thing while managing stakeholders, resources, and market realities, you’ll learn how creative ideas become commercial successes. 

Our guests are Walter and Scot Herbst of the Herbst Produkt design firm. They bring an extraordinary perspective to product innovation. Dr. Walter Herbst, recognized by Business Week as one of the ‘Fathers of Product Design,’ founded his first design consultancy in 1962 and later created Northwestern University’s prestigious Master of Product Design and Development Management program. His son Scot now leads their Silicon Valley design firm, partnering with Fortune 100 companies and breakthrough startups alike on award-winning products across healthcare, consumer tech, and more. 

We are about to learn practical wisdom earned through sixty years of successful product development – insights that could make the difference between your next product’s success or failure. 

“There is no prize for solving correctly what proves to be the wrong problem.”  – Emeritus Dean Julio Ottino from Northwestern University

“Lasting products are built on a solid foundation. A strategic approach is your bedrock.”  – Scot Herbst

Walter is a partner in Herbst Produkt, Santa Cruz, CA, which has won more design awards in the US, per employee, and has been honored by the Edison Foundation every year for the last 13 years. He holds 124 US patents in housewares, hardware, medical, and commercial products. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and the recipient of the “Distinguished Professor” award from Northwestern University where he founded the Master of Product Design and Development Management program. Additionally, Walter has served as an expert for the UN World Intellectual Property Organization, presenting his winning methods for the design and development of products both at the UN in Geneva as well as to individual organizations representing developing countries. 

Scot Herbst is a 2nd generation designer and creative director based in the SF Bay Area. His diverse range of award winning work includes consumer electronics, packaged goods, medical, life-science, furniture and lifestyle products. He and the team at Herbst Produkt have consistently delivered innovative products, experiences and brands that help propel design-driven companies from startups to established Fortune 100 companies.
herbstprodukt.com

Scot is currently the Creative Director and Principal at Herbst Produkt and holds advisory roles:
Chief Product Officer @ SLICE (sliceproducts.com) industry leader of innovative ceramic tools.
Design Advisor @ CUE (cuehealth.com) the future of personal health diagnostics

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.

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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.

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. 

“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

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.  

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.

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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.

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.

“Innovation is a bottom-up phenomenon.” – Matt Ridley

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. 

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.

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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.

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.

“The skill of the 21st century will be unlearning and learning.” – Alvin Toffler

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. 

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.

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