598: Every product manager should care about innovation portfolio management – with Noel Sobelman

601: Do this so your voice never fails you again – with Jimmy Cannon

VOCAL TECHNIQUES TO HELP PRODUCT MANAGERS SOUND MORE CAPABLE WATCH ON YOUTUBE TLDR In this episode of Product Mastery Now, executive voice coach Jimmy Cannon joins me to explore why even the most prepared professionals can lose their voice under pressure, and, most importantly, how to regain command in those key presentation moments. Drawing on decades of stage experience and the latest research in voice science, Jimmy Cannon shares actionable tools for breathing, calming nerves, and connecting authentically with an audience, whether you’re leading a team meeting or presenting to your CEO. INTRODUCTION My guest today spent decades on stage as a professional musician — playing saxophone and singing alongside artists like Tom Jones and Roger Taylor of Queen — before reinventing himself as an executive voice coach. Today he helps leaders sound as capable as they actually are, especially in those difficult, pressure-filled moments. If you’ve ever walked into a big presentation fully prepared and then watched your own voice tighten up and betray you, this conversation is for you. In this episode, you’ll learn why your voice fails you under pressure, such as when defending a roadmap, and what to do for your voice to be reliable and to sound like an executive.  SUMMARY OF CONCEPTS DISCUSSED FOR PRODUCT MANAGERS Why Your Voice Fails You Jimmy explains that although it is important to prepare for a presentation, preparing content will not help you in the moment if your body freezes and your mind goes blank. Often, during public speaking, people experience a physiological response, in which their sympathetic nervous system causes throat tightening and other symptoms. To combat this, Jimmy recommends a method to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. One Idea, One Breath Jimmy explains his core technique, One Idea, One Breath. Breath causes the voice to resonate. Jimmy recommends elongating the out-breath, activating your vagus nerve and parasympathetic nervous system, causing your heart rate to lower and calming you. Elongate your phrasing and vowels and use all your breath. Many people take shallow breaths in their chest, but it is more calming to take deep breaths from your diaphragm. Jimmy demonstrates vocal exercises like straw phonation and elongating vowels, to build muscle memory and regulate the nervous system. Many people speak in short phrases. Jimmy recommends preparing what you want to say, and then saying one idea with one controlled, elongated breath. Building Audience Connection Break the fourth wall, such as by asking the audience a question, helps put both the audience and the speaker at ease. Jimmy recommends focusing on the intention of your words, to connect with the audience. Mindfulness for In-the-Moment Confidence Mindfulness techniques, which Jimmy learned as part of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, can help anchor you in the present when negative thoughts arise. Jimmy walks through a simple exercise: Notice five things you can see, five things you can hear, and five things you can feel. While doing this, concentrate on deep, long breaths. This exercise can bring you into the present and diffuse negative thoughts. USEFUL LINKS * Take a free quiz: “How Reliable Is Your Voice Under Pressure?” [https://steadystate.scoreapp.com/] * Attend a free workshop: One Idea. One Breath [https://steadystatehq.com/free-workshop-landing-page] * Book a discovery call [https://steadystatehq.com/discovery-call] to learn more about coaching with Jimmy INNOVATION QUOTE “If in doubt, breathe out.” – Ron Morris and Linda Hutchison APPLICATION QUESTIONS 1. Can you recall a time when your voice betrayed you in a high-stakes meeting or presentation? What did you do? 2. Have you ever tried breathing or mindfulness techniques before a big meeting? What worked (or didn’t) for you? 3. How could practicing “One Idea, One Breath” change the way you present complex information to stakeholders? 4. What strategies have you used to engage your audiences and establish connection at the outset of a presentation? 5. What role do you think authenticity or sincerity plays in influencing others, and how might that relate to vocal delivery? BIO Product Manager Interview - Jimmy Cannon [https://productmasterynow.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Jimmy-Cannon_400.jpg] Jimmy Cannon is an Executive Voice and Communication Coach and ACT Practitioner. He helps leaders speak with confidence, clarity, and calm authority by aligning their voice, body, and presence so the message lands every time. His work focuses on leadership communication, confident speaking, and public speaking under pressure. THANKS! Thank you for taking the journey to product mastery and learning with me from the successes and failures of product innovators, managers, and developers. If you enjoyed the discussion, help out a fellow product manager by sharing it using the social media buttons you see below. Source [https://productmasterynow.com/blog/601-do-this-so-your-voice-never-fails-you-again-with-jimmy-cannon/]

600: Winning at new products – with Bob Cooper, PhD

