Coming Up with the Best New Product! Give Your Team the Problem to Solve, Not the Answer

Michael Timmons

Aug 17

7 min read

One of the biggest mistakes I see companies make in new product development is deciding what the product should be before the product team and engineering ever get involved.

Leadership comes into the room with an idea, engineering is told what to build, sales is brought in when it's almost finished, and marketing gets involved a few weeks before launch.

Then everyone wonders why the product doesn't generate the excitement they expected.

I believe there's a better way.

Give your team the problem you want to solve, establish the parameters, bring the right departments into the room, and then let talented people use their imagination.

Your job as a leader isn't always to come up with the winning product.

Sometimes your job is to create the environment where your team can.

Start With a Problem Worth Solving

Great products should have a reason to exist.

Before anyone starts designing, engineering, sourcing, or calculating costs, ask a very basic question: What problem are we trying to solve?

That problem doesn't always have to be something that's broken. Sometimes the opportunity is simply improving the consumer experience.

Can we make it look better?

Can we improve how the consumer interacts with it?

Can we combine multiple functions into one product?

Can we solve an annoyance consumers have simply accepted because nobody has offered them a better solution?

This is especially important in mature industries.

There may already be 20 versions of a product on the market. The opportunity isn't necessarily creating number 21.

The opportunity is figuring out why number 21 deserves to exist.

That's where product development should begin.

Don't Give Engineers the Answer

Once you've identified the problem, resist the temptation to tell the engineering team exactly how to solve it.

This is where imagination needs room.

Bring the engineers together and explain the challenge.

Tell them what consumers are saying.

Show them warranty information.

Share customer service complaints.

Show them competitor products.

Bring in installation feedback.

Give them sales data.

Then ask: “How would you solve this?”

You may be surprised by the answers.

One engineer may approach the problem from manufacturing.

Another may focus on materials.

Someone else may think about installation.

Another engineer may see an opportunity to eliminate three components completely.

That's the power of putting talented people in a room and allowing them to challenge one another.

If leadership walks into the meeting with a finished drawing and says, “Build this,” you've eliminated most of that creativity before development even begins.

Set Parameters, Not Restrictions

Giving a product team creative freedom doesn't mean giving them unlimited freedom.

Every product has to operate within business realities.

That's where parameters come in.

Before serious development begins, the team should understand the basic guardrails.

Those might include:

Target retail price
Target manufacturing or landed cost
Required margin
Target consumer
Performance requirements
Weight or size limitations
Material considerations
Manufacturing capabilities
Regulatory and safety requirements
Installation-time goals
Packaging and shipping requirements
Warranty expectations
Desired launch date

But here's the important part: Discuss those parameters—don't simply hand them down.

Let engineering challenge them.

Let sales talk about what customers will actually pay.

And let marketing explain which features have value from the consumer's perspective.

Now you've created a business discussion around the product instead of simply creating another engineering project.

Sales and Marketing Belong in the Room

I've always believed sales and marketing should be involved much earlier in the product development process.

Why?

Because they're closest to the people who eventually have to care about the product.

Salespeople talk to distributors, retailers, dealers, installers, commercial customers, and consumers every day.

They're constantly hearing things like:

“I wish you guys made…”

“Why doesn't this product…”

“If you could change one thing…”

“Your competitor has this feature…”

“Customers keep asking us for…”

That information is incredibly valuable.

Marketing brings another perspective.

They understand what consumers are searching for, what content generates engagement, what features people respond to, which competitive products are getting attention, and how the market is changing.

Engineering knows how to make it work. Sales knows whether customers will buy it. Marketing knows how to make customers care about it.

You need all three perspectives.

Give Sales and Marketing Ownership

There's another reason I like involving sales and marketing early.

It gives them ownership.

There's a huge difference between telling a salesperson: “Here's the new product we're launching next month. Go sell it.”

And having that salesperson participate in product discussions six months earlier.

Now they've watched it develop.

They understand why decisions were made.

They've seen prototypes.

They know what problem it solves.

They understand why it's different.

Most importantly, they feel like they had a voice.

The same applies to marketing.

Instead of receiving a finished product and being told to create a campaign, marketing has been watching the story develop from the beginning.

That makes launching the product much easier.

Because marketing isn't trying to invent the story after the product is finished.

They already know the story.

Start Marketing Before the Product Launches

This is where product development has changed dramatically.

