Top CPO Questions to Ask – Interpret

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Chief Product Officer, CPO, interpret, mckinsey, problem solving, strategy, thorough understanding, three questions

So in my last post, I introduced this journey I am undertaking exploring the idea Product Management can be summarized in three primary ways (answering three questions).   To summarize the essence of where we left off …

• Who am I serving? Interpret.
• What do they need/want, and are ready to buy? Inform.
• How can I reach/persuade them? Influence.

For today, the focus will be on the questions a Chief Product Officer should be able to answer with respect to the Interpret category^. My experience leads me to believe Interpret is all about understanding the markets served; evaluating market dynamics for disruptive shifts; interpreting strategic implications.   In short, the knowledge/understanding necessary to feed strategy.

What Appears To Be Isn’t Always What Is

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framing, perspective, problem solving, problem statement, strategy

Perspective. If you were to look up the definition and focus on the non-artistic aspect of the meaning, you would find descriptions like ‘the facts known to one … the faculty of seeing all the relevant data … a mental view or prospect … understanding from a certain point of view’. And the cold hard truth is, whether specific to a certain situation, or due to a lack of maturity or experience, we don’t always have it.

If you have children (especially teenagers) or if you remember your own childhood (especially the teenage years) you understand exactly what I mean. What appears to be isn’t always what is.

Continuing Thoughts on Innovation

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breakthrough, disruption, domain expertise, innovation, innovator's dilemma, problem solving, sustaining

A few weeks ago, I published a post When Might it be OK to not Listen to the Customer with the inspiration coming from having just finished Innovator’s Dilemma by Harvard Professor Clayton Christensen.  To oversimplify the summary, it was about the distinction between sustaining and disruptive innovation.

Recently, I also came across an article on HBR titled The 4 Types of Innovation and the Problems They Solve, so it seemed appropriate to expand perspectives and dig into what the author had to say.

Doing Things Right? Or Doing the Right Things?

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problem solving, right things, understanding, why

Problem solving.  Chances are if I were to query Product Management leaders, a majority would intimate they were good at it. After all, it is one of the fundamental premises of the role, isn’t it?  There generally is no shortage of challenges, frequently on a daily basis, were input is needed, decisions are necessary, and direction is given.

And yet as this HBR article Are You Solving the Right Problems? points out 85% of C-level executives feel their organizations are bad at it.  How could the problem of problem solving be a problem in and of itself?

Perfectly Effective Short-term Results

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decision making, leadership, long-term, problem solving, short cuts, short-term, strategic, tactical

I took this picture at the local office watering hole that I frequent in the mornings.  Yes, I admit it, I like my coffee … and generally the stronger the better.  No frills either, just black.

But I’m betting you probably don’t read these posts to understand my coffee preferences, and are likely wondering what this has to do with leadership.  Good question, but first take a long look at the picture and tell me what you see.

At first glance, one observation would be that a conscientious colleague made sure a mess wasn’t left at the coffee pot.  To whomever took that initiative, thank you. But as a leader, I am going to ask you to look closer because there is another underlying observation to be drawn.