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PMP-General

Have You Missed the Digital Transformation?

I never cease to be amazed at the number of buzzwords that enter our vocabulary.  Good ideas become nauseating when entrenched in bad phrases.  Of course, the idea of keeping sick people away from old people or those with weakened immune systems is good, yet the phrase “social distancing” is oxymoronic and getting very, very old very, very quickly. 

Digital transformation is another phrase that shot off like a firework but really doesn’t have a lot of teeth in its meaning.  The idea of digital transformation is that all businesses should read recognize technology is a constant and growing component of products and services.  Yet a whole lexicon of “digital” words has sprung up to describe a simple evolution in product innovation. 

Digital Innovation

One new phrase is “digital innovation.”  It means applying digital technology to increase operational efficiency, drive customer engagement, or to develop innovation products and services.  Frankly, this is a very broad definition and can hearken back to the good – but simple – idea that computers can do basic calculations faster than humans.  We have been using digital technology throughout my entire life to improve operations.  For example, petrochemical plants are controlled via a DCS (digital control systems) that monitors temperature, pressure, flow rates, and valve positions.  This is not a “new” concept.

What is somewhat different in the past few decades is evolution of a “digital strategy”.  Instead of tacking on an application or programming for a product after it is designed and developed, innovative companies today recognize the importance of integrating technology throughout the development stages. 

Digital Integration

Technology generally allows us to move product innovation at a faster pace.  Using social media and 3D printing to generate prototypes, new product development (NPD) practitioners garner rapid customer feedback.  We conduct many more inexpensive trials before freezing the design. 

Further, when software is fully integrated into a product’s functionality, features can be changed and adapted on an ongoing basis.  We can customize many of the features and functions of products and services for each individual user.  Digital transformation thereby enhances the relationship between the customer and the producer. 

Advance Your Digital Transformation

Did you miss the digital transformation?  Don’t feel bad if you missed the ascension and collapse of a buzzword.  It’s likely your company did not miss opportunities to integrate technology into product design or customer experience.  Using technology to analyze large data sets and to cull insights from qualitative measures is commonplace. 

If your organization is not integrating applications, software, and IT into product and service development, you do need a digital strategy.  The digital strategy also identifies how competitors are using technology to gain market share.  If you are falling short, you may need to consider simple steps such as how to reshape your organization using apps or text messages to gain customer feedback. 

Don’t Miss Another Opportunity

Language, phrases, and buzzwords don’t tell the whole story.  You need to look at your basic processes and systems.  Product innovation starts with proven best practices, customized to ensure competitive advantage.  If you are trying to integrate digital strategy or trying to figure out what to do emerging from the corona-panic, you must join our online Reset Your Strategy workshop.  Click here to pre-register (special rates for unemployed).  Contact me at [email protected] or area code (281) phone 787-3979 for more information.

© Simple-PDH.com

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.

Do You Have a Capability Strategy?

Everyone working in innovation has more ideas in time.  Every organization has more projects to work than resources.  And all of us truly believe in the purpose and benefits of the ideas and projects we create. 

Yet, we also have limited resources.  There are only 24 hours in a day, seven days in a week.  We have limited budgets and talent to accomplish our innovation project vision.  It is an age-old problem. 

Alongside your business and innovation strategies, it is important to implement a capability strategy.  The capability strategy is an offshoot of product portfolio management, allowing an organization to plan and execute projects with higher productivity and efficiency.  You will learn to schedule and balance resources and talent to ensure effective product innovation. 

Capabilities

In the resource-view of the firm, capabilities and competencies represent the talent and special skills of an organization.  For example, the capability to run ultra-high vacuum electron scanning instruments requires not only specialized equipment but competent and trained users.  Similarly, a successful restaurant requires specialty software to convey orders to the kitchen and well-trained staff that are attentive to diners’ needs. 

Any special equipment or skills of your staff that differentiate your organization are key capabilities.  These are listed as strengths on a SWOT analysis (read about Using SWOT to Reset your Innovation Strategy here).  You also might work diligently to train and acquire staff with unique competencies.  This includes giving employees both formal and informal learning opportunities, on-the-job training, and freedom for idea exploration. 

The Capability Plan

In product portfolio management (PPM), senior management prioritizes a list of innovation projects to maximize value.  Optimizing resources (time, money, equipment, and people) is a key activity of PPM.  In prioritizing active projects (those assigned budgets and resources), the portfolio managers must assess the capability strategy.  Where there are competency gaps, provide training or hire new talent with appropriate skills.  Where there are deep skills without immediate project utility, re-train or release resources for other work. 

“The Toy Box” (an imaginary but representative company) has five innovation projects on the books.  One project is nearing completion and will be launched soon.  The others are at varying stages of completion, from concept development to final prototype testing. 

