Leadership

Innovation in the Product Life Cycle

Posted on 04.08.21

I recently ran across notes I had taken while reading a book that summarized management skills. I no longer remember the title or author’s name, but the book was an overview of all the subjects covered in an MBA program 20 years ago. Of course, MBA programs have changed a lot in this time frame, yet a lot of the basic tools we use for decisions have not changed.

For instance, managers need to understand finance and accounting. Managers need to know how to create a strategic plan. And managers need to understand operations, distribution, and supply chain. Managers also need to understand the product development process, including aspects of technology and marketing.

The Product Life Cycle

The product life cycle (PLC) is not a new concept, yet it supports the work of a product manager today still. Just like every living thing has a life cycle – birth, growth, maturity, and death – so do products. The PLC covers the introduction of a new product to a market, growth of the product in both market share and market penetration, maturity to a commodity-like product, and decline.

Introduction

In the introductory stage of the PLC a product is first released for sale. Sometimes new products are new-to-the-world and sometimes they are only new-to-the-company. The decision to develop a new product, though, starts long before it is introduced to the market

Product managers are constantly on the lookout for new product ideas. They gather concept ideas from existing customers. Innovation managers also continually scan the horizon for new product opportunities. A new product might consist of a new technology applied to an existing market or a new market altogether.

I found a new product the other day – most likely an application of existing technology to a new market. My cats love gravy. They will drink the gravy out of the bowl and leave the particles of food behind. They really love a treat, called “Gravy-licious”. It is a crunchy treat with a “gravy” coating. At the store the other day , I found a 3-pound bag of regular food made entirely of gravy-coated particles. I knew it would be a hit – the bowl was empty in no time!

While gravy-covered treats and gravy-covered food are not radically different from my point of view (or apparently the cats’ view either), these are different products. Consider the scale of manufacturing for a treat versus that of a large volume food product. Also consider packaging, distribution, and promotion. Each element must be adequately addressed to introduce a new product to consumers.

Growth

During the growth stage, a new product is adopted by a majority of consumers in a market. Remember that adoption by a passionate few can then drive mainline purchases by your target market. In fact, product innovation leaders will gain insights to the quality, pricing, and feature sets of new products from the introduction and early growth stages.

Growth is characterized by extended promotion of the product. For a new-to-the-world product, profits begin to accumulate. Manufacturing is streamlined as are supply chain and distribution.

Maturity

As the product continues to grow in market penetration, competitors enter the market. The term market penetration means that existing customers are buying more of the product and as many customers that want the product can buy it. Market saturation occurs when every customer who wants a product can – and does – purchase it.

This maturation of a market means that the product is becoming commoditized. There is often little differentiation among competitors and profit margins decline due to pricing pressures. A lot of companies take the strategy of lowest cost during the maturity stage which, unfortunately, sinks the whole market.

Decline

Fighting for the lowest cost leads to overall decline of the product – or death in the product life cycle. Manufacturers do not want to make a product that has no profit margin as there is greater utility for equipment to make another product. In some cases, it is more cost effective to sell a factory rather than continue to produce goods that generate financial losses.

Yet, a lot of product managers fail to recognize the signs of decline. Heroic efforts will not save a dying product. Instead, innovation leaders must take a long, hard look at customers markets, technologies, brands, competitors, and products to generate a strategic plan. Do you sunset the product or reinvest to launch a next a next generation new product? Not an easy decision.

Innovating in the PLC

One word that repeats itself when describing the product life cycle is competition. Even with a new-to-the-world product, we do not operate in a vacuum. Competition is working on new technologies and new promotions in our target markets. We must be ready – at every stage of the PLC – to address competitive threats.

Do you know your competition? Do you have a formal strategy to address new product competition? Are your profit margins strong against all product competition?

If you answered “NO” to just one of these questions, it’s time for a tune-up in your PLC! Join the self-paced Competitive Analysis course here. You will earn 2 PDH and save 20% with discount code “Intro” through 15 April 2021.

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Four Stages of Competition

Posted on 03.25.21

According to Dictionary.com, the origin of the word “competition” is Latin, around 1600 AD. One definition is “a contest for some prize, honor, or advantage”. Another definition is “the act of competing; rivalry for supremacy”. In business, we often think of our competition as other organizations that compete with similar products in a marketplace.

It seems that the formal definitions of competition are stronger, harsher than what we experience in our day-to-day business lives. There is only one prize in sports, for example. Many teams compete each year, but only one is the “national champion”. Many individuals compete in the Olympics, but only one can win the gold medal. In business, only a single product or brand can be number one in a given category. And winning means the highest profit.

