Thanks for joining; I want to focus on a research article I published for PDMA on designing organizations optimized for product innovation. I wrote this piece on the heels of finishing my book Gamification for Product Excellence, as I consistently saw one trend consulting across process industries - great products struggle without a robust and organizationally-driven product culture.
You can assemble all-star sprint teams of standout product managers, designers, and engineers trying to create magic. But if the organization and business leaders don't fundamentally understand modern product development, those A-players rarely stick around long. The result is a mediocre product portfolio that is unable to compete.
Structural misalignment stifles innovation. Despite pockets of talent, legacy bureaucracies reinforcing status quo efficiency leave little oxygen for sparks to catch and spread. Siloed functional groups breed insularity rather than the collaboration and user-centricity that fluid teams could nurture.
So, in this research article, I synthesize fundamental academic theories and real-world case studies to outline evidence-based principles for structuring world-class product innovation organizations. How can leaders empower product excellence top-down through organizational design, culture, and leadership approaches that unlock bottom-up creativity?
I examine topics like:
- Fostering innovation with decentralized, organic structures
- Adapting design to divergent product lifecycle stages
- Building cross-functional cooperation and T-shaped skills
- Developing ambidextrous leadership to integrate paradoxical demands
- Implementing portfolio governance and pipeline visibility
- Leveraging open innovation networks
- Incorporating agile, iterative development processes
- Harnessing digital platforms and ecosystems
- Renewing structures proactively to avoid inertia
This strategic framework gives executives a blueprint for organizing creative firepower and moving imagination to implementation. Please take a read and share any feedback or reactions on the entire piece. I'm happy to keep discussing this further!
“Decades of work from multiple different subfields within psychology all point towards the conclusion that regularly resting your brain improves the quality of your work. When you work, work hard. When you’re done, be done.”
— Cal Newport, “Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World”