Because The Toy Box  has only a handful of market researchers assigned to innovation projects, they note a gap in the “motors” and “boats” projects.  Each project needs the attention of three full-time equivalent (FTE) market researchers to conduct prototype testing during the next three months.  The Toy Box employs only four market researchers full-time.  This results in a gap of two FTEs for market research with a crisis level gap in the next three months.

Capability Strategy Choices

In this case, The Toy Box has several choices to balance their project needs with required capacity, as follows.

  • Delay one or both projects
  • Cancel one or both projects
  • Hire more (temporary or permanent) market researchers
  • Re-train other staff to learn market research skills
  • Advance these projects without market research
  • Abandon these projects and work on ones that match availability of market research FTEs

Each of these choices is a strategic decision, since the outcomes impact the ability of the organization to execute projects, generate revenues, and satisfy customers.  Each choice also has both short-term and long-run cost impacts.  Thus, capacity planning is a senior management activity and is a strategic (not operational or tactical) decision. 

Your Capability Strategy

Learning and growth are foundations of successful innovation.  In your strategy, do you account for training, hiring, and development of human resources?  Do you balance talent against project needs in the product portfolio?  Do you have a specific and actionable plan to close capability gaps for innovation?

Learn More

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, you need to join our Reset Your Strategy Workshop.  You can pre-register here and we’ll send you the full details soon.  Contact me at [email protected] or area code (281) phone 787-3979 for more information.

Additional Resources

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.

Using PESTLE in a Recovery Strategy

Watch the short video (<1 minute) and then read on for all the details!

While our country has never before shuttered the economy, we have also never been faced with such challenges in innovation in business.  “Experts” predict V-shaped and U-s0haped recoveries.  Personally, the prediction of a “swoosh”-shaped recovery seems more reasonable; and it gives me hope for fan-based sports in its terminology, too. 

Regardless of size or scope of your business, the so-called “reopening” allows you a chance to reset your strategy.  In an earlier post, we discussed using SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) as a strategic assessment of your internal capabilities.  Opportunities and threats are external drivers in the model, yet how do you ascertain competitor actions when the shape of the business landscape has shifted irreversibly?

This is where another strategy planning tool can be of essence in resetting your business and innovation strategies.  PESTLE is a technique that forces an organization to examine trends outside their control, narrowing the possible scenarios for future conditions.  The acronym PESTLE represents political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental situations and trends. 

Political

In the US, the corona-panic has illuminated some strong political trends that are likely to continue unabated into the future.  First, increased socialism and government control is likely.  American citizens have demonstrated they will give up fundamental rights (e.g. the right to assembly and the right to religious freedom) when threatened with an unspecified health fear.  It is unwise to trust that all elected and appointed government officials will treat their power with fairness and justice. 

Second, policy makers have realized that using the word “science” in any conversation is effective to convince the electorate to succumb any personal responsibility or liberty.  Many US citizens have only a limited math or science education (and, unfortunately, we continue to fall behind most other first world nations), so telling someone it is “science” without providing factual data is proof enough for most. 

How do these political trends impact your business and innovation strategies?  Are you positioned to take advantage of growing government bureaucracies?  Will you be nimble enough to navigate a flurry and inconsistent network of illogical rules and regulations again?

Economic

There are not enough words in my vocabulary to describe the economic damage of the corona-panic.  As we plan new business and innovation strategies, one key economic trend stands out.  Debt.  Before the corona-panic, the US economy was already headed toward an unsustainable debt-to-GDP ratio.  With massive stimulus bills and shrinking output, the debt-to-GDP ratio is at astronomical levels, never seen before – even in times of war. 

With a fiat currency (meaning printed money and not based on bullion value), increased debt means inflation and higher taxes.  How can you incorporate these threats into your business and innovation strategies going forward?  What does it mean for product pricing strategies?

Social

Social trends are yet to be determined coming out of the corona-panic.  There are some people who had readily believe the disastrously wrong models from government agencies and consequently believe any social interaction will result in immediate death.  Many of us have looked at the data and will continue to want to live our lives with normal human contact:  going to the movies, concerts, and trade shows. 

As an individual, I dread the trend away from face-to-face events.  It is nearly impossible to meet new people and to connect in a virtual world.  The coffee pot conversations, lunch discussions, and happy hour connections at events allow us to interact as human beings were designed to do.  No one should be expected to sit in front of a computer screen for hours (or days) on end and expect to build an important relationship. 

Yet, as you reset your business and innovation strategies, virtual meetings are, at least, a short-term reality.  How can you involve customers in your product innovation work in a virtual world?  How will you plan for qualitative feedback when you can’t see your potential customers?  What does “moving online” mean for your business?

Technology

With the advent of doing everything virtually and without contact, your business and innovation strategies must incorporate technological changes.  We are sure to see a slew of new technical tools (other than zoom, I hope!) to run our business in a digital, nonhuman world.  There are also going to be more frequent and more numerous cyberattacks.  Are you building IT strength into your business and innovation strategies?  Digital transformation trends will continue to dominate physical product development.  Are you linking “digital” applications with all hardware development?