Competition and the Product Life Cycle

In sports, the “best” teams usually are sorted out early in the season. Unfortunately, players suffer injuries that can decrease the skill level and balance of a team. When Klay Thompson suffered back-to-back injuries, the chances dwindled for the Golden State Warriors to win an NBA championship this year. That injury on top of losing Kevin Durant to another team, reduced the skill and balance of the team from a position of “winner” to “needing to recruit”. While Golden State has been a perennial competitor in the NBA, their losses created space for stronger competition in the league by Utah and the LA Clippers, for instance. (Read more about Who is Your Competition here.)

In business, early market entrants might be the strongest competitors. Yet, over time, different companies produce and market products that offer competitive advantages. Just like NBA teams have an initial ranking that morphs and adjusts throughout the season, new products also have different competitors throughout the product life cycle (PLC).

The Product Life Cycle (PLC)

Most products go through a similar life cycle, though the speed of the life cycle varies. New-to-the-world products are launched into the introductory phase of the PLC. Often there is little direct competition at this stage. The new product is designed to meet a unique market need and the target customer might represent a small market.

As more customers adopt the product and via intensive product promotion, the market share grows. This is, of course, called the growth stage of the PLC. Companies focus on building brand awareness and increasing distribution during this phase. However, as more firms view the success of the product in meeting customer needs, competition also grows.

As a market becomes saturated with the availability of a high number of like products, a product enters the maturity phase. In this stage of the PLC, companies face price pressures and begin to focus on cost-cutting. Products with differentiation can maintain profit margins but, in general, the product faces commoditization.

Finally, an organization must make the tough decision to abandon the product or reinvest. This decision occurs in the decline phase of the PLC. Competition actually dries up because profit margins are so low. Unfortunately, paying customers also dry up.

Your Product, Your Competition

Knowing where the product is at on the PLC is a starting point to analyzing its competitiveness. You have to understand if the market presents an opportunity for growth in market share or in market penetration. It is also crucial for firms to make the (sometimes unpleasant) decision to abandon a product when it is in decline.

Analyzing the number and type of competitors (direct or indirect) can help organizational leaders make the best, most profitable decisions. These decisions also must include alignment of new product innovation programs, business acquisition strategies, and overall growth goals and objectives. Economic and regulatory factors, external to the firm, impact markets and innovation as well.

Next Steps

Do you know your strategy to address competitive threats? If not, learn to Analyze the Competition in a self-paced, online course. Register here and earn 2PDUs.

image of computer with key for competitive analysis

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Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

Who Is Your Competition?

Posted on 03.11.21

Recently, I was asked to submit a proposal for work with an existing client. The work broadened their horizons, pushing both their approach and my creativity. After learning their scope of work (boundaries and constraints), budget, and time frame, I submitted a proposal.

As is the case sometimes, the company chose a different consultant. In fact, I was pretty sure they had someone else in mind to do the work when I held conversations with them. What is important to learn is not just what the winning bid was but who was the competition.

Elements of Competition

Competition as a consultant, a product development professional, or engineering manager is not always obvious. Our response to competition is part of our organizational strategy. As I say over and over again, strategies overarching framework for innovation. Strategy defines who we are as an organization and directs our actions. So, the first element of competition is strategy.

Strategy
Presence
Willingness
Capacity

Strategy

Strategy seems simple. Just decide what you’re going to do. Yet, in product innovation, strategy is more than that. Our organizational mission drives decisions and rate of technical expansion. Our values direct how we interact in marketplaces. Our vision determines how aggressive we are in development.

Strategy also determines the tactics of everyday business life. How big is the budget? How many resources are committed to R&D? What is our quality goal? Spend some time on your strategy to be successful. Learn more in our Exclusive Strategy Reset Workshop here.

Presence

The second element of competition is presence. Though it is annoying, campaign posters and yard signs spring up every election season. Why? Name recognition results in votes. You may not know the candidate’s stand on a policy, but you’ve seen his face on a campaign poster and you know his name. The same goes with real estate agents and personal injury lawyers. Their advertising – including billboards, television spots, and newspaper ads – all include a photograph. When we see a face, we know they are present.

In product development, we must establish presence by interacting with our customers on a regular basis. They know us, trust us, and give us feedback. Working directly with customers in co-creation leads to competitive advantage.

Do you have presence in your industry?

Willingness

Another element of competition is willingness. Some of you might remember that willingness is my word of the year for 2021 (read more here). Willingness means acceptance and patience while being bold and courageous at the same time. Willingness also means working in areas that are strategically aligned with business goals and objectives. The work that my existing client was seeking was work I was willing to do. My competition was also willing to do it. But there are hundreds of consultants who would have said “no” right off the bat.

It is important in product innovation to know what you’re willing to do – again, what is the strategy? If your organizational vision is to serve a global market, you might turn away local-only product development effort. If your mission statement includes “being a cost leader” you are putting reasonable boundaries on the target customer.

