Do you you think your products are innovative?

There is a strong correlation between innovation and the enthusiasm that drives successful product managers. Product managers who perceive their products to be innovative simply produce better results. They are more tenacious, more patient, more passionate, more skillful at acquiring and focusing precious organizational resources, and more of a whole host of other things that create successful products.

A few months ago I changed my voice mail greeting in an effort to find out if people think that their product is innovative (see below for the greeting and the number). The (admittedly non-scientific) results have been interesting -- and a little sad. Turns out not too many product managers who leave me messages think that their products are innovative. They leave me messages about lots of various innovative products, ranging from iPhones to electric wine openers. But too few leave me messages about their own products.

One way to ignite passion for your products is to adopt agile practices. The combination of customer collaboration, shorter feedback cycles, and commitment to the future (through good roadmaps) enables you to add some innovation back to your product. And adding innovation, in turn, creates not only a virtuous cycle of improvements, but an infectious cycle of growth.