The Pulse of Productization

There’s a writer's term-of-art (the origins of which are murky, with claims that it was coined by Earnest Hemmingway, Oscar Wilde, or William Faulker amongst others) that goes like this: to get to the best possible outcomes, you have to be willing to “kill your baby.” 

“I don't want this new product to eat away at my existing business.”

We hear this a lot. 

So many executives get caught up in the fear that new products will detract, or worse destroy, their existing business. Total or partial cannibalization can occur when a new product moves customers away from current service offerings or product lines. It is a legitimate concern, but the right framework and strategy can help companies stay competitive and turn potential threats into opportunities.

Product innovation and management are key capabilities for developing successful scalable, digital products. But if you're new to product innovation and management, building the processes and competencies you need to be successful can be overwhelming. For example, should you start by improving your voice of the customer skills or Agile project management skills or product usage analytics skills or all of the above?