Determine your markets and willingness to serve them. Focus on design and development for product innovation where the organization is willing and able to work profitably.

Capacity

In thinking about who is your competition, you want to also consider capacity to do project work. If your design team is stretched thin on multiple next generation products already, should you enter another competitive market? On the other hand, if your products are entering maturity and decline phases in the product life cycle, should you strategically increase capacity and R&D?

While your organizational capacity to take on new product development innovation work is different than your competitors, you must gauge their approach versus market growth. A tool that I love for this is the SWOT analysis – strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats. It’s a simple way to thoroughly analyze internal capabilities and consider external factors impacting business growth.

Understand your Competition

Competition comes at us from known sources and unexpected places. Taking a look at the four key elements of competition can help you be more successful in product innovation (and save both time and money!). First, be firm in your strategy – what are you doing, how are you doing it, and why are you doing it?

Next, understand that a market presence gives the impression of a competitive advantage. If your customers are involved with you in product development, you will shorten project development times and achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction. Then, determine your willingness to design and develop new products within various target markets. In some situations, leave the new products to competitors – especially if they do not align with your strategy. Finally, if you’ve got strategic alignment, market presence, and a willingness to do the work, check your capacity. Hiring and training more staff for new product development projects might be viewed as expensive but you don’t want to miss any key opportunities!

Learn More

If you want to learn how to implement effective strategic goals to beat the competition, please join me for the Exclusive Reset Your Strategy Workshop on Monday, 15 March (Part 1) and on Monday, 22 March 2021(Part 2). Special discounts for the unemployed as you navigate new competition. Contact me at info@simple-pdh.com for more information.

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Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

About Me

I am inspired by writing, teaching, and coaching. I tackle life with an infusion of rigor, zeal, and faith. It brings me joy to help you build innovation leaders. Teresa Jurgens-Kowal is an experienced innovation professional with a passion for lifelong learning with a PhD in Chemical Engineering and an MBA in Computer and Information Decision Making. My credentials include PE (State of Louisiana), NPDP, PMP®, and CPEM, and I am a DiSC® certified facilitator. Contact me at info@simple-pdh.com or area code 281 + phone 787-3979 for more information on coaching for entrepreneurs and innovators.

Regaining Creativity

Posted on 03.03.21

It’s sometimes difficult to remember while we are filling out forms, responding to bureaucracy, and going about our daily routine, but we are all creative and innovative beings. Each of us has good ideas, sometimes great ideas. And each of us can generate unique and novel ways to address customer needs and to troubleshoot problems.

Why is Creativity Lost?

Kids have lots of creativity. They color outside the lines and make cats purple. They imagine themselves as swash-buckling pirates and as famous movie stars. My friend, Karen, and I used to act out our favorite books in our backyards with no props at all. The walnut tree served as the deserted island and our dolls were the orphaned children. We understood the story and, well, we just had fun!

Then, our parents and teachers taught us that we needed to stay inside the lines, cats are never purple, and it was more important to do chores then pretend to be surviving on coconuts and palm leaves in a snow-covered backyard in Idaho.

Learning is very, very important and without understanding how mathematics and science work, we cannot become engineers, scientists, or project managers. We must learn the right way to solve an algebra problem and we need to know the correct answers. As chemical engineers, the safety of our co-workers and communities relies on us calculating the right answers and using the right formulas.

Yet, another piece of finding the right answer uses our creative problem-solving skills. And many of us have relegated creativity to the back burner. We don’t have time to “play” and we don’t want to look dumb by not coming up with “the right” answer.

Build Creativity through Experimentation

Edison is famous for saying he didn’t discover how to make a light bulb. He had, instead, found 10,000 ways to not make a light bulb. As innovation and engineering professionals, we strive for creativity through experimentation. We learn, just as Edison did, by failing. Each failure tells us what won’t work, but each failure also frames a hypothesis for the next experiment.

We often go about experimentation by changing one variable at a time. This can take a long time to find a novel answer to a problem, yet it provides accurate and detailed data and information about the problem. We should also experiment with “outside the box” solutions. These are problem solutions that come from other industries or analogies from radically different systems.

Legend has it that the inventor of Velcro watched a lizard climb the side of the building and wondered about its sticky feet. Another industry legend illustrates that rotating vessels with brushes used for oil spill clean-ups came from the observation that sea otters’ fur was highly absorptive. Applying a biological analogy to a static process can unleash creative hypotheses. And we can test these ideas in a controlled way to learn from failure.

Creativity Exercises

it’s hard to be creative by ourselves. We need to share ideas – sometimes crazy ideas – with others to generate better ideas. Often, just looking at a problem from a different perspective can stimulate creativity. A simple exercise to help you focus on new concepts is to drive to work by a different route. You will observe different landmarks and patterns. Strike up a conversation with a stranger in the queue at the supermarket. Who knows? You might leave with a new recipe.