LESSONS FROM THE DISCOVERER OF STAGE-GATE FOR PRODUCT MANAGERS INTRODUCTION Product Manager Interview - Bob Cooper [https://productmasterynow.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Bob-Cooper_400.jpg] For our 600th episode, we are re-running an episode with a legend in product management, Dr. Robert Cooper, who has made many foundational contributions to product management and innovation. He is the keynote speaker at the next PDMA annual conference, Oct 8-9 in Atlanta, GA – details at www.pdmasummit.com [https://www.pdmasummit.com/]. Dr. Robert Cooper discovered the now famous Stage-Gate process and was named the “World’s Top Innovation Management Scholar” by the prestigious Journal of Product Innovation Management. Besides his best-selling books Winning at New Products and Portfolio Management for New Products, he has published more than 130 articles on R&D and innovation management. He is frequently helping organizations succeed while also holding the role of Professor Emeritus at McMaster University and Distinguished Research Fellow at Penn State University. SUMMARY OF CONCEPTS DISCUSSED FOR PRODUCT MANAGERS [3:05] WHAT KEY CHALLENGES ARE MEDIUM AND LARGE ORGANIZATIONS ENCOUNTERING TODAY WHEN TRYING TO GET NEW PRODUCTS INTO THE MARKETPLACE? We’re facing new uncertainty and risks. Companies have to think about what to do short-term to keep the lights on and what to do long-term for bolder innovations. Some companies will retreat and cut their spending by cutting bolder long-term innovations, and we saw in the recession around 2010 that was a bad strategy. In some mature industries, it is increasingly difficult to find opportunities for new products. In the 1920s and 1930s, there was no absence of problems in telecommunications. They couldn’t even send a long-distance call because there were no amplifiers, no vacuum tubes, and no transistors. They had to invent all those things. When you have no absence of customer or user problems, if you’re reasonably intelligent, you can usually come up with the inventions and the necessary breakthrough new products. Today it’s harder in the telecommunications business because there are problems but not as evident as formerly. Other industries like IT are still going strong with many opportunities and problems to solve, but it’s becoming increasingly tougher to find fantastic voids in the marketplace. Another challenge is fortitude of the general manager to keep spending at the same level when it is tougher and tougher to get the return on investment you need. On the other hand, there are all kinds of new technologies like AI, biosciences, and new opportunities in the medical field. These technological possibilities should generate all kinds of new product opportunities. [7:38] WHAT ADVICE DO YOU GIVE LEADERS ABOUT MAKING STRATEGIC DECISIONS? There are many risks and uncertainties like the supply chain, market size, and expected profitability. The numbers we put in our business cases are notoriously wrong often by a factor of two. Many business cases are fantasy because there are so many unknowns, which people usually don’t factor in. Take a hard look at how you do your business case in light of increasing uncertainties and build that in somehow. I have a new article coming out on expected commercial value, which builds likelihoods into the business case. How do you estimate likelihoods? We didn’t know how to do it in the past, but now we have estimates from companies like Dow Chemical and 3M. They have put together probability tables that give the likelihood of success under certain circumstances, because they’ve studied enough projects to know. Do the net present value calculations with correction factors for likelihood of success. The other piece of advice is getting the product right. Sometimes people do voice-of-customer analysis and think they understand the customer’s needs, then spend a year designing a prototype, then do field trials and everything goes wrong. The customer’s needs have changed or the customers didn’t understand their own needs. Instead, we recommend iterative innovation. Build something really fast and demo it to the customer to get instant feedback. Get the product out in their face fast, early, often, and cheap. The first version doesn’t have to be the real product. You can create a computer simulation or animation. Show the customer something in the first three weeks of development and repeat every four weeks. Demo to management too because you need their buy-in and support. [13:07] WHAT’S AN EXAMPLE OF USING ITERATIVE INNOVATION? Steve Jobs said, “Customers don’t know what they want until they see it.” LEGO has a B2B business called LEGO Education, which sells learning products to schools and teachers. It’s a combination of IT software and LEGO blocks. There was a new product coming out that LEGO had been working on for about four years and couldn’t get right. It was a creative writing curriculum to teach younger children how to be more creative writers. LEGO had several panels of teachers, and they asked them, “What are you looking for in this product?” And the teachers weren’t sure. One of the teachers finally said, “Why don’t you build something and show it to us? And then we’ll tell you if it’s right.” The team got into iterative development or Agile Stage Gate, and it worked very well. [17:46] WHAT