548: Building a culture of fearless product innovation at Snap-On Tools – with Ben Brenton, PhD

How Snap-On puts customers at the center of product management Watch on YouTube TLDR In this episode, Ben Brenton, Chief Innovation Officer at Snap-on, joins me to share practical strategies for fostering a sustainable, fearless culture of innovation. Ben reveals how Snap-on transformed a traditional manufacturing mindset into one deeply centered on real customer insight. He details actionable systems that drive continual breakthrough products—not through motivational rhetoric, but through persistent field engagement, cross-functional collaboration, and relentless focus on customer needs. Whether you work in tools, software, or services, this conversation is packed with lessons on making innovation succeed in any industry. Introduction We have all been in a meeting where someone says “we need to be more innovative” but nobody can explain how to actually make that happen. These are organizations where innovation gets relegated to a buzzword in a value statement instead of becoming the driving force behind breakthrough products. This discussion will change that, providing practical insights into how to build and sustain a culture of innovation – not through motivational speeches or innovation theater, but through practical systems, processes, and frameworks that actually work.  My guest is Ben Brenton, Chief Innovation Officer at Snap-on, who for the last 18 years has built what he calls a “culture of fearless innovation” at a company known for making the tools that fix the world. Ben took a traditional manufacturing company and transformed how they approach product development by putting customer insights at the center of everything and creating systems that encourage calculated risk-taking. He’s done this across industries – from consumer goods at Kraft and PepsiCo to industrial tools at Snap-on – supporting that these principles work regardless of your market. You’ll hear practical guidance that separates companies that consistently deliver breakthrough products from those that just hope innovation will somehow happen.  Summary of Concepts Discussed for Product Managers * Customer-Centric Innovation:Ben attributes Snap-on’s innovation success to putting the end user at the center of everything. Product managers, engineers, and even software developers regularly get out into the field to truly understand customer needs and pain points. * Field Research Over Innovation Theater:The company invests in real-world ethnographic research—visiting customers in their environments rather than relying on surveys or remote interviews, which can result in curated or less honest feedback. * Prototyping and Iteration with Customers:Snap-on involves customers throughout the development process, from early concepts to full prototypes, ensuring the team doesn’t drift from the original customer needs as ideas become reality. * Cross-Functional Collaboration:Great innovation requires breaking down silos. Ben encourages engineers, marketers, product managers, and even finance and legal to participate in customer visits and debriefs, supporting a diversity of insights and buy-in. * Customer Interviews:At Snap-on, product managers, engineers, and employees from all functions interview customers in the field, practicing active listening to catch deep insights. They then must bring those insights together into a business recommendation. * Scaling the Culture:Ben discusses the importance of top-level support and slow organizational growth—hiring based on need and early wins,