How can you keep learning and growing in product development?

Being interested in something and having experience in it are two different things. For example, being interested in clothing and style doesn't make us a fashion designer, just like being interested in the law doesn't make us an attorney. Next, let's not confuse building a product with building a company. We can make a successful product (subjective), which could be built by being interested in it, but monetizing it and growing it into a business usually takes industry skills, knowledge of trade secrets, connections and deep knowledge in the subject to achieve an ROI. We need to be able to see things coming from all angles. Most product success relies on brand activation to allow the user to become aware of its existance.

In automotive sector, how can we keep learning and growing in product development ?- Product development is a vital aspect of automotive industry. It fosters the culture of ideation, conceptualization, experimentation, verification, validation, prototyping etc. to drive the product to meet and delight the customers with innovation, quality, reliability and economic cost towards agile supply chain. Above keeps the professional’s to learn and grow continuously in the field of Product Development

Finding a product niche may sound simple on the surface, however it takes a sound r&d and sense making abilities to really see through the end to end of that niche. If a person or group of people can see that, then it’s almost a goldmine. Unfortunately, most of the startups are on the surface and not scratching deep enough. Fintech industry is a good example where most failed startups with high valuations went after low hanging fruits.

Absolutely! When we talk about finding a niche, it’s crucial to remember that it’s not just about identifying a specific market segment. Being niche also involves standing out in terms of uniqueness, pricing, design, and more. It’s about carving out a distinct identity and value proposition that sets you apart from the competition. Thanks for highlighting this important aspect!

One can consider ‘niche’ as a ‘direction’, as it is extremely important to have a roadmap before you start your journey, you can’t reach anywhere without a destination….

Create a good environment for honest feedback. Not all feedback is equal. When its done well, it can be one of the most insightful and powerful tools for self-development you have. But effort is required to make sure the standard is high. Make sure you’re actively inviting feedback from users, peers and stakeholders. Create psychological safety around doing so. Give people the opportunity to feedback face-to-face, where they can control tone and deliver with nuance - you’ll often get more richness than if you hide behind a form response. And lastly, set the standard for delivering feedback yourself. It is a gift, so make sure you pass it on to those around you to show its power and set the bar for the detail you want to receive.

Feedback isn't just information; it's the fuel for your growth engine in product development. Imagine releasing a product feature without ever analyzing user engagement metrics—sounds like a shot in the dark, right? The same goes for your professional development. Regularly solicit feedback not just for your product but also for your skills and contributions. Utilize AI-driven analytics tools to gauge customer sentiment and peer reviews, but also seek mentorship and constructive criticism. Make this process iterative, just like your product development cycles. Remember, each piece of feedback is a puzzle piece to a better version of both your product and yourself. Don't shy away; lean in.

Fundamentally, feedback is the crux to success of a product and internal feedback is a good way to gauge customer outcomes prior to launch. I am particularly passionate about internal feedback that can help product and R&D teams at the alpha and beta stages to alter, pivot or rectify potential blind spots. My sales engineering team was heavily involved in testing and integrating the product releases in the alpha stages and most of the times we uncovered gaps that helped reduce post launch patching and customer thrash.

To keep learning and growing in product development, it is important to anticipate where your customer's needs will be. Consider building a team around not only customer insights but three year market trends to think about what will stay the same, what will change and what will disappear. Which one of those trends will obsolete your existing products? Which trends have requirements or needs that are unmet by your current (or competitive offerings) that require an entirely new product offering? Likewise, it is important to tie these trends back to your technology development and capability roadmap - do you have the right toolset to make the products of the future? These two go hand-in-hand to ensure continued growth of a development hopper.

Have you really made a product that have market? Are you successful in your professional? Are you in a right business? Are you really on a right track? This questions can only be answered once you have a feedback. Even your success is measured on feedback. So everything is useless if no feedback is around.

One of life’s biggest lessons is to learn from other people’s mistakes, instead of your own. By learning from product leaders across diverse industries; both similar and different; you can gain fresh insights and apply new strategies to your product development work.?Prioritize leveraging your learning style; whether it’s through reading, listening to podcasts, or watching educational videos. Resources like YouTube, online and in-person courses, and industry-specific podcasts are excellent for staying updated on the latest trends and methodologies in product management. This blend of learning from others and adapting lessons to my experiences helps me continuously evolve as a product leader.