DO ORGANIZATIONS NEED TO RETHINK ABOUT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT? One of the major challenges is having too many projects in the pipeline for available resources. Nobody has the fortitude to say no, so the default option is to do them all. By doing them all, we guarantee they’re all late. When you do a portfolio review and re-rank all the projects, you find out that a few of them that look shiny and bright at the beginning are not quite so shiny and bright over time. Maybe it is time for a tough re-review of the entire set of projects to kill some of them to benefit the whole portfolio. You can rank the projects from 1 to 15, lop off the bottom 5, and reallocate the resources to the top 10, but who has the guts to do that? You’re going to be annoying or discouraging somebody. But let’s face it, some projects are the bottom third and maybe their resources are better spend on the the top two thirds. You have to have buckets and rank each bucket separately because you can’t compare minor modifications and bold innovations. Someone has to have the method and the guts to do this re-ranking and get top management on board. Those meetings are pretty tough, especially the first one, but it has got to be done. Otherwise your projects are going to be late or under-resourced, and success rates will go down. Use a good method for ranking projects. Have a tough portfolio manager. Have a good data system. Often, when projects go through gates or portfolio review, the only criteria for go are “Is it on schedule?” and “Is it on budget?” Those are the the wrong questions. They’re backward-looking questions. Instead, ask forward-looking questions like, “Does this project still offer great value to the company?” and “What’s the financial value going forward?” Net present value and productivity index are good metrics for that. [22:55] WHAT BUCKET APPROACH DO YOU USE? The first key step is knowing where your money and resources are going now. Make a pie chart of the breakdown across the buckets by numbers of projects, a second pie chart of where the resources are going, and a third pie chart of first-year sales for new projects. Often, you might find that where the sales are coming from is not where the resources are going. You might be putting most of your seed on the worst fields. [28:03] WHAT DO PEOPLE MISUNDERSTAND ABOUT STAGE-GATE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE THEM TO KNOW? The Stage-Gate process came from stories of successful entrepreneurs and teams. These projects had bold and assertive project leaders and teams that did everything right and had huge successes. Today companies have lost that entrepreneurial risk-taking approach. They’ve burdened their Stage-Gate process with too much paperwork and check-the-box exercises. Get rid of non-value-added work. Apply Lean principles. Map out your process beginning-to-end on a big roll of paper or post-it-notes. Get rid of all the unnecessary stuff. It only takes about a day to do that exercise and then a little longer to improve the process. Before you get into Agile, get your process working right. ACTION GUIDE: PUT THE INFORMATION BOB SHARED INTO ACTION NOW. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE ACTION GUIDE [https://productmasterynow.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/446-Bob-Cooper-Action-Guide.pdf]. USEFUL LINKS: * Visit Bob’s website [http://www.bobcooper.ca/] * Check out the PDMA Handbook 4th edition [https://www.amazon.com/PDMA-Handbook-Innovation-Product-Development/dp/1119890217] INNOVATION QUOTE “There are two ways to win at new products. The first way is ‘doing projects right’—and that’s what Stage-Gate is all about—a stage-by-stage process to drive new products to market effectively. The second way is ‘doing the right projects’—and that’s about project selection, making the right investment decisions, and portfolio management. The problem here is that management’s batting average is worse than the toss of a coin—only 25% percent of projects approved for development become commercial successes! Let’s see how to do both ways to win better.” – Bob Cooper THANKS! Thank you for taking the journey to product mastery and learning with me from the successes and failures of product innovators, managers, and developers. If you enjoyed the discussion, help out a fellow product manager by sharing it using the social media buttons you see below. Source [https://productmasterynow.com/blog/600-winning-at-new-products-with-bob-cooper-phd/]

599: Replace your limiting beliefs with liberating beliefs – with Nir Eyal