At work, seek out the opinions and impressions with those you don’t normally share assignments. Learn what challenges face the structural and electrical engineers, IT and HR professionals, and supply chain specialists. Talk to technicians about their workflows. All of these unusual conversations will give you creative fodder for solving the next problem when it arises. Download a handout on creativity here.

Creativity is Lifelong Learning

Anyone who has followed my blog for any time knows that I’m a huge believer in lifelong learning. Of course, as an experienced and safety conscious process engineer, I know that there are “right” answers. We cannot defy the laws of gravity or of thermodynamics. We know that a material balance is fixed by the laws of nature.

However, when we experiment and lose our fear of judgment, we can test hypotheses to find better and more creative ways to solve problems. We can share a stream between systems that need heating and cooling in a plant to save water and energy. We can push chemical reactions to increase efficiency and reduce material usage with the clever application of temperature, pressure, or catalyst. Whatever your field of expertise, look for new ways to do things, especially by trying an approach that comes from a biological system or another industry.

What can you do, today, to create a novel hypothesis and test it to learn?

Learn More

Check out my presentation on creativity and design thinking with the Houston ATD chapter here. Register for our online workshop 29 and 30 March 2021 here. Contact me at info@simple-pdh.com if you want to implement effective tools for innovation team communications.

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

Managing Team Communications

Posted on 02.25.21

Have you ever wondered what somebody “really” meant when they said something to you? What was the hidden message? Did they criticize your idea when it was still in the forming phase? In Texas, we might hear, “Bless her heart” and wonder what sarcasm was concealed in a perfectly innocent statement.

Gossip, rumors, criticism, and sarcasm are deadly to innovation and team communications. You can say the words, “What a great idea” but if you roll your eyes at the same time, we know you think it is a stupid idea. On the other hand, if you smile and lean in when you say the exact same words, we know you are interested.

Communicating in a 2D World

Even before the corona-panic, many organizations were switching to virtual team meetings. The rationale was to save money on travel expenses. Another element is based on saving time – in a city like Houston, your travel time to and from a meeting can easily exceed the length of the meeting. So, we use virtual meetings instead.

Of course, we lose body language in our 2D, virtual communications. There are some people who refuse to turn on their cameras – probably because they are multitasking and not paying attention to the meeting anyway. I readily admit to not using my camera during mid-day webinars since I can eat lunch while I listen to the lecture.

However, aside from food crumbs and slurping soup, we can learn to communicate in a 2D world. Even after the corona-panic ends, many of us will continue to use webinars and virtual meetings to reach a larger audience. In fact, in the VTM-Virtual Team Model (Chapter 6 of Leveraging Innovation Constraints), I personally advocate for virtual teams in innovation to increase access to global markets.

One of the practices in the VTM is to ensure you build time into your agenda for team-building. Innovation requires creativity and creativity requires trust. We only trust our teammates when we know them through a personal relationship. These relationships teach us values and principles of other team members as we observe their behaviors. Values and trust are foundational to successful team communications.

Work Styles

While some people are adamant that they will not turn on their camera, others hesitate to speak freely. These behaviors, I believe, are exacerbated in a 2D world and impact our trust ability. While a quiet person finds it difficult to offer a differing opinion in a face-to-face environment, it is even more challenging for her to do so in a virtual conversation.

It is the job of the innovation leader to generate trust and open communication pathways among team members. I like using work style assessments with teams so that each person understands their own communication preferences, strengths, and conflict triggers. When we share our work styles with other teammates, we can explain our values and behaviors with non-judgmental language and build trust more quickly.

Conflict

Most of us don’t like conflict. Many leaders have not been trained in conflict management. So, when a debate arises, it either is swept under the rug to percolate or is blown way out of proportion. Yet, the crazy thing is that we need conflict for innovation and creativity. We need to challenge perspectives, biases, and experiences to create new technical and market opportunities for our customers. Conflict and debate are central to successful ideation.

Manage Your Team Communications

Join me on Friday, 26 February 2021, with the Tucson PMI Chapter to learn more about Managing Team Communications. You might also enjoy listening to a podcast on the same topic here and you can read more here. When we start with each team member’s preferred working style, we can design the jobs of innovation to balance their strengths. This results in healthy conflict where we focus on idea generation to improve new product features and functionality.

Learn More

In addition to the Tucson PMI meeting, join me starting on 29 April for the NPDP Certification and Innovation Best Practices workshop (four weekly, 2-hour sessions). A key topic for success as an innovation leader is managing team communications. Contact me at info@simple-pdh.com if you want to implement effective tools for innovation team communications.

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

Customers and Product Development

Posted on 02.11.21

As product development professionals, we often think of our customer. What do customers feel? What do they need? What are their expectations? Our responses, generally, focus on features and functionality of the product.