I couldn’t agree more with the advice to “learn from others”. In the realm of product development, there’s a wealth of knowledge and insights to be gained from those who have tread the path before us. Reading books, blogs, listening to podcasts, forums,networking with peers and subscribing to newsletters are excellent ways to absorb the wisdom. These resources often provide valuable insights into successful strategies, common pitfalls, and emerging trends in the field. In essence, learning from others expands our perspective, sparks new ideas, and keeps us abreast of the latest best practices. It’s an invaluable strategy for continuous growth in product development.

Never underestimate the power of collective wisdom in product development. The landscape is ever-changing, and no one has a monopoly on good ideas. Dive into communities, whether online forums or professional events and soak up the diverse range of experiences and insights offered. Don't just passively consume content—engage. Ask questions, offer your own insights, and create a cycle of mutual learning. Supplement this with AI-curated content that can pinpoint the latest trends and thought leadership articles in your niche. As you absorb this rich tapestry of knowledge, you'll find your own expertise deepening and your horizons expanding. This isn't just about staying updated; it's about staying ahead.

You can deliver only once you know what is around. What others are doing. What market and competitors are doing. You learn from others. You learn from what you failed to do that others did. Experience dont only come from what you are expert of but also from what others have left around.

This would be one of the top tips in identifying new trends, technologies, and information. I call this my reverse research process. By reading new publications, searching for podcasts, or listening to keynote speeches.. you will be able to identify the "heavy hitters" in virtually any field. Researching and learning from their experience, work process, and accomplishments is extremely beneficial. Personally, I have very good experiences by reaching out to these individuals and learning from them first hand. Don't let the fear of rejection hinder you, many people react very positively to people who see value in learning from them. Initiating and developing these relationships will prove itself to be invaluable.

One important remark regarding Experiments and Iterations is keep timing tracking accordingly. Depending the challenges of the design changes versus the project stakeholders pressures to move ahead for next phases, here the product lead has an important role to balancing both ways. In these cases, we need mostly of the time accommodate the design iterations in a proper way. For example: test planning with less pieces or less conditions; evaluate together more than 1 feature. And by the time goes keep a regular agenda about the decision making regarding winner product designs.

Certainly must need organizational process to control this funnel process! So what you see here is that what is so-called the "Stage Gates" on the product development funnel. You have various gates which are created by the organization which will be a stop and open situation at each gate: Idea, feasibility, capability and then finally was launched. That funnel has narrowed but it also being controlled by the company where at each stage in Top Management, somebody at senior level is cross-checking on what is being done, where is money being spent and taking decisions on whether to launch a product or take it forward into prototype?.

Embracing a culture of experimentation is like adding rocket fuel to your product development journey. Here, failure isn't a setback; it's a lesson. Use AI tools to rapidly simulate different scenarios or analyze massive datasets to validate hypotheses. This speeds up the iteration cycle and makes each loop more insightful. Forget the traditional, slow, 'wait-and-see' approach. The new paradigm is 'try, measure, learn, and iterate.' It's about small, rapid experiments that yield actionable insights, allowing you to pivot or persevere with a clarity that was previously unthinkable. This is more than a growth strategy; it's a survival kit for the modern product developer.

Product development is a dynamic, cyclical journey, not a static path. Embrace experimentation and iteration as integral components of your mindset and workflow. Foster a willingness to try new approaches, test assumptions, measure outcomes, and glean insights. Flexibility and adaptability are paramount—adjust plans, strategies, or features based on collected feedback and data. This iterative approach accelerates product creation, fostering efficiency and cost-effectiveness, while continually enhancing the quality of your offerings. You will need to push your organization to embrace change, be ready!

This in my opinion is one of the most critical aspects of product development. Having a clear vision, defining goals to realise that vision and associating those goals with success metrics are the key elements. One thing which also adds value to the vision and goals, especially if you are working with large enterprises, is to also link them with the enterprise vision and goals. This helps avoiding unnecessary distractions and define a truly usable product backlog.