CHOOSE USEFUL BELIEFS TO BECOME A BETTER PRODUCT MANAGER WATCH ON YOUTUBE TLDR In this episode of Product Mastery Now, three-time returning guest Nir Eyal discusses his latest book, Beyond Belief. The conversation dives into how our underlying beliefs shape our actions, careers, and the products we build, with science-backed strategies for challenging limiting beliefs, reframing workplace motivation, and building liberating beliefs that help teams thrive. INTRODUCTION There are guests you have on once. And there are guests you keep coming back to because as the field keeps moving so do they. Nir Eyal keeps moving, learning, and informing us on how to make better products and how to be better ourselves. Twelve years ago he joined me on episode 30 to talk about Hooked —  how great products are built on human behavior, not just features. He came back on episode 259 for Indistractable — how we take our attention back in a device-filled world.  Now he’s gone deeper. His new book is Beyond Belief — a science-backed look at the hidden assumptions that decide what we think is possible and how our psychology impacts what we can accomplish. And for product managers and leaders, the beliefs we carry about our work, our teams, and ourselves shape everything we accomplish, including the products we ship. SUMMARY OF CONCEPTS DISCUSSED FOR PRODUCT MANAGERS Nir’s New Book, Beyond Belief Nir’s newest book, Beyond Belief, was inspired by conversations with people who had read his previous book, Indistractable, and complained that it didn’t work for them, despite not having actually tried any of the practices the book recommended. Nir wondered why, in an age when we know so much, we often fail to put information into action. What Are Beliefs? Nir distinguishes between facts, faith, and beliefs. He defines facts as objective truths, faith as convictions that do not require evidence, and beliefs as convictions that are open to revision based on evidence. Beliefs are malleable. Nir explains that many problems come from not realizing that many of the things we think are facts are actually beliefs. In order to change our behavior, we should ask ourselves, “Is this belief serving me or hurting me?” Beliefs change what we see. If you don’t believe something is possible, you won’t stay motivated to do it. Long-term motivation requires a behavior, a benefit, and belief. You must believe that you are capable of performing the behavior and that by doing so you will receive the benefit. The Three Powers of Belief Nir introduces three powers of belief. * Attention: Our beliefs change what we see. * Anticipation: Our beliefs change what we feel. * Agency: Our beliefs change what we do. Together, these powers of belief determine who we become. Preparing for the Pain Nir critiques “manifesting,” which focuses on outcomes. Research shows that envisioning outcomes makes people less likely to achieve those outcomes. A more effective practice is focusing on the process needed to achieve those outcomes. This is how athletes prepare for an event — they visualize what they are going to do and how they are going to react when something goes wrong. Nir recommends that in a business context, leaders should help their teams “prepare for the pain” rather than fixating on the ends. When we believe the pain can serve a purpose, it does not become suffering. Top performers feel the same pain as everyone else, but they believe it serves a purpose, and can therefore sustain motivation over the long term instead of quitting. Reframing Negative Beliefs Nir recommends a technique called the turnaround to help product leaders turn limiting beliefs into liberating beliefs. When you’re experience pain, such as being stuck in your career, instead of focusing on your suffering, ask yourself, “What is the benefit here?” Maybe you have more time to spend with family or extra time to look for another job during a time of rapid change. These reframed beliefs increase motivation and decrease suffering. Nir recommends collecting a portfolio of perspectives to ask yourself, “Could the opposite of what’s causing your suffering also be true?” Beliefs can be useful even if untrue. For example, Amazon uses the belief, “It’s always day one.” This isn’t true, but it is useful. Liberating beliefs don’t have to be true but they can be aspirational and are open to change based on the evidence. Useful Beliefs for Product Teams Nir describes how product leaders can help their teams adopt useful beliefs. Leaders should have beliefs that they are willing to sacrifice for, that the team will stake their reputation on no matter what. This beliefs should be specific and fitting to the organization. USEFUL LINKS * Check out Nir’s book, Beyond Belief: The Science-Backed Way to Stop Limiting Yourself and Achieve Breakthrough Results [https://geni.us/beyondbelief] * Get a free five-minute belief change guide [https://www.nirandfar.com/beyond-belief-live] * Get bonus content and the 30-Day Belief Transformation Journal [https://www.nirandfar.com/beyond-belief] * Visit Nir’s website [https://www.nirandfar.com/] * Connect with Nir on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nireyal/] INNOVATION QUOTE “Beliefs are tools, not truths.” – Nir Eyal APPLICATION QUESTIONS 1. What are some beliefs you hold about your role or your product that might be limiting your possibilities or team outcomes? 2. How does your team approach setbacks or failures—do your shared beliefs encourage learning, or do they focus on blame and avoidance? 3. In what ways could you introduce liberating beliefs within your organization, and how would you measure their impact on motivation and results? 4. How can you distinguish between facts, faith, and beliefs in your day-to-day product decisions? Where might you be treating beliefs as facts? 5. What team or company-wide beliefs (spoken or unspoken) have you noticed, and how do they help or hinder your team’s success and innovation? BIO Product Manager Interview - Nir Eyal [https://productmasterynow.