Legal

There is no doubt that legal implications will continue to grow as the world emerges from the corona-panic.  HR experts will tell you that if your employees are afraid of getting sick at work, you will need to make a legal disability accommodation and let them work from home.  How will you monitor project work and schedules when your staff does not meet together?

Further, if one of your team members coughs or sneezes, how do you treat that?  If another team member catches a cold, will she sue you?  I believe there will be a whole host of new illnesses arising from the overuse of cleaning products.  Government “experts” are encouraging nearly continuous use of hand sanitizer, yet I am reminded that it is the only solution I use to effectively remove bicycle grease.  Once I spilled a few drops of hand sanitizer on my desk and it removed the varnish.  Are you prepared for a trend of chronic diseases from chemical usage in a workplace?  What other legal implications threaten your business or the introduction of a new product?

Environmental

As a result of the corona-panic, I believe there are favorable environmental trends to influence our business and innovation strategies.  The tremendous hit that oil and gas took during the panic creates opportunities for petrochemical manufacturing.  Distribution costs should decline as diesel and jet fuel are less expensive.  Peoples’ fears regarding short-term environmental destruction have been replaced with an immediate health and safety fear.  While both fears are completely irrational (and not based on existing data but so-called “science”), environmental restrictions will be loosened in many areas so business can get going again.  For example, allowing a truck driver to haul two trailers in tandem versus a single trailer might benefit how your products get to market. 

Use PESTLE to Design a Recovery Strategy

Every business, large or small, must deeply probe its innovation strategy today.  Understanding and studying external opportunities and threats can help you formulate an effective recovery strategy.  Use PESTLE to identify trends impacting innovation and business conditions during “reopening”. 

What political trends are happening locally or nationally to threaten your business?  Will the economic conditions (especially increasing debt, inflation, and taxes) cause a change in your business structure?  Which societal trends will allow you to grow and which fears of society might threaten your innovation programs?

Examine technology advances and incorporate enhanced cyber security into your strategies.  Be prepared for a slew of legal actions, especially as elections are anticipated and the way we vote in a democracy is changed away from secure and known trends.  How will employee behaviors influence your strategies to prepare for health and safety lawsuits?  Finally, are there any environmental trends that can open opportunities or provide a benefit to your innovation strategy?

Learn More about Strategy

Strategy lays the groundwork for all innovation work.  If you don’t know what your strategy is, you cannot succeed.  Contact me at area code 281, phone 787-3979 for a complimentary 30-minute innovation coaching session.  We will discuss how you can apply SWOT and PESTLE in your own unique business situation to immediately see results. 

Other Resources

© Simple-PDH.com

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.

Identifying Your New Innovation Workflow

In a recent blog, we discussed how to Use SWOT to Reset Your Business and Innovation Strategy.  As has been said, execution overrules strategy any day.  Strategy is important because you have to know where you’re going and to explain why you’re headed there.  But how you get there and when you get there is even more important. 

I often think of strategy as a destination.  An analogy is found in planning a vacation.  The destination (for me) is often a National Park (where I’m going) so I can go hiking (why I’m going).  The SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) yields insights to help in the decision-making process of laying out a business destination and innovation goals that will increase revenue and lead to customer satisfaction. 

Yellowstone National Park, 2018

How I get to a National Park and the timing of vacation are related to workflows.  I could fly to a nearby city and rent a car or drive to the park directly from home.  Driving usually takes longer but allows me to easily carry bicycles and camping gear.  In the end, flying or driving achieves the same goal – hiking in a beautiful place – but the execution of the plan is quite different for each case. 

What is a Workflow?

We often don’t think a lot about workflows.  Somehow work just gets done.  If tasks or activities are behind schedule, someone calls a meeting to figure out why.  But it is more efficient to establish processes upfront and follow a standardized path – a workflow – to achieve repeatable success.  A workflow is thus a system or process. 

Even for tasks and activities as unpredictable as developing a new product or service, we need a process that informs the project team how to convert an idea into a saleable product or service.  The workflow illustrates a series of steps with assigned roles and responsibilities.  The system also includes decision-making criteria to indicate whether a particular initiative should continue to advance.  These decisions are particularly important for product innovation as trends in customer needs, markets, and technology can change during the development life cycle. 

Workflow is NOT a Schedule

As good project managers, we always prepare project schedules.  These include key milestones and deliverables.  Innovation systems often use gate reviews to establish the continued attractiveness of a product idea through design and development.  Product portfolio management reviews determine strategic alignment and value-add for innovation projects.  The workflow captures these hand-offs and decision points as well as responsible team members to accomplish the work. 

A schedule is different than a workflow in that it shows (often as a Gantt chart) which tasks must be done and in what order.  A schedule shows overlaps in activities and highlights the critical path that determines the earliest possible completion date for a project.  Project managers are held accountable for delayed schedules.  In my vacation analogy, the airline has a specific schedule and if I miss the flight, my entire vacation is delayed. 