Here is an example to color the blurb: A hydraulic development team aimed to enhance the efficiency of their hydraulic systems. Their goal was to reduce energy consumption by 20% in one year. They closely tracked progress using energy usage data and efficiency metrics. Through systematic improvements, such as better component designs and optimized workflows, they not only achieved the goal but also lowered operational costs and contributed to sustainability efforts.

This goes hand-in-hand with the point about soliciting feedback. If you aren’t setting goals upfront at the planning stage of creating a new or improved feature, you won’t have a goalpost to measure against when figuring out the success of that feature later down the road.

In product development, continual growth is fostered through the strategic setting of goals and diligent progress tracking. Establish a clear vision, understanding the what, why, and how of your objectives. Implement a robust measurement system using milestones, metrics, or indicators to monitor your journey toward these goals. This approach ensures sustained focus, motivation, and accountability. Regular evaluation allows for performance assessment, acknowledgment of achievements, and identification of areas ripe for improvement.

Keeping an open mind in product development is essential for continuous growth and learning. Embrace feedback, even if it challenges your assumptions. Seek diverse perspectives to broaden your understanding and identify innovative solutions. Stay curious about emerging trends and technologies, and don't hesitate to experiment with new approaches. Adapting to change and being willing to pivot based on new insights will ensure your skills and knowledge stay relevant and dynamic in the ever-evolving field of product development.

I also do think that having an open mind involves having an ability to accept the realities of the product in market. Whether its the reality of ramp expectations, and customer adoption assumptions or actually being willing to listen to gaps that deter widespread adoption. Especially in the SaaS world, where customers (especially in higher ed, SLED, Public) are still learning what modernization means and trying to wrap their mindset around the change management required for this transformative journey, it maybe a very complex buying/selling cycle.

Eliminate "I can't." When you get to a wall and "I can't," comes to mind, you change your mindset from "I can't" to "How can I?" Simply stop saying "I can't," and begin using the phrase in your mind, "How can I?" This should provoke you to expand your search for solutions beyond your current knowledge base.

Some important considerations to keep in mind when learning from others: 1. Diversity of Perspectives 2. Ethical and Legal Considerations 3. Time Management 4. Feedback Receptivity 5. Quality vs. Quantity 6. Critical Thinking 7. Continuous Improvement 8. Balance with Individual Learning 9. Reciprocity 10. Self-Reflection 11. Long-Term Growth 12. Mistakes and Failures 13. Feedback to Others Remember that the process of learning from others is dynamic and adaptable. What works for one person may not work for another, so be willing to experiment with different approaches and continuously refine your learning strategies. Ultimately, the goal is to foster a growth mindset and a lifelong commitment to learning and improvement.

Know your constraints. It's all to easy to focus on what a product must do or a property it must have. Developers can easily fail to understand what a product mustn't contain, what it mustn't do or what products or equipment it must be compatible with. You may have a cost constraint. You may have a problem if the performance of your new product positions it in direct competition with other products in your own range, displacing them and making them look poor value for money. Constraints are your friends; knowing them we will save you wasting valuable development effort and expense.

Build your own product - Not for money but for learning. I'm talking about a side hustle (and it doesn't have to be big just big enough to learn) Take out an hour everyday and spend it on building something new. There can never be a better way to enhance your product management capabilities. In today's time you can self learn almost everything. Think about a problem that you or your friends face. Think about a solution to that problem. Then find other people who face the same problem and try to share your solution with them. Remember, you don't need permission to learn and develop your skills as a product manager, you can just do it. Reach out to me if you need help in a step-by-step guide.

3 words that don't often go together: expert, flexibility and balance. There comes a point in careers where you have to decide to become an expert or touch all the bases. There is no right or wrong here, that is where balance and flexibility fit in. By becoming an expert, you may limit future opportunities, and vice-versa, by not becoming an expert. You might be more comfortable "silo-ing" yourself from a work-life position. Recognize that not all experts get promoted. Flexibility plays role when you pick something that does not take you where you want to be. Perhaps, you enjoyed a particular position but chose the "jack-of-all trades" path. Again, no right or wrong answer, just tranfer back to the position you found best fits you.

It is essential to foster a culture of continuous improvement. This can be achieved by encouraging experimentation, embracing failure as an opportunity to learn, and promoting cross-functional collaboration. Additionally, staying up-to-date with industry trends is key to staying relevant and continuously improving our product development practices.