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Nir-Eyal_400.jpeg] Nir Eyal is a globally recognized authority on behavior change and human potential. His frameworks have empowered millions to build better habits, enhance focus, and unlock greater agency in their lives and work. A former lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford, Nir has collaborated with leaders and organizations worldwide to boost performance through behavior design.  He is the New York Times bestselling author of the international bestsellers Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products  [https://geni.us/hooked-naf]and Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life [https://geni.us/indistractable-naf], which have sold over one million copies in more than 30 languages. Hooked was a finalist for the 2014 Goodreads Choice Awards. Indistractable won the 2019 Outstanding Works of Literature (OWL) Award and was named one of the Best Business & Leadership Books of the Year by Amazon, Audible, and The Globe and Mail. His third book, Beyond Belief: The Science-Backed Way to Stop Limiting Yourself and Achieve Breakthrough Results [https://geni.us/beyondbelief], became an instant New York Times best-seller and reveals how to identify and replace the hidden beliefs that define our limits.  As a seasoned entrepreneur and angel investor, Nir has backed multi-billion-dollar companies, including Canva, Kahoot!, and others. In addition to blogging at NirAndFar.com, his writing has been featured in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, and Psychology Today. For over 25 years, he has worked alongside his wife and business partner, Julie Li.  THANKS! Thank you for taking the journey to product mastery and learning with me from the successes and failures of product innovators, managers, and developers. If you enjoyed the discussion, help out a fellow product manager by sharing it using the social media buttons you see below. Source [https://productmasterynow.com/blog/599-replace-your-limiting-beliefs-with-liberating-beliefs-with-nir-eyal/]

598: Every product manager should care about innovation portfolio management – with Noel Sobelman

INNOVATION PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT CONNECTS STRATEGY AND EXECUTION WATCH ON YOUTUBE TLDR In this episode, I’m interviewing Noel Sobelman, author of Innovation Portfolio Management, about how organizations can bridge the gap between strategy and execution through effective innovation portfolio management. We discuss the structure, governance, and decision-making processes behind managing innovation portfolios, practical insights from real-world examples, and the growing impact of AI on portfolio management. INTRODUCTION Most leaders will tell you innovation is a top priority. But ask a more pointed question: is your portfolio actually funding the right bets? In many organizations, that will show how little of a priority innovation actually is. The money keeps flowing to safe, incremental projects while the bets that could grow the business are ignored.  My guest has spent 35 years closing that gap. Noel Sobelman is an innovation and product development lifer. He ran product lines at Motorola and Honeywell before spending 25 years helping companies systematically innovate, now as a partner at Accel Management Group. He’s the author of a new book, Innovation Portfolio Management: Linking Strategy to Execution. We’ll discuss how you actually build an innovation portfolio. Should your big innovation bets live separately from your existing products? And how AI is impacting portfolio management. SUMMARY OF CONCEPTS DISCUSSED FOR PRODUCT MANAGERS Every Product Manager Should Care about Portfolio Management: Noel explains that portfolio management affects product managers every day, even if they’re not directly in charge of the portfolio. Portfolio management determines which projects get resourced, and product managers need to be able to advocate for the products they believe should be prioritized to best meet customer needs. It is important for product managers to understand the selection mechanism used in portfolio management, so they can champion their ideas effectively and help the company make strategic trade-offs. Connective Tissue between Strategy and Execution: Noel breaks down how strategy set at a corporate level cascades through business units and product lines, emphasizing the need for clear decision-making structures. Practical tools and routines such as quarterly portfolio reviews allow organizations to regularly adjust their portfolio in response to market shifts, resource constraints, and emerging technologies. Real-World Example: Medical Device Company: Noel describes a medical device company whose top-down business goal to grow 10% year-over-year was not supported by the safe bets and incremental innovation that each business unit was doing. The company fixed this by agreeing on evaluation criteria to prioritize projects. They used quarterly decision-making forums to connect strategy and execution and decide on their portfolio. An analysis team made recommendations about product prioritization to the decision-making team. Using these improved processes, the company shifted resources toward breakthrough initiatives, increasing its opportunities for growth. Organizing and Managing the Portfolio: Businesses