product management is really innovation management
DESCRIPTION
No list of tasks or responsibilities captures the essence of product management. As companies grapple with the challenges with innovation, they have realized that the product manager is really the shepherd of innovation. The essential role of product management, therefore, starts with the generation of ideas, and does not end until customers adopt these ideas, and the company has assessed the assumptions and strategies for every part of the innovation process.TRANSCRIPT
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Product Management Is Really Innovation Management
Product Camp Silicon Valley 2011
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Product managers (PMs) own the bridge between the business and IT, improving the odds of successful innovation.
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QUESTION:What is innovation?
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Innovation creates value
VALUE
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Customers want solutions, not inventions
Prior experience with the vendor 23%
The vendor's level of fit with our specific need at a specific time
31%
The vendor's reputation in the marketplace (e.g., a safe choice)
27%
Executive-level relationships between the vendor and our company
16%
The sales person’s ability to understand our business problem
28%
The sales person’s ability to get things done for us
29%
Source: North American And European B2B Social Technographics® Online Survey, Q1 2010
“How important are the following factors when selecting the best vendor for a technology purchase?”
Customers want
to be assured
that adoption
will succeed . . .
. . . not hear about
how impressive
the technology is.
Base: 152 B2B marketing professionals in the US, UK, France, and Germany
(multiple responses accepted)
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Innovation is about mutual value
Why
What
How
When
Who“We don’t understand our customers,
or what they value.”
“We have lots of ideas, but we don’t know how to choose among them.”
“We often lose track of the business objectives behind technology adoption.”
“We never seem to deliver the technology at the right time.”
“We do too much re-engineering.”
CHALLENGE EXAMPLE
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Innovation isn’t just invention
2001
2005
2006
2008
2010
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But invention is a key element of success
Agile helps teams
move swiftly and
accurately.
Success depends
on relationships in
the team and
between the team
and stakeholders.
Requirements are
the language that
describes value in
the customer’s
terms.
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Even the best inventors don’t always innovate
Focus on invention, not adoption.
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Academic studies of innovation also have gaps
Market sh
are
Innovators
2.5%
Early
adopters
13.5%
Early
majority
34%
Late
majority
34%
Laggards
16%
Focus on adoption, not invention.
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Combining invention and adoption
AssessAdoptDeliverBuildTestConceive
THE INNOVATION PROCESS
But who owns this process from start to finish?
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QUESTION:What is a product?
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This is a product, not a service
It does not differ significantly from a SaaS product offering.
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This is a product
10 million lines of code, plus 100 electronic controllers, each with its own IP address
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Services might be products
By productizing, companies hope to make services easier to reproduce and more predictable in their outcomes.
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A simple definition of what product managers manage
Product (n):A discrete piece of technology designed to make a valuable contribution to one or more larger solutions
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Products define a quantum of value
Compartmentalization
Simplification
Design
Re-usability
Maintenance
Performance
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QUESTION:What is product management’s role in innovation?
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What is a product manager?
Responsible for the success of a product over its
entire life cycle
Manages product within the larger portfolio
Collects, analyzes, and prioritizes requirements
Translates between languages of engineers and
business users
Supports teams responsible for the delivery of the
technology
Rewarded based on the adoption of the
technology
Builds long-term partnerships between
technologists and business users
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PMs shepherd products through innovation
AssessAdoptDeliverBuildTestConceive
Are we capturing
all the potentially
good ideas?
Which ideas are
worth pursuing?
Are we building the
technology in the
right way?
Are we delivering
overall value?
Is the rest of the
organization ready
to deliver this
technology?
Did we achieve the
desired business
outcomes?
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And that’s how top-notch PMs see it
Source: July 7, 2009, “Best Practices For Product Management And Product Marketing Leaders” report,
prepared exclusively for Forrester Leadership Boards
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QUESTION:What does this mean for job descriptions? Team structure?
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Questions?
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Thank you
Tom Grant+1.650.581.3846
www.forrester.com