What really drives innovation in professional product teams?

When product managers and designers work together with trust, clear goals and shared motivation, they are more creative and produce more innovative products

In the land of product and service innovation management, where creativity fuels transformative breakthroughs and methodologies steer ideas from concept to market, collaboration isn’t just helpful; it’s essential. Ideas generation and screening require the design and development team’s members to have solid insight and expertise, which can be applied in the design thinking process.  

But despite the race for the next big thing, breakthroughs are rare, and the formula for success remains elusive. Traditional management theory suggests that tighter control over creative professionals leads to better results. However, research led by Dr Ardalan Sameti from the School of Management and Governance at UNSW Business School and several co-authors suggests that the opposite may be true. Published in Technovation, the study provides empirical evidence that trust, intrinsic motivation, and structured collaboration between seasoned product managers and designers in professional product development settings lead to innovative outcomes without compromising strategic objectives. 

Innovation’s ‘people problem’

Innovation is the dream, the golden ticket. But ambition alone isn’t enough. What does real innovation require? In their paper, How is a product manager-designer relationship in a professional setting stimulated to generate a creative outcome?, the authors challenge decades of management and creativity theory and offer new guidance for companies struggling to boost innovation outcomes.

“We began this research after observing a disconnect between management theory and innovation practice. Traditional theories suggest managers need to control and monitor designers to ensure good outcomes. Yet in today's most innovative companies, we saw something different happening – experienced managers and designers working as professional equals, creating breakthrough products together,” explains Dr Sameti. 

The research explored how professional relationships between product/service managers and designers influence the success of innovation projects. Rather than focusing on traditional hierarchical structures or controlling managerial oversight, the team investigated what happens when both parties are seasoned professionals working in tandem.

“With innovation success rates remaining stubbornly low across industries, we realised the traditional understanding of these relationships was missing something important. The conflict between management control and creative freedom seemed to dissolve when both parties were seasoned professionals. We wanted to understand how and why this happens.” 

A new perspective on creativity 

To understand this overlooked professional dynamic, the researchers surveyed 800 professionals – 400 product designers and 400 product managers from 43 countries. Participants were predominantly from the US, the UK, the European Union, and China. All respondents had substantial experience in consumer product development, with a minimum of five major projects in the past three years and at least one with a globally recognised innovation leader. 

“The typical participant had over a decade of experience, ensuring our insights came from people who truly understand what it takes to create successful innovative products. This approach gave us access to insights from a large number of real-world innovation projects,” explains Dr Sameti.

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Participants were asked to reflect on three of their most creative and commercially successful projects. The researchers then examined key factors like co-design with users, clarity of the design brief, trust, risk-taking, and intrinsic motivation, and how these influenced the creative outcomes of the projects, measured in terms of appropriateness (usefulness) and uniqueness (originality). 

The findings were surprising. “Our most significant finding challenges decades of creativity theory: in professional settings, appropriateness and uniqueness do not necessarily compete. This suggests that when both parties are experts, they can pursue products that are both highly functional and radically innovative,” explains Dr Sameti. 

Another unexpected insight was the difference in perspective between designers and managers. “Managers believe that involving users in co-design makes products more unique, while designers think it constrains uniqueness,” he notes. “This suggests these professionals view the same activity through very different lenses based on their roles and expertise.” 

Trust emerged as a critical factor in enabling creativity. “When designers perceive their managers trust them, they create products that excel in both usefulness and innovation,” says Dr Sameti. “This suggests trust doesn't simply free designers to be creative – it helps them channel creativity more effectively.” 

However, the effects of motivation proved complex. “Highly motivated designers actually become more conservative when they perceive their managers are taking significant risks, possibly because they don't want to disappoint managers who are visibly supporting innovation.” 

Practical lessons for leaders 

So what does all this mean for organisations seeking a better return on their innovation investments? “Organisations need to fundamentally reconsider how they structure professional creative relationships,” says Dr Sameti. “When both managers and designers are experienced professionals, the traditional tension between control and creativity largely disappears.” 

That means companies can – and should – aim for both appropriateness and uniqueness, rather than treating them as a trade-off. “Our research shows this isn't a compromise but an achievable goal,” he adds. 

In terms of process, clear and strategic design briefs were shown to increase a product’s appropriateness without stifling creativity – but only when both parties were professional. “However, organisations should recognise that managers and designers may interpret collaborative activities like co-design very differently,” Dr Sameti warns. “This requires careful facilitation to ensure both perspectives add value.” 

Perhaps the most important takeaway for business leaders is around motivation and trust. “While managers should demonstrate trust through appropriate risk-taking, organisations need to recognise that with highly motivated professionals, excessive risk-taking can paradoxically lead to more conservative outcomes,” he explains. “The key is finding the right balance for each team's dynamics.”

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Finally, motivation isn’t simply about boosting morale. “Different motivation levels interact with other factors in complex ways,” says Dr Sameti. “Organisations should focus on understanding and managing these interactions rather than simply trying to boost motivation across the board.” 

As companies grapple with the challenge of creating consistent innovation, this study offers a roadmap: trust your professionals, balance risk, and reframe how collaboration happens. “The professional status of both parties fundamentally transforms the innovation dynamic – successful organisations will be those that embrace this reality rather than defaulting to traditional hierarchical approaches.”