Reinventing the Product Book Summary - Reinventing the Product Book explained in key points
Listen to the Intro
00:00

Reinventing the Product summary

Eric Schaeffer David Sovie

How to Transform your Business and Create Value in the Digital Age

4.2 (182 ratings)
18 mins

Brief summary

Reinventing the Product by Eric Schaeffer and David Sovie is a guide for businesses to transform their products in the digital era. It provides insight into how to create product innovation that meets customer needs and leverages new technologies without sacrificing quality.

Table of Contents

    Reinventing the Product
    Summary of 6 key ideas

    Audio & text in the Blinkist app
    Key idea 1 of 6

    Any business eager to grow in today’s marketplace must heed certain digital imperatives.

    Let’s say you want to hang up a piece of art in your living room. You could buy a drill and all the materials to do it yourself. If you’re handy, that might be the way to go. But it could also be time consuming and expensive. A better alternative might be to hire a company that already has all the materials and promises to hang your new painting quickly and perfectly. These types of companies represent the future. Rather than selling products, they sell outcomes.

    This move from selling products, like hammer and nails, to selling services and outcomes, hasn’t been easy for many legacy businesses used to doing things as they’ve always been done. These businesses need to consider certain digital imperatives if they’re to experience growth and prosperity in the years ahead.

    The first of these imperatives is the need to transform the core of your company to match the digital era. From engineering and production, all the way to sales and support functions, your company’s many facets need to be digitally connected with each other – and with customer feedback – every step of the way.

    This includes having a digital-ready workforce that’s ready, willing, and able to be fast and flexible. Today, prototypes can be quickly tested with software designed to identify problems before they happen. Getting a product from idea to the marketplace is quicker than ever before. And once a product is in customers’ hands, it’s not uncommon for software updates to start going out the very next day. Your workforce needs to be able to work in harmony with this kind of constantly-evolving ecosystem.

    In the same vein, your company needs to be aligned with the outcome economy, and move away from being product- and point-of-sale-minded. Your entire business model should be focused on creating experiences and nurturing long-term customer relationships, rather than looking at the point of sale as the end goal.

    This also means making sure your company is managed with the understanding that multiple pivots may be required to stay afloat. If changes need to be made, your company needs to be built in a way to make them quickly and smoothly.

    Want to see all full key ideas from Reinventing the Product?

    Key ideas in Reinventing the Product

    More knowledge in less time
    Read or listen
    Read or listen
    Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
    Find your next read
    Find your next read
    Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
    Shortcasts
    Shortcasts New
    We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.

    What is Reinventing the Product about?

    Reinventing the Product (2019) takes an in-depth look at what it takes to compete in today’s increasingly digitized marketplace, outlining all the steps a company needs to take to pull itself out of the past and into a future where the marketplace is ruled by smart, digitally connected products.

    Reinventing the Product Review

    Reinventing the Product (2020) presents a comprehensive guide for transforming products in today's ever-changing market. Here are three reasons why this book is worth reading:

    • With its practical strategies and frameworks, it empowers readers to take their products to the next level, ensuring relevancy and success.
    • The book combines real-life case studies and expert insights, providing a deep understanding of how to innovate and disrupt in the industry.
    • By exploring emerging trends and technology advancements, it offers a fresh perspective on product development, making it anything but boring.

    Who should read Reinventing the Product?

    • CEOs, CIOs, and entrepreneurs
    • Business managers who want to stay on the cutting edge
    • People curious about the future of business

    About the Author

    Eric Shaeffer has spent 30 years with Accenture, a company that helps industrial organizations grow through digital innovation. He currently works as a Senior Managing Director and uses his background in engineering to help clients around the world transform their businesses by embracing digitally connected innovation. He is also the author of Industry X.0 (2017).

    David Sovie is also a Senior Managing Director at Accenture, where he specializes in helping businesses shape and execute their plans for technology-based reinvention. With a background in electrical engineering and an MBA from Harvard Business School, Sovie assists and supports businesses worldwide in their efforts to embrace new digital technologies.

     

    © Eric Schaeffer & David Sovie, 2019. This Summary of Reinventing the Product is published by arrangement with Kogan Page.

    Categories with Reinventing the Product

    Book summaries like Reinventing the Product

    People ❤️ Blinkist 
    Sven O.

    It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.

    Thi Viet Quynh N.

    Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.

    Jonathan A.

    Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.

    Renee D.

    Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.

    People also liked these summaries

    4.8 Stars
    Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
    35 Million
    Downloads on all platforms
    10+ years
    Experience igniting personal growth
    Powerful ideas from top nonfiction

    Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.

    Get started

    Reinventing the Product FAQs 

    What is the main message of Reinventing the Product?

    The main message of Reinventing the Product is how to create successful and innovative products in a rapidly changing market.

    How long does it take to read Reinventing the Product?

    The reading time for Reinventing the Product varies depending on the reader's speed, but it typically takes several hours. However, the Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.

    Is Reinventing the Product a good book? Is it worth reading?

    Reinventing the Product is a valuable read for anyone involved in product development. It offers valuable insights and strategies to stay ahead in today's competitive market.

    Who is the author of Reinventing the Product?

    The authors of Reinventing the Product are Eric Schaeffer and David Sovie.

    What to read after Reinventing the Product?

    If you're wondering what to read next after Reinventing the Product, here are some recommendations we suggest:
    • Radical Product Thinking by R. Dutt
    • Start at the End by Matt Wallaert
    • Value Proposition Design by Alexander Osterwalder
    • The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling
    • The Agile Leader by Simon Hayward
    • How to Lead When You're Not in Charge by Clay Scroggins
    • Measure What Matters by John Doerr
    • The 80/20 CEO by Bill Canady
    • Change by Design by Tim Brown
    • Phaedo by Plato