How product managers can make their own futures Watch on YouTube

TLDR

In this episode of Product Mastery Now, we’re joined by Robin Champ, VP of Strategic Foresight at LBL Strategies and Harvard Extension School instructor. Robin shares practical approaches for product managers and leaders to anticipate, rather than merely react to, disruptions in the market and competitive landscape. Through the Strategic Foresight Framework, scenario planning, and trend scanning, Robin explains how to create agile strategies that help organizations deliver value in uncertain futures.

Introduction

Any product manager with some experience knows the frustration of being blindsided—competitor launches that catch you off-guard, market shifts that kill your roadmap, or customer behaviors that seemingly emerge overnight. Many product teams are in a cycle of reacting to change and putting out fires. Instead, what if you could anticipate change? By the end of this episode, you’ll have the strategic foresight framework that is taught at Harvard and applied in organizations.

Our guest is Robin Champ, Vice President of Strategic Foresight at LBL Strategies and Harvard Extension School instructor. Robin spent 33 years applying foresight in the highest-stakes environments—the U.S. Secret Service and Department of Defense. She trains executives on the strategic planning methodologies that equips them to stay ahead of competitive threats and create opportunities.

Also, Robin is speaking on Tuesday, September 16th, 2025, at my favorite product innovation conference, the Product Development and Management Association’s Ignite Innovation Conference. Learn more about the conference at www.PDMAsummit.com.

Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers What is Strategic Foresight?

• Foresight vs. Forecasting: Foresight embraces uncertainty and explores multiple possible futures rather than making a single prediction.
• Scenario Planning: Organizations develop strategies by considering different directions the future could take, enabling agility and preparedness for disruption.

Why Product Managers Need Foresight

• Competitive Advantage: With foresight, product managers are better equipped to stay ahead of market changes, competitor launches, and evolving customer behavior.
• Case Example: Robin describes applying scenario planning with a senior living community to anticipate shifting senior preferences and invent innovative solutions.

Foresight Methodologies

• Environmental Scanning: Deliberately monitoring signals and trends in the market and society via tools like LinkedIn, futurist publications, and AI-powered analytics.
• Futures Wheel: Mapping out potential first-, second-, and third-order impacts of proposed changes or emerging trends.
• Bringing in Creativity: Leveraging both human creativity (e.g., involving science fiction writers) and AI tools to generate diverse and imaginative future scenarios.

Practical Application

• Use scenario planning and futures wheels to consider the implications of market shifts, like changing education delivery models with AI and shorter attention spans.
• Scanning can be both manual and AI-assisted; following futurists can keep PMs ahead of upcoming trends.
• Strategic foresight enhances not just resilience, but also innovation and relevance.

Useful Links

• Connect with Robin on LinkedIn
• Check out the Harvard course Robin teaches, Mastering Foresight: Scenario-Based Planning
• Register for the PDMA Ignite Innovation Conference and use code PDMAChad20 for 20% off your registration for the All-Access Pass or the Summit Pass
• Learn more about LBL Strategies 

Innovation Quote

“Organizations have to make their futures or risk being overtaken by the future.” – Clark Murdock, Future Making

Application Questions How could scenario planning or the futures wheel help your product team be more agile in the face of uncertainty? In what ways are you currently scanning for trends or signals in your market? What could you do to improve this process? Where could your organization benefit from shifting from forecasting to strategic foresight in its strategy or product planning? What are the most disruptive “unknowns” facing your product category—how well prepared are you? How might you use AI or creative exercises (like science fiction narratives) to inspire future-focused thinking within your product team? Bio

Robin L. Champ is Vice President of Strategic Foresight at LBL Strategies;  a Certified Strategy Management Professional (SMP);  and an instructor at Harvard Extension School. She helps organizations anticipate change, navigate uncertainty, and design strategies that drive real impact. With a background that includes leading foresight and strategy efforts at the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Defense, Robin brings a practical, future-focused approach grounded in decades of experience. Today, she works with leaders across sectors to turn insight into action. 

Thanks!

Thank you for taking the journey to product mastery and learning with me from the successes and failures of product innovators, managers, and developers. If you enjoyed the discussion, help out a fellow product manager by sharing it using the social media buttons you see below.

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