Years ago, companies could keep a product secret until launch day, put out a press release, place a few advertisements, show it at a trade show, and wait for the market to respond.

Today's consumer behaves differently.

Information is currency.

Consumers want to know what's coming.

They want behind-the-scenes content.

They want prototypes.

They want testing.

They want development stories.

They want to see problems being solved.

They want to feel like they're discovering something before everyone else.

That's an enormous marketing opportunity.

If sales and marketing get involved early, they can start building interest long before inventory arrives.

That doesn't mean publishing confidential engineering drawings or promising a product that isn't ready.

It means strategically telling the story.

Maybe you show a heavily cropped prototype.

Maybe you post a video of testing without showing the complete product.

Maybe you ask consumers: “What's the biggest problem you have with ______?”

Now you're gathering market research and creating engagement at the same time.

A few weeks later, maybe you say: “We’ve been listening.”

Then show another piece.

Now people are watching.

They’re commenting.

They’re guessing.

They’re sharing.

They’re asking when it’s coming.

You’re building demand before you’re asking for the sale.

Let Your Customers Participate

One of the most powerful things about today's digital environment is that consumers can indirectly participate in product development.

Use that.

If you're considering two features, ask your audience which matters more.

If you're trying to solve an installation problem, ask installers what frustrates them.

If you're developing an automotive accessory, talk to vehicle owners.

Read forums.

Watch social media comments.

Study reviews of competitive products.

Talk to your customer service team.

Look at warranty claims.

Talk to your best dealers.

Your customers will tell you what they want.

More importantly, they'll tell you what they hate.

Sometimes the opportunity for your next great product is sitting in the one-star reviews of the product everyone is currently buying.

Don't Be Afraid to Show Development

Some companies are terrified of showing anything until it's completely finished.

There are obviously times when confidentiality is necessary. You have intellectual property, competitive concerns, patents, supplier agreements, and other considerations.

But don't confuse protecting intellectual property with being invisible.

You can show the journey without giving away the blueprint.

Show your engineers testing.

Show materials being evaluated.

Show a failed prototype.

Show the manufacturing process.

Show your team debating ideas.

Show the product covered with camouflage.

Show customers testing early samples.

Tell people: “We're working on something.”

That statement can be incredibly powerful when you've built an audience that trusts your brand.

You're no longer just launching products.

You're creating anticipation.

Prototype, Test, Fail, and Improve

Product teams need permission to fail during development.

That's part of innovation.

The first prototype probably shouldn't be perfect.

If it is, I'd almost question whether the team pushed the idea far enough.

Build it.

Test it.

Break it.

Install it.

Take it apart.

Give it to someone who wasn't involved in developing it.

Watch them use it.

Ask sales what they think.

Ask marketing what they see.

Ask manufacturing how difficult it will be to produce.

Ask customer service what problems they anticipate.

Then go back and improve it.

Development should be a cycle:

Problem → Idea → Prototype → Test → Feedback → Improve → Repeat

The goal isn't to protect the original idea.

The goal is to create the best product possible.

Leadership Should Guide, Not Design

This may be the hardest part for experienced leaders.

We have experience.

We've seen products succeed.

We've seen products fail.

We think we know what customers want.

And sometimes we're right.

But experience can also cause us to unknowingly control the conversation.

If the highest-ranking person in the room says: “I think it should look like this.”

Guess what?

Suddenly, everyone thinks it should look like that.

That's why I believe leaders should spend more time asking questions during product development.

Why?

What problem does that solve?

Can we simplify it?

Can we manufacture it?

Will someone pay for it?

Can we make installation easier?

What's different about it?

Can we make it better?

What would our competitor do?

What would the customer change?

Ask questions that make your team think instead of giving answers that make them stop thinking.

The Best Product May Not Be the One You Imagined

This is ultimately what great product leadership is about.

You may begin the process thinking you know exactly what the product should be.

Six months later, the team may present something completely different.

Good.

If they stayed within the business parameters, solved the customer's problem, created something manufacturable, hit the financial targets, and developed something consumers actually want, then the process worked.

Your engineers contributed.

Your product team contributed.

Sales contributed.

Marketing contributed.

Manufacturing contributed.

Your customers may have contributed.

And because everyone participated, everyone has some ownership in the product's success.

Sales can't wait to sell it.

Marketing can't wait to promote it.

Engineering is proud of it.

And hopefully, consumers are already waiting for it.

Give Them the Problem and Let Them Create