Designing an Innovation Workflow

First, remembering that a workflow is not a schedule, list all the tasks that must be done to transform an idea into a product innovation.  The list should include direct tasks (such as prototype testing) as well as indirect activities (such as applying for a patent).  Next, as shown in the figure, order and prioritize these tasks to optimize the project goal.  Remember that activities like concept testing can be conducted in parallel with technical development and production testing. 

Innovation Workflow, copyright Global NP Solutions

As you begin to order the required tasks and activities, you will find that some are dependent on others.  This is not unlike putting together a project schedule but as you create a workflow, you can identify methods to optimize your resources when you recognize a dependency.  In scheduling, we must increase the time if Task A must be fully completed before Task B starts.  Yet in a workflow, or systems analysis, we can collate certain dependent activities or decisions for a management council or portfolio review. 

The workflow considers roles and responsibilities, skills and competencies, and training needs of functional staff to complete activities.  An effective workflow identifies cross-functional relationships as well as cross-training for various roles so that the project work progresses continually.  Then, when hold times or transfers and hand-offs are unacceptable, resource allocation is optimized to eliminate overload (Step 5). 

As with all innovation projects, the innovation system itself should be tested.  Prototype the workflow on a “typical” new product development (NPD) project to identify bugs, holdups, or bottlenecks in the workflow.  Then, as you implement the workflow across all projects and functions, relentlessly streamline the process.  Continuous improvement and being aware of bureaucratic sand traps is key to successfully maintaining optimized workflows. 

Innovation Workflows

Learn more about the innovation workflow matrix here.  You will see many of the common project and innovation management systems categorized by serial or integrated teams on the x-axis and via waterfall or Agile philosophy on the y-axis.  Learn more about product innovation in New Product Development Professional (NPDP) certification self-study course.  Then, join me on 18 June 2020 at noon CDT (1 pm EDT, 10 am PDT) for a free Q&A webinar on the Life Design Master Mind group where you will apply the Design Thinking workflow to current challenges for knowledge workers maintaining full employment.  Register here and we’ll see you soon!

© Simple-PDH.com

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC  

Study.       Learn.       Earn.       Simple.

Mixed Skills for Work Today

Watch the short summary (less than 1 minute) and then read the full article below.

At the Fall 2019 AIChE conference for chemical engineers, keynote speaker Matt Sigelman presented the importance of developing and supplementing skills forproduct development and leadership.  He made the distinction of “jobs” as doing tasks while “work” is renting a set of skills.  To succeed in a changing workplace, Sigelman puts forth that we must continue to grow and enhance our skills.  I agree!

What are Skills?

Formal education gives us knowledge and some skills.  As a chemical engineer, I have learned theories of math, chemistry, and physics.  This knowledge is measurable in a quantitative way.  There is a “right” answer to a calculus problem or to balancing heat and energy in a standard chemical stoichiometry. 

Skills we learn in school or with work experience include analytical capability, writing, research, and creativity.  These skills are not necessarily measurable but do differentiate success as innovation leaders.  For example, the demand for team collaboration skills at work is in high demand for at least one-third of jobs today.

Mixed Skills

Sigleman defined “hybrid jobs” as work activities that require both specialized technical skills (e.g. math, chemistry, physics) and critical skills (e.g. people and processes).  Job growth and education experience change at 1-2% per year, but skills change as much as 40% per years.  Successful new product development (NPD) practitioners and product managers must not only maintain current knowledge in their field of specialization but also grow and enhance their leadership skills.  This means learning and practicing sound project management protocols while also adopting and sustaining team development practices.

Today’s most important jobs require mixed skills.  Data scientists cannot be content with analyzing a set of numbers.  They must translate that data into information on which to base technology and market growth activities.  Technical skills must balance against communication and decision-making skills.  New Product Development Professionals (NPDP) use quantitative market data to estimate pricing and market capacity for product innovations.  Yet, it is qualitative interpretation of customer knowledge that leads innovation leaders to product development decisions, profitability, and improved market share.

Building Mixed Skills

Lifelong learning and a commitment to growth are the fuel to build mixed skills for today’s job market.  As noted at the AIChE conference, credential demonstrate expertise and mastery of mixed skills.  Innovation leaders use NPDP certification as a stepping stone for product management career growth illustrating experience with product portfolio management and NPD processes as well as team management and leadership development.

You can learn more about NPDP certification here.  Benchmark your own innovation maturity with the Innovation Health Assessment™.  Take the complimentary Innovation Health Assessment here.  Contact me at [email protected] for more information on developing your skills for a rewarding career in product innovation.

© Simple-PDH.com

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC  

Study.       Learn.       Earn.       Simple.

You Get What You Pay For

The old saying goes, “There’s no free lunch”.  I think it’s true.  Almost no one is altruistic enough to offer something free with no strings attached.  My friend pays for lunch this time but next time I pay. 