can organize their innovation into core, adjacent, and transformative categories. An organization should choose how to allocate these resources to these categories based on how aggressively they want to grow. Noel explains that organizations often need separate portfolios and governance structures for disruptive innovation versus core business. Accurate data is essential for making informed prioritization decisions. AI in Portfolio Management: AI’s rapid evolution demands even more agility from portfolio management. Noel notes that not only does AI create new business opportunities, but portfolio management tools are now incorporating AI to help forecast resources and optimize project decisions. USEFUL LINKS * Learn more about Accel Management Group [https://accelmg.com/] * Preorder Innovation Portfolio Management: Linking Strategy to Execution [https://www.amazon.com/Innovation-Portfolio-Management-Strategy-Execution/dp/B0GXNF3W96] (released September 22, 2026) * Connect with Noel on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/noelsobelman/] INNOVATION QUOTE “Fall in love with the problem, not the solution.” – Ash Maurya and others APPLICATION QUESTIONS 1. How well do you understand your organization’s selection criteria for deciding which projects to fund or terminate? 2. What role do you play in communicating customer needs or market changes that could impact portfolio priorities? 3. When was the last time your team revisited its roadmaps or priorities in response to new technologies like AI? 4. Have you experienced projects that linger without delivering value? What steps could help identify and address them? 5. If you could change one thing about your organization’s approach to portfolio management, what would it be and why? BIO Product Manager Interview - Noel Sobelman [https://productmasterynow.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Noel-Sobelman_400.jpg] Noel Sobelman works with corporate leaders to accelerate core business vitality while simultaneously building new sources of growth. For the past 30 years, he has worked in growth strategy, innovation capability building, portfolio management, organization design, ecosystem development, and digital enablement. He is widely recognized for bringing a practical, actionable approach to companies looking to ignite change.   THANKS! Thank you for taking the journey to product mastery and learning with me from the successes and failures of product innovators, managers, and developers. If you enjoyed the discussion, help out a fellow product manager by sharing it using the social media buttons you see below. Source [https://productmasterynow.com/blog/598-every-product-manager-should-care-about-innovation-portfolio-management-with-noel-sobelman/]

597: What makes a breakthrough product? – with Deirdre Walters

THE INNOVATION PLAYBOOK BEHIND GLOBAL FMCG GIANTS WATCH ON YOUTUBE TLDR In this episode, I’m interviewing Deirdre Walters, co-founder of Untapped Innovation and former Procter & Gamble R&D leader, on the importance of deep user understanding in product development. Deirdre Walters shares the origins and application of the Technical Product Story Framework, a story-driven approach to innovation that bridges the empathy gap between R&D and customer needs. Our conversation covers practical tools, real-world examples, and advice for fostering true consumer centricity to create breakthrough products. INTRODUCTION Many products fail.  Anyone who has spent time in product development knows it. The question is, why? This question drove my PhD research. Usually it’s not because the technology was bad. It’s not because the team wasn’t smart or wasn’t working hard enough. It’s because somewhere between the whiteboard and the launch, the product lost the plot and the user got forgotten. The team optimized for what they could build or wanted to build instead of what someone actually needed. My guest today has spent 30 years with this gap. Deirdre Walters spent 15 years at Procter & Gamble — across R&D, manufacturing, and marketing — and while she was there, she co-developed the Technical Product Story framework. Procter & Gamble and others still use it today. In 2012, she co-founded Untapped Innovation, an award-winning consultancy that works with some of the biggest names in consumer goods — Unilever, Kellogg’s, PepsiCo, Kimberly-Clark, and more — helping them build products that actually win in the market. Now, you might be thinking: I work in software, not shampoo or cereal. What does consumer goods have to do with me? The answer is more than you’d expect, regardless of the industry you are in.  