PMP-General

Can Nerds Serve the Customer?

Posted on 04.22.21

I’m a self-admitting nerd. My educational background is in engineering and I enjoy learning how things fit together. I love to watch movies, but I never know the names of actors or actresses. I fail miserably at the literature questions in Trivial Pursuit™.

Yet, I love math, logic, and reasoning. In recent years my fondness to “figure out how things work” has become a study of people, leaders, and teams. Successful innovation teams have a different culture than others.

A friend and colleague mentioned that her son was studying mechanical engineering. She encouraged him to take a Design Thinking class so he could learn about human-centered design. I agree wholeheartedly with her! Engineers have an isolated educational experience driven by high-level calculus an intense theory of physics. Of course, accountants, sociologists, and architects also have educational experiences driven by depth of knowledge, rather than breadth.

So, can nerds learn to serve the customer?

The Customer

First, we have to take a step back. Any free economy functions to produce goods and services that generate profit for the seller. Buyers pay a price for goods and services that give them utility and functionality at their own perceived value. The buyer (or customer) seeks a benefit in purchasing a product that is greater than the price they pay. Moreover, the price that the buyer pays must include a margin of profit for the producer. If not, the producer will cease to offer those goods or services.

A seller learns what to sell by studying customers and markets. Customers are the key element in designing and developing new products. My friend was very astute to encourage her son to broaden his studies beyond engineering. New Product Development Professionals (NPDP) blend the unique skills of technology understanding, market perception, and product knowledge to successfully innovate profitable goods and services.

Engineers, like other innovation leaders, have an intense curiosity about how things work. Yes, we are nerds because we enjoy tinkering and troubleshooting. So, trying to solve a customer’s problem by designing a new widget is exactly a perfect fit!

Design Thinking

Again, my friend gave her son a huge gift toward his employability by encouraging him to supplement engineering classes with Design Thinking. Design Thinking is both a process and a set of tools. From the process perspective, Design Thinking teaches us to collaborate with fellow nerds, customers, and any function that will help solve the problem. From the tools point of view, Design Thinking gives us templates and techniques to elicit even the most obscure unarticulated customer needs.

At the core of Design Thinking is empathy – an understanding of the feelings, thoughts, and attitudes of another person. In the case of product development, the product development engineers build empathy for the customers by interviewing, shadowing, and observing their interactions with the product. When we understand the struggle that a customer has to open a package or assemble the parts, we improve the features and functions of that product.

For example, IKEA includes a small (cheap) hex wrench with its ready-to-assemble furniture (such as a bookshelf). The packaging is small (a benefit to customers and transportation) but only nerds have a full tool chest available to assemble a bookshelf. So, for most folks, the cheap hex wrench is a huge time-saver. Parts are clearly labeled and the visual instruction sheet from IKEA gives simple directions to assemble the parts using the tools (hex wrench) provided. Both the seller and buyer benefit – higher profit margins and enhanced perception of the product’s value.

Engineers and Design Thinking

Yes, nerds can serve the customer! Engineers are great at trouble-shooting and finding creative solutions to problems. Augmenting our technical training with customer empathy creates a superhero innovation leader.

If you don’t know the basic tools and process of design thinking, that’s okay. Register here for an interactive, online workshop, led by a full-fledged nerd.

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

Innovation Project Scheduling

Posted on 04.01.21

Time. It is the only resource for which there is no true price and the only resource that cannot be recovered. Once we spend a minute, an hour, or a day, it is gone. We cannot re-use the time or re-purpose it.

image from creative commons with free to use and share designation

Yet, time is a resource that is often wasted. Personally, I can waste time by watching television or chasing rabbit trails on the Internet. On a recent evening, for instance, I watched a re-run of “I Dream of Jeannie” and then spent several minutes looking at the Wikipedia histories of Larry Hagman and Barbara Eden. While I might guess a trivia question correctly in the future, I probably did not use my time to my highest productive ability.

Innovation Project activities

Likewise, we do not always use our project time effectively when we develop new products. Innovation can present a lot of “rabbit trails” from both the technology and market perspectives. When a lab test looks interesting, organizations often devote all their resources (including time) to duplicating and validating the result. Similarly, when a focus group gives positive feedback on a feature, our innovation focus narrows, and we dedicate more time to understanding that particular customer need. In retrospect, these might be the right (or wrong) decisions. Only time will tell.

Dedicated innovation project resources are the hallmark of a successful new product development (NPD) strategy. However, a singular focus can lead us to miss alternate approaches or business models. Not only do we have to be aware of our natural biases as an organization, we also must be aware of competitor actions in the field.