Of course, we have many types of customers and the best new product development (NPD) processes address customer needs throughout the value chain. Let’s take a look at the various types of customers and their role in NPD.

Types of Customers

One of the fundamental decisions you make in product innovation is who is the customer. We must consider several types of customers.

Internal Customers

First, we have internal customers. These are departments or units that are downstream within a single company. It is folly to ignore logistics or sales during product design and development. No new product makes its way into the hands of a customer without first being manufactured (supply chain logistics), being delivered (distribution), and being purchased (sales).

Supply chain is an internal provider and customer to the NPD effort. Working with the purchasing department early in concept development can reduce costs of raw materials. Perhaps your purchasing department can work a deal that gives a component discount as production ramps up after new product introduction. Your purchasing department should be a partner not an adversary.

You also need your internal customers to provide timely actions to get a new product to market. Legal teams must work with the NPD team throughout design and development for functional patent protection and trademarking of new logos, etc. Many other functional departments serve to assist the development effort as well.

External Customers

External customers are who we typically think of when we hear the term “customer”. These are folks outside the firm that buy the product and consume it (thus, the oft-used, interchangeable term of “consumer”). Our communication with external customers is frequently one-way by telling them about a product’s features.

However, the most successful innovators use two-way communication with external customers. We must know the thoughts and feelings of our customers to design and develop new products. External customers provide infinitely valuable feedback on our ideas and concepts. They test prototypes and lead us to the designs that will best satisfy their needs.

External customer feedback is at the heart of the WAGILE process. WAGILE takes the best of the traditional waterfall development processes and the best of Agile design to create a disciplined yet flexible customer-focused NPD process. Register here for our interactive WAGILE product development course (online 18 and 19 February 2021).

End-Users

Not all customers are end-users. Most of the time, a consumer purchases a product and uses it herself. There are many situations, though, in which other people use the product after it is purchased by someone else.

The easiest example of a non-purchasing end-user is a child. Mom and Dad buy toys, books, games, and snacks for Little Johnny often without his input. Of course, Little Johnny does not have money (and sometimes doesn’t know how to talk yet), so he is incapable of buying a product. However, Little Johnny does play, read, and eat so he “consumes” the product.

In product innovation and in the WAGILE process, we test not only the market response of the decision-maker (see below) but also the end-user. If :ittle Johnny prefers to play with the box instead of the toy inside, should we proceed with development of that particular product? We also might find that parts and components need different assembly for children than in a product built by adults. The end-user is an important customer in NPD.

Decision-Maker

Little Johnny’s mom and dad are the decision-makers in this scenario. Naturally, other products and services have customers that are decision-makers different from the end-user. Medicine has tons of examples.

For example, your insurance provider (private or government) determines which physicians you can afford to visit. Insurance companies often pay for pharmaceutical drugs but not naturopathic therapies. They may tell you which hospital is okay for you to go to for a knee surgery, regardless of the distance from your home.

Decision-makers are likely to look primarily at cost for a new product. Effectiveness and satisfaction by the end-user (unless it’s Little Johnny) may not be the defining characteristic of a purchase. For corporate decision-makers, “average performance” might be more important than delivering a quality experience to the ultimate consumer.

Who is Your Customer?

As you design a new product innovation, you must consider the customer. It is extremely unwise to ignore your internal customers. Use the various departments in your firm as partners to find the best solutions (especially for supply chain and distribution).

One our external customers, likewise, often are ignored. Why wouldn’t you want to test concepts and ideas with the person whom you ultimately want to sell? Customer feedback is essential to successful product innovation.

Finally, don’t confuse the decision-maker with the end-user. Satisfying the needs of both of these customers might mean a trade-off in cost versus quality. Make sure your NPD process involves testing for all external customers, including decision-makers and end-users.

Learn More

I’m excited to share my podcast interview with Kevin Brennan. You can listen to a summary of WAGILE here. Then, register for the interactive online WAGILE Product Development course on 18 and 19 February 2021 (register here). You will have homework because you must understand customer needs to be successful in product innovation! Contact me at info@Simple-PDH.com for more information.

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

Innovation Efficiency

Posted on 02.05.21

Our society values efficiency. We use drive-through banking and automatic light switches to save time and energy. Operations managers measure task efficiency to increase production with reduced labor and materials inputs.

But how does “efficiency” impact innovation? Is efficiency a positive metric that drives customer satisfaction? Or does “efficiency” de-humanize the work of product development?

What is Innovation?

First, let’s take a step back and define “innovation”. Innovation is a new way of doing things that results in profit for a firm and increased utility for a customer. Innovations come from the application of new technologies yet are also derived from new combinations of existing products and services. We call the latter case business model innovation.

