What do you do if your product innovation career is filled with challenges and obstacles?

One thing I have found helpful is to reframe the idea of “failure” when it relates to product innovation. Innovation is risky and as it is novel it is likely not to be perfect right from the beginning. By putting something out there for users to respond to you have the opportunity to observe responses and refine or pivot. In any case you learn and adopt. Put your belief not into your ability to get it right the first time but believe in your ability to continuously iterate until you have a product that users love.

Enfrentar el fracaso puede ser una parte creativa de la innovación de productos, ya que no todas las ideas resultarán exitosas. Pero cada error posee valiosas lecciones que pueden orientar proyectos futuros. Es importante analizar lo que no funcionó, documentar los resultados y utilizarlos para mejorar nuestro enfoque. Muchos innovadores exitosos han estado rodeados de intentos fallidos; es su constancia y la capacidad de aprender de los errores los que les han conducido al éxito.

We need to accept the failure else we will be building the wrong product. Then we need to find the cause for the failure and rectify it in the next iteration.

Failure is a necessary part of product innovation that leads to learning and transformation. If you're finding you're constantly faced with obstacles, you might need to shift your approach or get to the bottom of why you're blocked. Challenges are normal but constant obstacles can deplete your energy.

Failure is a reality in our Product routine. Building products that truly change society is an iterative process. So, you need to fail fast and learn even faster! But an important point for me is that Failure is different from Error – let's not throw a bunch of broken products out there, right?

Feedback is critical to convert any challenge or obstacle into an opportunity to improve and innovate Incase your idea of innovation doesn't please the right people, you shouldn't shy away from seeking feedback by asking the right questions. your questions should always be directed towards understanding the challenge better than simply finding ways to prove your solution is better. incorporating Feedack as driver into your product research at multiple stages ensures you are delivering the right product to right people at the right time. Feedback shouldn't be a one off thing, it should be continuous and should be an integral part of product innovation journey.

Challenges will always be part of the product innovation game. Instead of being paralyzed, use them to fuel breakthrough ideas. Here's how: - Throw out practicality...at first. Encourage your team to generate a wide array of solutions – the wilder, the better. - Focus on generating volume, not refining ideas prematurely. Suspend judgment for now. - Break away from familiar patterns. Challenge assumptions and deliberately explore unconventional approaches. The point? Even the most outlandish ideas can contain kernels of brilliance. By fostering an environment where anything goes, you cultivate the raw material for truly transformative solutions. Trust the process – once you have a bounty of ideas, then you can start filtering and refining.

When you’re stuck in the details, go to your helicopter, fly back to the original consumer/market need and think new routes.