One way to counter a narrow innovation focus is to conduct parallel product development activities. Especially in the early phases of NPD project work, innovation teams can – and should – investigate multiple ideas, concepts, and feature sets. Some key activities in early phase new product development are as follows.

Ideation
Concept Trials
Customer Shadowing
Needs Assessment
Strategy Alignment
Competitive analysis
Prototype Testing
Pilot Testing
Quality validation
Market Tests
Performance Verification

Roadmapping

At the highest level, scheduling of innovation activities occurs through roadmapping. A roadmap is a visual representation of key product development activities and milestones that guide the product innovation team to an expected outcome. For example, if we know we need to launch a new product at a specific trade show in December, then we can draw a roadmap of activities that will allow us to meet that deadline.

Backward Pass Scheduling

In formal project management “language,” the term backward pass scheduling is used to describe building a roadmap (or schedule) from the required end date to our current date. So, if we must have a new product ready in December, we will have to do prototype testing in September. To have a realistic prototype in September, we will need to have a feature list by July period to have a list of critical features in July, we need to conduct focus groups on different concepts by May. And that means we need to hold ideation and design thinking workshops in March. We plot our key innovation activities on the roadmap which gives us a rough schedule for the project.

Detailed Scheduling

Once we have generated a roadmap of activities for the new product project, we will undertake detailed scheduling. Software tools are invaluable for both roadmapping and detailed scheduling. All project development tasks are input along with the required resources (by name and position) and activity duration. Capacity management is key to success at this stage. Some tasks include dependencies with other tasks and resources cannot be used twice in the same period. A typical output of scheduling software is a Gantt chart, which we overlay on the roadmap.

Innovation Project Scheduling

In this post, we’ve only touched on a few of the important elements in creating an innovation project schedule. The figure below summarizes these steps. (Note that monitoring and controlling a project is a separate topic.)

While getting the details right is important, the most crucial element for successful innovation leaders is getting the process right. This includes understanding customer needs and required innovation activities. Join me on 22 and 23 April 2021 for the WAGILE Product Development workshop. In this interactive online class, you will tackle your biggest innovation scheduling challenges, streamline customer feedback processes, and improve speed-to-market. If you find you are launching ho-hum products too late in a crowded marketplace, you must learn WAGILE now! Register here.

Learn how to make your innovation process flexible!

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

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

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

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 [email protected] for more information.

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

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 [email protected] or area code 281 + phone 787-3979 for more information on coaching for entrepreneurs and innovators.

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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] or area code 281, phone 787-3979.

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

About Me

Defining Innovation Leadership

Posted on 12.17.20

Innovation is inherently risky. Yet, the old adage “innovate or die” requires leaders to continually invest in new product development (NPD). Success depends on rigorous processes, committed resources, and confident leadership. Transformative innovation programs include a clear vision for today and for the future. Innovation leaders guide and govern an ecosystem for NPD success.

The Innovation Framework

At the heart of innovation is strategy. An organization needs to clearly and succinctly describe its vision, mission, and values. The strategy of a firm drives its decision-making processes based on risk tolerance and a chosen business model.

Executing an innovation strategy with efficiency builds short-term and long-term success. Product portfolio management (PPM) comprises a set of executive decisions to select the highest value-added innovation projects for the organization to implement. (Please join our hands-on implementation of 100 Days to PPM in 2021 here – you will transform your innovation program! Use discount code goodbye 2020 before 20 December 2020 to save 20%.)

Hand-in-hand with project selection is the NPD process by which an individual project moves from idea to commercialization. A great number of project management tools are available today to streamline project execution in parallel with the innovation strategy. If your firm is not already using PPM software, you should resolve to find an appropriate system in the new year!

Of course, all products and services have a limited lifetime. Customer tasks and market forces change the demand curves for new products overtime. Product life cycle management matches innovation and marketing strategies with the maturity of a product. Innovation leaders are successful when their life cycle decisions align with the organization’s strategic direction.

Next, these critical elements of innovation are supported by both internal and external organizational functions. Teams and leadership are the people that do the work of innovation. The best leaders understand different working styles while engaging and motivating teams with autonomous project work. Check out a case study of success from the Team Dimensions profile in the podcast here.

NPD tools and metrics provide supporting frameworks to ensure implementation of best practices and continuous improvement. Successful innovation leaders adopt and adapt NPD tools from a variety of industries to enhance idea generation, customer interactions, and process improvement. The emerging WAGILE product development process is a way to integrate a hybrid NPD process with Design Thinking tools for active customer engagement. Register here for the February 2021 WAGILE short course.

Finally, market research directly links customer satisfaction in a feedback loop to the business strategy. Market research teaches an organization about customer needs, emotional drivers, and transient competitors. You must have both primary and secondary market research tools in place to gather customer insights for existing and new products.