Training is no different.  Today during (unconstitutional?) “stay-at-home” orders and government lockdowns, a lot of businesses have begun offering free training.  Some courses even come with certificates.  You have to ask yourself what do they expect in return and what is the quality of free training?

Quality Training

A quality training experience involves three things from the user’s viewpoint:

  • accurate information,
  • appropriate new skills, and
  • long-term viability. 

Let’s look at each of these to compare free training with a credentialed facilitation.

Accurate Information

Anyone can put together a YouTube video and type up a reference list.  However, a credential facilitator has demonstrated years of experience practicing in the field and in delivering proven outcomes to other clients.  Experienced facilitators are not only subject matter experts but also are skilled in the education process as well. 

Appropriate New Skills

Occasionally, we take refresher training to remind ourselves of basic skills or competencies.  Sometimes we take training on subjects we already know well because of government or trade association rules and regulations requiring demonstration of knowledge for renewal of a license or certificate. 

On the other hand, a lot of people today are presenting information they read in a book or in a magazine article as “new”.  Unless you have never before been hungry, are you really learning anything knew by watching a YouTube video on how to make a sandwich?

Valuable training and facilitation might cost more than watching a free YouTube video, but you will validate learning new skills as an outcome.  You should expect to do something you could not do before.  You should expect to trial and practice the new skill in the training course and get feedback from the instructor. 

A few years ago, I built Adirondack chairs for our patio.  I did not know how to use the router to smooth the edges of the wood.  So, I watched a bunch of YouTube videos.  But I did not learn how to use the router from the video – that only provided a view of how an expert used a router.  (See a related blog post, Innovation Leaders are NOT Teachers.)

Long-Term Viability

I have never used the router again.  This was not a skill that gave me long-term viability in my profession or my hobbies.  With shutdowns on lockdowns, people are producing crazy things and calling it “training”.  A lot of this free information is definitely short-term in nature, like how to exercise at home without weights.  To succeed as an innovation leader, you need long-term skills that benefit you today, tomorrow, and in five years. 

Real facilitation will give you skills that help you build your career (or hobby) for the long haul.  A credentialed trainer will support you in implementing skills even after the training session has concluded.  S/he will survey you and your manager to ensure you have been executing process steps accurately and that the organization has benefited from the training.  No YouTube video will ever ask you how you are doing three months later!

Why Not Free Training?

You get what you pay for.  Free training is generic and basic.  Customized facilitation from a long serving member of industry targets your needs to help you speed development.  They will work with you before, during, and after the training event to ensure your team gets accurate information, appropriate new skills, and long-term viability.  Expert facilitators maintain credentials with respected trade associations like the Project Management Institute (PMI®), the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), and the American Society of Engineering Management (ASEM). 

Do you want to learn more about training for innovation or for leading cross-functional teams?  Please email me at info (at) Simple-PDH.com for more information on building innovation leaders. 

© Simple-PDH.com

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.

A Slow Recovery

Watch the 20-second summary and then read on!

Innovation leaders draw on stories to frame the context for new products and features.  We use these narratives to understand our customers – from their viewpoints – and to identify needs or opportunities.  We draw lessons from these stories to inform our approach to new problems based on how we solved a similar problem in the past.  Today, I’m going to share my story of recovery and apply it to how we can approach innovation in the current broken economy. 

Don’t Ride Your Bike in the Rain

About three and a half years ago, I broke my shoulder.  I rarely think about it now, but without an ability to work out for the past few weeks due to government lockdowns, I have had some discomfort in the joint.  Mostly, the accident was an interruption to my work and a nuisance to time management, but recovery from the injury was very slow. 

In October 2016, I checked the weather app on my phone.  No rain for 82 minutes.  “Great,” I thought.  That gave me time to ride a 12-mile route to the gym.  I assumed I could workout while it rained and head home after the storm passed.  Instead, a torrential rain stuck struck me about halfway into my ride.  The rain was so heavy I couldn’t see 10-feet ahead of me. 

Having had “safety” drilled into me from my work years at a petrochemical plant, I (ironically) decided to ride on the shoulder.  I thought it would be “safer’ than riding on the road like I usually do.  Unfortunately, I was unfamiliar with the shoulder which had lots of litter and I struck a large discontinuity in the pavement.  The next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground and couldn’t lift my arm. 

Ten days later, I had surgery to piece together the crushed bone.  The break was so severe that the doctor had ordered an artificial joint to be available in the surgery room in case the fragments of bone were too small to put together again. 

Keeping in mind that I’m normally very active – I don’t even know how to sit still for five minutes – the rehabilitation was excruciating for me.  The broken arm had to be in a sling for six weeks without movement to fuse the bone.  Six weeks!  And then physical therapy involved only stretching for several weeks.  I laughed when they finally allowed me to do bicep curls with a one-lb. weight.  I was used to bench-pressing 75% of my body weight. 

