How can you develop your Product Innovation skills on the job?

Developing product innovation skills on the job involves a combination of hands-on experience, continuous learning, collaboration with cross-functional teams, and a proactive approach to problem-solving. Here are practical strategies to enhance your product innovation skills while working: 1. Stay Curious and Inquisitive: Cultivate a curious mindset and ask questions about how things work. Stay curious about emerging technologies, industry trends, and user behaviors. 2. Understand User Needs: Develop a deep understanding of user needs by engaging directly with customers or end-users. Conduct user interviews, surveys, and usability tests to gather insights. Use this understanding to inform product decisions.

Developing cross-disciplinary skills is key to becoming a great product innovator. If you have a strong tech background, find the anthropologists and economists in your company and listen to their perspectives. If you have a social science background, ask the engineers to sit in a room with a whiteboard and explain the tech while you map it out. Successful new ideas often emerge through these collaborations, when people who see the problem from different perspectives hear each other and come up with new solutions. As an individual, you will also develop the skills to be able to lead cross-disciplinary innovation teams.

Well this sounds like a good idea, and an excellent way to develop product innovation or design thinking skills., nevertheless this might be a challenge for someone who is working in an organization that doesn't approve of this practice. The Culture of some organizations are merely talking about Innovation but they are fearful of these kinds of practices which inhibit someone to be innovative.

Failure is often a necessary starting point. James Dyson failed repeatedly as did Thomas Edison. From Inc .Magazine - “In 1983, after four years of building and testing 5,126 prototypes of a new vacuum cleaner, entrepreneur James Dyson finally discovered the secret to creating a bagless vacuum using cyclone technology.” Experimentation cost money. It’s critical to have runway to allow for “overnight” success.

The best way to observe your customers is to go into their context and environment. B2C companies like Procter & Gamble know that nothing beats observing people use products in their homes. And when I was working in B2B companies like Salesforce, we observed salespeople in their offices and while they were driving to customer meetings. Getting to really know your customers means getting out of your own office and meeting them where they are. This will increase your understanding and empathy for your customers like nothing else!

Curious people excel at product innovation. Not content with status quo they dig deeper for disruption & alternative paths forward. Bright people “see” success by watching people actually succeed. Teams catalyze growth. Smart innovation is achieved when team members of different skill sets collaborate to move forward.

In my career, I've taken on the challenges no one else would do because they were often considered to be "career limiting." The best way to leapfrog in your career is to succeed in a challenge that no one else will take on because they think it will fail. When I took on leading the Salesforce Lightning redesign, experienced colleagues told me it would "end my career" at Salesforce because others had tried and failed. I took it on anyway and succeeded, proving that I could be trusted to take on large difficult innovation projects. Don't be afraid to take on BHAG projects if you want to be a product innovator!

I would say this can be good on the way to mastering your skills as every product innovation poses a challenge. Being open to challenges be prepared to fail. Not everyone has such a drive to take it full circle. Passion and talent is half of the success. Every activity prowess requires dedication and prolonged focus. Perseverance and determination. This applies especially to product innovation. The AI response is a little vague showing no experience in product innovation.

Take a creative pause: Sometimes, stepping away from a problem helps. Take a break, and you might come back with a fresh perspective.