Why You Need to Define Innovation Leadership

First, 60 to 80% of CEOs believe that innovation is crucial to the long-term growth of their business. Yet, key stakeholders have marginal opinions of the new products and services offered in the marketplace. About one-quarter of customers do not believe new products are innovative. Executives and senior leaders struggle with repeatable innovation that drives top line growth.

Defining innovation leadership is based on our Flagship Innovation Leader program that transforms individuals and organizations from struggling individual contributors to a high-performance innovation machine. Understanding and acting upon your organization’s innovation health will breathe new life into your NPD programs. Take the Innovation Health Assessment™ here and benchmark your performance with industry.

For anyone wanting to learn more about innovation best practices, please check out our full list of courses including NPDP Certification and Innovation Best Practices starting on 14 January. Please use discount code goodbye 2020 for a 20% discount on any single course at Simple-PDH.

Another important resource for you as you define innovation leadership is The Innovation ANSWER Book. This book has simplified the content from the PDMA Body of Knowledge so that you can use The Innovation ANSWER Book both as a study guide for NPDP certification and to guide practical industry implementation of innovation best practices. Get your copy at Amazon (paperback or Kindle).

What Are Your Plans for 2021?

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 for more information on coaching for entrepreneurs and innovators.

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

Lessons for Creative Leadership

Posted on 12.09.20

I love to travel. I enjoy seeing new places and trying different foods. It is fun for me to learn what is unique about a city or town. I also enjoy visiting familiar places – in Seattle, I have a favorite coffee shop and in Phoenix, I must go to a special place for tacos!

Travel incorporates the lessons of creative leadership. As innovation professionals we trial, test, and enjoy both the new and the familiar. The three common themes between travel and innovation are: vision, learning, and decision.

Vision

When you visit a new place, you see it differently than if it is familiar. You may notice that street names change every few blocks or that the city has a lot of billboards. When you are familiar with the town, these elements fade into the background.

As an innovation leader, you must envision your products and services with fresh eyes. Imagine that you have never considered buying your own product. Does the packaging strike you as interesting or is it boring? Does the product name describe what it does? Is the product unique or are there lots of competitors?

A drawback of working within one brand or category is that we become too familiar with our products and services. We need to see features and benefits as if we’ve never seen the product before. One way to get a fresh vision for your products and services is through a focus group or lead user group. Real customers provide the feedback that an internal new product development (NPD) team may miss.

Learning

And with vision comes learning. When I first visit a new place, I like to get a road map. I’m old fashioned and like to have a paper street map. It gives me the whole view of a town or city instead of turn-by-turn directions. I get a sense of what is to the north or east, as well as how far away different attractions are.

But as I walk around for a few hours (or days), I find that I don’t need the map anymore. I have learned where to turn and how long it takes to get somewhere.

Innovation leaders also focus on learning – not simply to transfer a vision into the boring and familiar. Yet, learning as a method of transforming customer needs into features and attributes brings satisfaction to consumers and profits to companies.

Learning, in innovation, is crucial. They say that whoever is not innovating is dying. A harsh statement. What it means is that successful leaders are constantly identifying needs and pain points while working to resolve them. It is easier and quicker to navigate without a street map – when the route is familiar. Our job, as innovation leaders, is to make product selection and use as quick and as easy as possible for our customers.

Decision

Vision and learning are important, yet without action you don’t go anywhere. I often daydream about where I want to go on vacation. I research places on the internet and buy travel books to learn about parks and attractions in a new area. But, until I buy an airline ticket, I have not committed to the travel. When I book my air travel, I demonstrate a decision to visit one place over another. Effective decisions are crucial for innovation leadership. One arena in which I see a lot of failure in NPD is a failure to make a decision. Many, low-value projects linger on the books. These projects consume valuable (and scarce) resources. Worst, ho-hum projects do not invigorate your customers or your team members.

The best way to make new product decisions is through portfolio management. Join me in 2021 for a special hands-on, interactive course to streamline your product innovation portfolio – 100 Days to PPM. You will learn to make the critically important decisions necessary to compete effectively. Join as an individual leader or bring your whole team!

The Traveling Innovator

Whether you love to travel (like me), or you’d rather be a hermit, innovation professionals must practice the three critical skills: vision, learning, and decision. With vision, you view a product or service from your customer’s perspective. You learn what is easy, or difficult, for consumers so you can improve new product designs. And, finally, you act by making prudent and efficient decisions with product portfolio management.

Don’t forget to register here for 100 Days to Effective Product Portfolio Management. Space is limited.

About Me

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.