I worked and worked at the physical therapy.  They recommended doing at-home exercises a few times per week.  I did the exercises three times per day.  At the rehab center, I ramped up the weight, intensity, and duration of each exercise until I was the first patient in rehab to be released from the doctor’s care.  

For the next 18 months, I went to the gym religiously, sometimes twice per day.  When I traveled, I went to the hotel gym.  On car trips, I carried my own dumbbells and stretch bands so I could work out and heal quicker.  My overriding goal was to get back to normal.  And after 18 months, I could bench press just over 50% of my body weight.  (I lost more than five pounds in the first week after my accident and didn’t gain it back until this lockdown.)  This was/is a slow recovery!

Today’s Economic Depression

My shoulder has never gone back to “normal”.  I have lost flexibility and I feel an odd tightness at times – especially when I can’t workout.  On the other hand, I still love to ride my bike and bought a new road bike a year ago, converting (for the first time ever) to clipless pedals. 

The economic collapse caused by the government’s reactions to a virus impacting less than 1% of the population will have a slow recovery.  We are witnessing skyrocketing unemployment and debt which will surely be addressed with increased taxes and inflation.  Our way of life will never again be “normal”.  Like my shoulder, it might take 18 months to get close, but we will never have the flexibility we had before.  After all, like lemmings, we all dutifully take our shoes off for TSA with some strange assumption that the action makes us “safe”. 

Likewise, society will sacrifice rights for a vision of “safety”.  Without scientific data, people who are not sick will wear masks because a government bureaucrat told them to do it.  People will order food delivered to their home instead of shopping.  We will accept – as a society – a deterioration of civil rights in exchange for a continued facade of “safety” without explanation. 

Improvement

Instead of accepting that this is the so-called “new normal”, I challenge every innovation leader to work on improvement.  Just as I did after I broke my shoulder, we can test new products and ideas three times as frequently.  We can find new ways to do things so we can get back a semblance of normal.  But the journey will be slow.  It’s hard to rapidly influx a fearful public back into jobs when we’re told there are large groups of people who might have better financial benefits with stimulus than through the pride of getting up every day to go to work.

What Can You Do?

It takes hard work to recover from a sports injury.  The physical therapist told me I had to do more work to recover than an old person who had a shoulder surgery because I had been in great shape.  Our economy was roaring and now it is completely collapsed.  We have a long way to go.  The only way we get there – as innovation leaders – is through rigorous dedication to best practices.  Like physical exercise, best practices help us recover, even if the recovery is excruciatingly slow. 

If you want to speed your organization’s recovery during this economic downturn, please join me for a free webinar on 30 April 2020 at 1 pm CDT (2 pm EDT, 11 am PDT) for 20 Tips of Innovation in 2020.  Each unique company attendee receives a complimentary Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team™ Personal Development assessment and coaching session.  Register here. 

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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.

The Spirit of Innovation

People view the meaning of innovation differently.  A colleague of mine says innovation is equivalent to creativity.  Another friend thinks innovation means developing a specific and particular consumer good.  Others say that innovation is the same as invention. 

Innovation is all these things but also something more, and perhaps, something less.  Corporate innovation involves a repeatable and systematic approach to developing and deploying technologies to deliver value to the customer and profit to the organization.  Customers do not purchase products or services unless they need (or want) them.  Companies must only manufacture products and provide services that create profit for them.  This is the spirit of innovation. 

A Systematic Approach

Inventions are patentable but you might also invent something new and never share it with another person.  Great chefs invent new creations in their kitchens every day.  Fitness instructors invent new moves and routines.  In my hobby, I invent new greeting card designs every time I sit down in my craft room.  Yet none of these inventions meet the definition of an innovation because they are one-off, individual creations. 

Innovation is a systematic approach to designing and developing sustainable products and services.  Products and services fill a need for customers.  While the chef’s tasty meal hopefully provides nutrition, it does not mean the next meal will also be tasty and nutritious.  My family exclaims delight in receiving my greeting cards but the next one might be smeared and ugly. 

NPD Framework (copyright Global NP Solutions)

Systematic approaches to corporate innovation include a set of best practices applied to the organization’s strategic goals.  Companies within the same industry have different strategies, and therefore, different approaches to innovation.  The chosen innovation framework for new product development (NPD) must also reflect the organization’s culture and philosophy. 

Customer-Centric Orientation

Innovation also differs from invention by having a customer-centric orientation.  The chef adding ingredients and spices to soup is doing what he thinks will taste good.  I create greeting cards that I think are cute.  These are self-centered outcomes while innovation focuses on customer intent. 

Companies that are most successful with repeated innovation – think Procter and Gamble or Apple – use customer insights to drive technology development.  All successful innovators first identify customer needs and wants before designing product, service, or applications.  It is impossible to force a set of features onto a customer and to make a profit at the same time.  Customers only pay for necessities and what they value. 

