Valuable Sources

Growth-oriented product managers don’t presume to come up with great ideas all on their own. But they must be experts at picking and prioritizing the best ideas from a talented team.

Good ideas can come from nearly anywhere. User testing, product surveys, competitive analysis, and market research might be conducted by your sales or marketing teams, and they should also help guide your product development. The most consistent sources of great ideas are the people around you—just be sure to embrace the “Person Idea Decoupling”, and treat each new idea that comes your way with a healthy dose of skepticism, not the source of the concept.

The more sources of ideas you surround yourself with, the better you’ll be able to triangulate multiple ideas and arrive at stronger ones.

Ask yourself: Am I gathering ideas from a diverse enough range of sources? When someone comes up with a particularly good idea, do I feel excited or threatened? Why?