Test-n-Tell.com - making product decisions

Your chances to innovate, create something new or solve a problem with multiple unknowns are higher when you have a diverse team. Such a team, that consist of individuals with various backgrounds, interests and cultures, given the right environment, will produce better ideas and solutions. But what if you don't need to innovate? What if you need to execute effectively?

Product development is a team's sport. So as product management. Rarely something remarkable is achieved by a single individual. And even when that happens - a lone genius still needs help to grow, support and improve their product.

Product management teams come in many shapes and sizes. Yet there is one key characteristic that differentiates good and great product teams. This key is diversity.

Sometimes you find yourself in a leadership product role with the task to radically improve your product. But what if you discover that your product team is not up to the task?

Reading Marty Cagan's article on PM problem areas, one particularly caught my attention - optimization versus innovation. Numerous product managers face this problem. Sometimes the choice is clear (a startup building their first product), some other times it's a struggle (a mature company with multiple products).

Are we aware of the impact our work has on our community, on our society? Do we assume any responsibility or just focused on our business goals?