Engaged Employees

Finally, the spirit of innovation starts and ends with engaged employees.  Strategies and systems are great, but somebody has to do the required work.  Understanding customer needs is a first step you have to incorporate those requirements into a product to be successful.  Doing the short-term and long-term work of innovation is the responsibility of employees and staff. 

Productive innovation teams are engaged with the mission of the organization and buy into the project goals.  Management gives these teams freedom to operate and to make decisions within a set of guardrails established by the strategy and mission.  Individuals and teams are rewarded for their collective work and share in returns from successful product launches.  Employees are presented with lifelong opportunities to learn new skills and are recognized for knowledge and accomplishments (regardless of age, degree, or other categorizations). 

Creating an Innovative Spirit

How do you foster the spirit of innovation at your firm?  First, recognize the difference between innovation and invention.  Innovation is a systematic, profit-driven approach to meeting customer needs.  It is customer-centric since your end-users only pay for what they need and what they value.  Finally, you must provide autonomy to new product development teams to engage and empower employees for innovation. 

Companies with a spirit of innovation are easy to recognize.  The staff smile a lot and consumers praise their products and services.  You cannot fake the spirit of innovation, but you can learn how to do it right!  Join me on 30 April 2020 at 1:00 pm CDT (2:00 pm EDT, 11:00 am PDT) for a free webinar on the 20 Tips of Innovation and you will learn how to create a Spirit of Innovation in your organization, too.  You can also read the full approach to learning, adopting, transforming, and sustaining innovation in The Innovation ANSWER Book available at Amazon. 

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 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.

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A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC  

Study.   Learn.   Earn.   Simple.

Impacting Innovation

Successful innovation requires keeping pace with industry changes and the eve- changing demands of a fractured customer base.  Companies that repetitively create, design, and develop profitable new products understand consumer behaviors and enable scientific advances.  These firms capitalize on both internal and external systems to generate success in the marketplace. 

Three factors impact innovation and can determine repeatable market successes.  These are organization, technology, and culture.  Let’s take a look at each element in turn. 

Organization

At the highest level, an organization’s strategy drives innovation.  A firm’s strategy reflects its mission (what is the purpose of the business), its vision (what will the future look like), and its values (what traits make us unique to accomplish our mission).  An innovation strategy also informs internal and external customers of senior management’s risk tolerance.  An aggressive innovation program indicates higher risk tolerance than an R&D portfolio fixed on incremental improvements and sustaining innovations. 

Further, an organization’s strategy will determine systems and structures necessary for a corporation to conduct R&D.  Traditionally, firms have followed a Stage-Gate™ approach to new product development (NPD) which allows larger risk (and larger investment) after smaller experimental phases are proven in the product design process.  This is a balanced risk approach if the staged and gated system is implemented with cross-functional NPD teams. 

Today, many firms are embracing Agile methodologies in which the focus is directed toward people ‑ customers and innovation teams ‑ over products and features.  Time-to-market is faster and end-users test prototypes early in the developmental process to reduce waste.  Planning documentation and contract negotiations are minimized, while customer interactions are optimized. 

Technology

Almost all products today include a technical interface, whether it is a website or a smartphone app.  Technology also plays a role in the development process itself.  Most firms use some software tools to manage new product portfolios and/or the individual NPD projects.  In addition, software tools and apps enhance communication for dispersed teams. 

For example, product portfolio management (PPM) is a broad view of all new product development projects, including those being actively worked and those in the pipeline.  There are literally dozens of PPM software packages available for organizations to utilize in aiding their decision-making.  PPM tools collate individual project data to help senior managers view information and to make strategic innovation decisions.  Most PPM tools translate gobs of data into simple charts, displaying value added project information in an easy-to-consume manner. 

Culture

Culture is always the most difficult element to describe, and to change, to drive successful innovation.  Many senior managers will point to organizational systems and structures or to technology when NPD metrics are not at the expected level.  However, it is rare that only a technical or business solution alone can solve an ailing innovation program. 

Culture sits at the heart of how things get done in an organization.  Regardless of how aggressively an innovation statement is worded, if senior management acts risk-averse, R&D will be limited to incremental improvements and simple feature additions.  Culture permeates team behaviors and individual work styles. 

Agile work environments stress people interactions over documentation.  Talking to customers is valued over contract negotiations with suppliers.  Failures are viewed as a learning rather than punishment for falling short of a goal.  Innovation teams are trusted to test prototypes with customers and to take responsibility for the whole product development. 

Impacting Innovation

Three elements impact innovation more than materials, engineering, or industry.  These are the organization, technology, and culture.  Factors like systems, structures, and strategies directly influence how innovation teams work internally and externally.  Selected decision-making tools can aid or abet speed of innovation by increasing data and information flow or by creating roadblocks between senior management and team members. 

Organizations should start with an examination of their overall strategy when seeking to enhance innovation.  Strategies reflect the degree to which the firm accepts risks in NPD.  PPM tools (technology) will translate individual project data so decision makers can actively assess innovation highest value innovation projects to pursue.  Strategies and technologies are often a mirror to the organization’s culture.  Culture is unspoken but determines how work gets done, rewards learning, and supports successful integration of NPD in an organization. 