An innovation may deliver a new technology to an existing market or it may introduce an existing technology to a new market. As product development professionals, we seek to balance risk of technologies and markets with the needs of our customers, the opportunity for profit, and growth. Typically, we measure the success of a product innovation through sales volumes, market share, and financial return.

What is Efficiency in Innovation?

We can define efficiency as how much output we get per unit of input. Waste is the opposite of efficiency ‑ what gets scrapped cannot serve to increase customer satisfaction, sales, or profits. The biggest waste we have in innovation is wasted knowledge. Some examples of wasted knowledge are:

Lack of technology transfer,
Too many meetings,
Project handoffs,
Poor definition of product requirements,
Lack of cross functional communication, and
Chaotic work environments.

In classical industrial engineering studies, efficiency is measured by “stopwatch studies”. Sometimes, people are asked to record the percentage of time they spend on a task. Certainly, for assembly line work, such time studies can be valuable to increase factory throughput, improve production rates, and identify opportunities for automation. However, in a creative process (like innovation) how can we measure task time or efficiency? I recommend the post-launch review and burndown charts.

Post-Launch Reviews (PLR)

Post-launch reviews should be (though often are not) conducted as a new product is commercialized. The PLR-1 addresses team activities, templates, and procedures. If you are using a staged-and-gated new product development (NPD) process, the PLR-1 is the opportunity to record how much time was spent on each stage and how many resources were used for tasks within those stages. Then, the next time you do a similar project (e.g. add a feature, extend the market), you can get a better estimate of both the time and cost of the innovation effort.

While this is not a perfect textbook definition of “efficiency”, it addresses our greatest concern of wasting knowledge. If the discovery stage is taking twice as long as similar projects have in the past, what might be the bottleneck? Check on issues like customer feedback, team member workload, and quality expectations.

Read more about post-launch reviews here.

Burndown Chart

The burndown chart is a tool from the world of Scrum and Agile. Instead of estimating how far the project needs to go to completion, the burndown chart documents how much is left to do.

One of the disadvantages of Agile systems in new product development is the definition of “done”. When we couple Agile processes with traditional staged-and-gated systems in WAGILE, we are disciplined to define both the product and task completion. Burndown charts are essential to making progress on a WAGILE project without getting bogged down and “gold-plating” the product.

The burndown chart shows how many individual tasks must be completed prior to the next gate review or product commercialization. As tasks are completed, the chart reflects fewer tasks to do in the future. Using our time estimate from historical projects (the PLR), we can estimate a piece of work – or efficiency – to design a new product innovation. Interestingly, teams respond positively to countdown of tasks over consumption of budget which “counts up”.

Innovation Efficiency

It’s always a bit tricky to discuss efficiency in the realms of knowledge work and creativity. Yet even the greatest authors and painters set a standard of number of words to write or hours to hold the brush. Efficiency includes dedication to our craft and is measured by a lack of waste – wasted knowledge and wasted time.

An Invitation

Join me in other innovation professionals at the Creative Cafe on Friday, 5 February 2021, at 10:00 am CST. It’s a free and open form to talk about all things innovation. We meet about every other week so join as you are able! Last time our topic was “Setting Achievable Goals” – one metric for efficiency! This week our general theme is “Are You Creative” remembering that creativity requires discipline. Get the free Zoom link here.

You can also catch a discussion of creativity, design thinking, and innovation at the Houston ATD general meeting on Tuesday, 9 February 2021 at 11:30 am. REGISTER HERE.

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

About Me

What is WAGILE?

Posted on 01.28.21

WAGILE is an emerging approach to product innovation. You might ask, “Why do we need yet another, new approach to managing product development?” The answer is that every system has advantages and that over time, we can recognize process improvements. A secondary answer is more data-based. Studies indicate that revamping and revitalizing your new product development (NPD) process can not only enhance participation but yield improved results, such as creative solutions, time-to-market, and profitability.

Traditional NPD Processes

Organizations implement NPD processes to manage risk. Risk in innovation is more loosely defined than in traditional project management. Innovation professionals encounter risk from two perspectives: understanding the product or project requirements and developing the required technology. These are identified as “requirements uncertainty” and “technical uncertainty” in the figure.

A traditional NPD process, such as the staged-and-gated process, is designed primarily to manage investment risk. Each stage of work involves more resources but as the project advances through the various stages, technical risks are addressed. Each subsequent stage of work encounters less uncertainty. In this way, financial risk is minimized because there is little investment for small-scale experiments during initial stages and as more knowledge is gained, the investments will grow but with reduced uncertainty in the outcomes. Sometimes these processes are called “waterfall” since each step flows to the next; however, there is no easy way to go “backward” in the system.