SUMMARY OF CONCEPTS DISCUSSED FOR PRODUCT MANAGERS The Consumer is Boss: Deirdre began working as a scientist at P&G in manufacturing and then transitioned to product research where she focused on consumer understanding. Her job involved talking to customers in their homes. She points out that consumers can easily misrepresent things, like forgetting to mention a product they use, so it’s important to observe customers directly and dig deeper. At P&G, Deirdre was taught that “the consumer is boss.” Scientists and engineers should remain curious and be open to multiple possible solutions. The Technical Product Story Framework: Deirdre outlines the Technical Product Story Framework, which takes inspiration from Joseph Campbell’s elements of storytelling. It was originally developed at P&G and later refined for Untapped Innovation’s clients. It tells the product’s story in four chapters: 1. Consumer Needs 2. Root Cause of the Problem 3. Introduction of the Solution 4. Happily Ever After — how has the world changed as a result of the product? Research shows that stories are 20 times easier to remember and act upon than other types of information. The consumer is the hero of this story. This narrative framing can save up to 12-18 months on product development. Example of the Power of Storytelling in Product Development: Deirdre gives concrete examples of consumer research for Kimberly Clark’s toilet paper innovation. They asked consumers how they thought about cleaning in general and were able to develop better toilet paper by taking inspiration from consumers’ affinity for microfiber cleaning cloths. Common Innovation Pitfalls and Solutions: Deirdre describes mistakes companies frequently make, such as being too brand-led rather than user-led. Instead, companies should listen to the voice of the customer and make sure the consumers’ needs match the brand. Tools for Innovation from Untapping Innovation: Deirdre’s new book, Untapping Innovation, contains a toolkit for effective innovation. One is the Ideal Product Model, which helps you make a blueprint for building a product. The blueprint starts with consumer jobs to be done, including functional and emotional jobs. Next is the sensory experience, which uses adjectives to describe attributes like how the product looks, smells, tastes, or sounds. The next layer is technical mechanisms, including the ingredients or packaging necessary to deliver on the sensory experience and do the jobs. Next are measures that prove the product is delivering on the experience. Every mechanism must trace back to an attribute and a job to be done. If it can’t it should be stripped out. Another tool is the minimum viable product, to build a prototype of must-haves and then add delightful differentiators. The technical mode of action is a tool to do root cause analysis to understand why current alternatives are deficient. It then builds a case for a new mode of action and tells a story of how a new product can uniquely address user needs. USEFUL LINKS * Learn more about Untapped Innovation [https://www.untappedinnovation.com/] * Check out Untapping Innovation [https://www.amazon.com/Untapping-Innovation-playbook-products-stories/dp/1788609514] * Connect with Deirdre [https://www.linkedin.com/in/deirdre-walters-untapped/] and the other authors, Sally Kemkers [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sally-kemkers-untapped/] and Suzanne Allers [https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-allers-untapped/], on LinkedIn * Check out Untapped Innovation [https://www.linkedin.com/company/untapped-innovation/] on LinkedIn INNOVATION QUOTE “You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” – James Clear APPLICATION QUESTIONS 1. When was the last time your team spent time observing users in their environment, and what unexpected insights did you gain? 2. How does your organization balance technical possibilities with actual user needs during the product development process? 3. In your current product narratives, who is the “hero”, your customer or your solution? How could reframing the story benefit your outcomes? 4. What systems or frameworks do you use to ensure real user pain points are clearly defined before ideation begins? 5. Reflecting on your team’s approach to innovation, what’s one step you could take this month to shift toward deeper consumer centricity? BIO Product Manager Interview - Deirdre Walters [https://productmasterynow.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Deirdre-Walters_400.jpg] Deirdre Walters is a Founding Partner at Untapped Innovation, an award-winning consultancy focused on helping global R&D and innovation teams translate human insights and emerging technology into successful products. With over 15 years of cross-functional experience at Procter & Gamble across R&D, Manufacturing, and Marketing, she co-developed the ‘Technical Product Story’ framework, a user-centric innovation methodology still used by P&G globally today. Since co-founding Untapped Innovation in 2012, Deirdre has guided Fortune 500 companies and SMEs in consumer healthcare, beauty, and food & beverage to develop breakthrough products, craft compelling narratives, and accelerate market entry. Beyond her consultancy, she launched the Innovation Gym to train R&D teams and co-founded STEM Untapped CIC, a non-profit dedicated to increasing STEM career access for underrepresented teens. Deirdre is also an active angel investor championing female-led ventures and inclusive innovation. Her work has been featured in The Independent, Business Insider, and The Grocer, and she is a recognized speaker and author.  THANKS! Thank you for taking the journey to product mastery and learning with me from the successes and failures of product innovators, managers, and developers. If you enjoyed the discussion, help out a fellow product manager by sharing it using the social media buttons you see below. Source [https://productmasterynow.com/blog/597-what-makes-a-breakthrough-product-with-deirdre-walters/]