Learn More

If your organization is struggling with innovation, especially in these challenging times, please contact me for a complimentary 30-minute innovation coaching session.  With over 20 years of experience and innovation clients across all industry groups, I can help you get innovation on track for success!  Contact me at area code 281, phone 787-3979 or email to [email protected]

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 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 280-8717 for more information on coaching for entrepreneurs and innovators.

© Simple-PDH.com

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC  

Study.   Learn.   Earn.   Simple.

Working in Virtual Teams

I had originally written this blog some time ago; however, as many people around the globe are being forced to work from home, I believe this post might be more relevant than ever.  Please note my personal best wishes for the wellbeing of you and your family until the craziness subsides.

Working in Virtual Teams

While much research has been published on why virtual teams fail, fewer publications have demonstrated what works.  We present a five-phase model that balances individual contributors, leadership skills, and necessary functional enablers.

What is a Virtual Team?

Virtual teams share three characteristics.  First, they are tasked with completing a common objective, meaning that there is a business need for the team to be assembled.  Second, team members are dispersed in different geographical locations or working from home.

Normally, we only think about dispersed team members located in different cities or in different time zones around the world.  In recent days, we also accept that panic and fear force dispersion for workers.  Any barrier to face-to-face communication results in a dispersed team.  For instance, team members located on different floors of the same building face barriers in face-to-face communication.  They must take an elevator or climb a flight of stairs to meet.  A chance interaction at the coffee pot or water cooler (do we still have these privileges?) is greatly reduced, even though these team members are theoretically “co-located”. 

Barriers to face-to-face communication reduce opportunistic social interactions, and decrease chances of random idea exchange and collaboration that lead to enhanced creative problem-solving. 

Finally, virtual teams conduct most of their communication by electronic technology.  Of course, many people today (especially millennials) choose to communicate through technology – texting instead of talking.  But in the case of a virtual team, electronic communication is the primary means of communication due to separation, distance, and time differences.

Improving Virtual Team Performance

The five-phase model to improve virtual team behaviors and to lead to enhanced performance includes:

  • Initiation and structure,
  • Methods of communication,
  • Meetings and protocols,
  • Knowledge management, and
  • Leadership.

Each foundational building block includes two or three specific tools, actions, or checklists that support the effectiveness of a virtual team.  For example, communication includes a recommended tool, a common practice, and a leadership action to get real results in virtual team performance.

Why Do We Need a Model for Virtual Teams?

Models help to frame the context and solution to problems.  Moreover, training participants in a given model establishes a common framework and provides clear expectations for team behaviors and performance.

We recommend training virtual teams on the five-stage model at the earliest group meetings.  One of the recommendations for a virtual project than is to hold a face-to-face meeting to ensure a common understanding.  The face-to-face kick-off meeting is also a time to develop special technical skills and team behaviors.  Technical training may include project management skills, software applications, and new product development processes.  Team training should include communication, leadership, and knowledge management.

Performance Measures

Projects are measured by their critical success factors determined during project initiation.  Likewise, virtual teams should be measured by team behaviors and metrics that are established for success of the team’s activities.  Virtual teams must have team metrics in order to support teamwork.

Many companies speak about teamwork but will evaluate employees on individual performance metrics.  The only way to enforce team behaviors is to include team measures in employee evaluations.  This is especially important for virtual teams in which a large amount of work is conducted independently and in isolation from others.  Such performance measure are a part of the Meetings and Protocols arena of the five-phase virtual team model (VTM). 

Identifying Virtual Team Members

Selecting team members to serve on a virtual team will be addressed in greater detail in a future post.  For now, however, be aware that virtual team members must have a different set of characteristics than those working in traditional, co-located teams.

First, virtual team members must demonstrate technical expertise.  One of the benefits of a virtual team is an ability to access technical experts regardless of their location.  Unique cultural, professional, and personal experiences yield a variety of perspectives that are advantageous to selecting technical expert talent on a virtual team.

Next, virtual team members require a higher degree of self-sufficiency, self-motivation, and emotional intelligence than traditional team members.  Team members may work in isolation without day-to-day routines or schedules.  Self-directed leadership is required for successful task completion.

Finally, dispersed team members should be skilled at operating within a virtual environment.  While they may not be computer wizards themselves, virtual team members must be tech-savvy in order to best utilize communication tools and shared knowledge to accomplish project work.

Learn How to Improve Virtual Team Performance

You can improve the performance of a virtual team by using the five-phase Virtual Team Model:  initiation and structure, communication, meetings and protocols, knowledge management, and leadership.  Learn how to improve your team’s performance in our online Virtual Team course.  Find out more here and register here.  Contact me at [email protected] for questions/comments.

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A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC  

Study.       Learn.       Earn.       Simple.