To counter the bureaucracy that many large companies incorporate alongside traditional NPD processes, the Agile methodology intentionally leaves the overall requirements uncertain. Theoretically, the customer provides feedback after each incremental development step (called a “sprint”) so that the requirements uncertainty is reduced. A drawback of Agile is that real customers are often not included in the process. Further, it is difficult to determine when a project is “done” in terms of meeting market requirements.

What is WAGILE?

WAGILE is a hybrid process that blends the best of the traditional waterfall systems with Agile philosophy (“W” + “Agile”). The rigor of a staged-and-gated project management approach is coupled with required customer feedback in each phase. Incremental and iterative work within a stage allows innovation teams to adequately address design and development needs. Yet repeating a phase of work is done only when necessary. The WAGILE philosophy incorporates key ideas from these innovation approaches.

Move fast
Practice discipline
Understand risks
Engage customers
Provide autonomy

You can read more about the WAGILE Philosophy here.

WAGILE Roles

Roles and responsibilities are defined clearly for Agile processes, such as Scrum, as well as in traditional project management. Many of these roles are similar to those utilized in WAGILE. Some key roles and responsibilities for WAGILE are described below. You can read more about the WAGILE Roles here.

Project Leader: Somewhat like a traditional brand manager, the Project Leader in WAGILE is responsible for the overall product life cycle and drives product innovation.
Customer Representative: In Scrum, the product owner represents the voice of the customer. In WAGILE, the Customer Representative carries out this responsibility and helps to translate or articulate customer needs for the innovation team.
Team Leader: In many ways, the team leader in WAGILE is similar to a traditional project manager with tactical and operational responsibility for the execution of the project. Team leaders are servant leaders yet maintain autonomy for project decisions within the scope of the project.
Cross-Functional Team: Like all new product development teams, successful innovation under a WAGILE approach requires participation from all relevant departments and functions. Team members are generalist-specialists, as in an Agile approach and the core team maintains continuity throughout the project effort.

Some WAGILE Tools

WAGILE tools are based primarily on Design Thinking to incorporate customer feedback at each stage of development. Each individual WAGILE project will use several complementary tools to complete the work of a given phase. Depending on the scale, scope, and breadth of the innovation work, several tools are used at multiple points during development. A fundamental decision point in selecting feedback techniques is to use the data gathering, testing, and experimentation tools that provide the highest density of customer information. Read more about WAGILE Tools here – a list of some of my favorite tools follows.

Customer empathy map
Customer journey map
Affinity diagrams
Product Portfolio Management
Scrum board
Business model canvas
Paper prototypes

Benefits of WAGILE

Again, you might be asking, “Why do I need a new system to manage product development?” Often the NPD process becomes stale and the links to customer feedback become broken. You need WAGILE if you find your innovation teams bogged down in idea generation stages or if recent product launches are met with “ho-hum” market responses. The biggest benefit of WAGILE is that it is a flexible, risk-based process to get new products into competitive markets. We measure success of product innovation in WAGILE via market success: customer satisfaction, market share, and profitability.

What’s Next?

If you’d like to learn more about WAGILE, please join our WAGILE class on 18 and 19 February. We will dig deeper into each of these concepts. Your homework during the course allows you to begin transitioning to a more flexible and adaptable approach to innovation within the governance of a risk-adjusted process. For personalized problem-solving or customized training, contact me at info@globalnpsolutions.com for innovation consulting.

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

About Me

Unless otherwise indicated, images used under Creative Commons.

What Word Will Describe 2021?

Posted on 01.07.21

I think we can all agree – with a giant sigh of relief – that 2020 is behind us. Yet, to succeed with personal and professional growth, we must look ahead. What will 2021 bring for you?

While I believe that some world events and forces engulf us in ever-growing avalanches of events, we do have much control over our everyday lives. We make choices – to keep or change jobs, to invest in new technology or to adapt existing systems. The selections we choose help us to achieve our goals.

Each year, I choose a single word to help me guide my decisions and choices throughout the year. I ponder my word of the year on a daily basis and I consider my short-term and long-range goals in light of my word of the year.

Outreach

For 2019, I chose the word outreach as my word of the year. I spent a lot of time developing new relationships and making the effort to rekindle old relationships. Reaching out to others was my mantra for the year – how could I help my family, friends, and clients?

I used the word outreach to guide decisions for my business and to increase my network of professional colleagues. Each day I considered how I could reach out to others and help them increase their success in innovation and management?

Economical

In December of 2019, I chose the word economical for my word of the year in 2020. As I described in another post here, I never imagined that “economical” would mean searching for toilet paper at the supermarket. As 2020 dawned, I wanted to optimize (economize) my use of all resources.

In the end, the word economical served me well in 2020. I optimized both business and personal relationships, streamlined processes and systems, and added new time management programs to my daily routine.

