INSPIRED, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 67Establishing a Strong Product Culture

While we've talked about product teams and techniques for discovering successful products, I hope you've noticed that what we're really talking about in this book is product culture. I've described to you how great product companies think, organize, and operate.

I think of product culture along two dimensions. The first dimension is whether the company can consistently innovate to come up with valuable solutions for their customers. This is what product discovery is all about.

The second dimension is execution. It doesn't matter how great the ideas are if you can't get a productized, shippable version delivered to your customers. This is what product delivery is all about.

My goal in this final chapter is to describe the characteristics of a strong innovation culture versus those of a strong execution culture.

What we're really talking about in this book is product culture. I've described to you how great product companies think, organize, and operate.

What does it really mean to have a strong innovation culture?

• Culture of experimentation—teams know they can run tests; some will succeed and many will fail, and this is acceptable and understood.
• Culture of open minds—teams know that good ideas can come from anywhere and aren't always obvious at the outset.
• Culture of empowerment—individuals and teams feel empowered to be able to try out an idea.
• Culture of technology—teams realize that true innovation can be inspired by new ...