In my personal life, my husband and I temporarily moved to an apartment much smaller than our house, so I have learned to economize space as well. (Though, the local Goodwill employees started frowning when I showed up – I guess they didn’t want to sort through another hundred items of my barely-worn shirts and skirts…)

Willingness

So that brings us to 2021. I learned a lot about myself in 2020 with the relocation in the middle of a government lockdown causing shortages at the supermarket. Economizing was important. But I also learned that I needed to be patient, flexible, and continue to optimize my time. Thus, my word of the year for 2021 is willingness.

Willingness will help me focus on goals and objectives. This year, my business goals include expansion of course offerings – check out my 1Q 2021 classes here. I also want to continue growing my network and helping others connect. These goals lead to the initiation of the Creative Cafe.

Creative Cafe

In the Creative Cafe, we can share ideas on innovation, leadership, and engineering management while growing our networks. We’ll meet about every two weeks for an hour for a completely open discussion. Our first introductory session of the Creative Cafe is Friday, 8 January 2021 at 10:00 AM CST. Here’s the Zoom link. Join the fast-paced hour-long conversation at no cost.

What is Your Word for 2021?

Share your word for 2021 in the comments and come to the Creative Cafe on Friday, 8 January to share your word. My goal is to go above and beyond your expectations this year – willingness!

See you soon!

To define yourself as a transformative innovation leader, you need to sustain continuing education. Innovation is learning! For more information on open courses and customized learning for innovation best practices, please contact me at info@simple-pdh.com or area code 281, phone 787-3979.

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

About Me

Selecting Innovation Team Members

Posted on 01.05.21

As engineering, project, and product managers, we often struggle with identifying the right people for innovation teams. Of course, there is a need to match skill sets with the required deliverables of the project. There is also a need to match the organizational structure with the level risk acceptance for radical innovation.

Safi Bahcall presented an interesting theory on organizational structure for innovation (Harvard Business Review, Mar/Apr 2019). He argues that organizational risk tolerance for radical innovation is a direct function of project skill fit relative to return on politics. Let’s look at these variables a bit more.

Project Skill Fit

All innovation team members have choices to make on how they will spend their time. Should they invest in design and experimentation or should they invest time in promoting the idea to an influential manager? When the technical investment pays off the most, the team members will spend their time working out new technologies.

To increase innovativeness in an organization, you must accept some risks and encourage innovation teams to learn. Learning comes through experimentation. High project skill fit occurs when employees are stretched to learn – but not stretched too far and not too little. If a staff member feels his skills are not good enough to technically support the project, he will spend his time “politicking”. When team members are more vested in building their personal reputations with bosses, the risk tolerance for the organization drops precipitously.

Return on Politics

Another factor that drives radical innovation is the span of management control. If there are lots of levels for advancement and salary increases are significant for each promotion, an employee will spend her time on self-promoting politics. A big raise is valued more by individuals than generating project outcomes in this case.

Flattening the organizational hierarchy helps to reduce the “return on politics”. Moreover, as Bahcall notes in his HBR paper, decreasing the hierarchy of an organization increases the opportunities for collaboration across functions. Multi-disciplinary teams have the highest rates of success with innovative product development.

Overcoming Organizational Barriers to Innovation

To overcome structural barriers to innovation, organizations must encourage reasonable risk-taking and experimentation. Organizational reward systems, including non-financial recognition, can encourage team members to focus more on project outcomes than politics. Consider rewarding innovation team members with opportunities to present their research to senior management or peers at international conferences. (Incidentally, I have presented at several different conferences in the past year with the virtual environment expanding our opportunities for presentations. Check out my speaking page here – I’d love to present to your group.)

Another way to overcome structural barriers in organizations is to provide training. Training has multiple benefits for innovation teams. First, training creates opportunities to enhance cross-industry knowledge so team members generate more ideas. Next, people want to practice what they’ve learned; thus, increasing the focus on project outcomes over politics. Finally, training helps keep staff sharp with their technical skills.

How Do You Select Innovation Team Members?

One key conclusion from Bahcall’s work is that innovation team member selection cannot be “gut feel”. He recommends neutral assessments by third parties to identify project skill fit, for instance. A great tool that can be used for identifying project skill fit is the Team Dimensions assessment. Team Dimensions can help you identify skill matches between jobs and project personnel. You can read about Team Dimensions here and listen to my podcast interview on Team Dimensions here. Feel free to contact me at info@Simple-PDH.com and we can develop a plan for your team to use this versatile assessment.

Next Steps

After you complete an assessment of team members and encourage an emphasis on project outcomes over company politics, you will want to continue developing your teams for effective innovation. One place to start is New Product Development (NPD) Fundamentals. Join me for one or all four short courses to establish innovation best practices in your organization. Learn more and register here. We are offering NPD Fundamentals at a bargain basement price because we are passionate that innovation gets a great start in 2021!

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.