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Innovation Team Trust

Innovation is naturally risky.  We are not sure of the technology, markets, or product design – especially at the outset of a project.  Then, we throw people into the mix and it might seem that we are lucky to ever see new products make it to market.

Successful innovation teams share several characteristics.  Companies like Google and 3M offer unstructured time-on-the-job for individuals to pursue ideas.  Other firms focus on improved project management skills to manage the scope, schedule, and budget.  In my experience, it really is the people that make the difference between a successful innovation project and one that is so-so.

Read on or watch the short summary video!

Trust

Successful, high-performance teams build on a foundation of trust.  Trust is essential to communication and it is communication that allows us to share ideas for new product development (NPD). 

Trust means being not afraid to share an opposing view but also being open and receptive to listening to new ideas or concepts.  There’s a story that President John F. Kennedy nearly went to war in Cuba over the Bay of Pigs because his advisors were afraid to offer alternate ideas.  Everyone on the team, regardless of status, must trust one another in order to openly and honestly communicate.

Intellectual and Emotional Trust

For innovation teams we must manage both intellectual trust and emotional trust.  Intellectual trust is established when we recognize the credentials and experience of a colleague.  Knowing that a team member was an accounting degree establishes intellectual trust that he can conduct the financial analysis accurately.

Emotional trust, on the other hand, is established when we know someone else will support our position and stand up for us.  We can only build emotional trust when we have built relationships with others.  It is emotional trust that allows us to take risks – especially important for radical innovation.

Leadership

Of course, intra-team trust is built only if the leader is trustworthy.  But what makes a trustworthy leader?  A person keeps her commitments, treats others fairly, and asks questions makes a good leader.  My philosophy as a first-time pilot plant supervisor was that I’d never ask my technicians to do something I wouldn’t do.  That included staying after hours (even though I was salaried and they were paid hourly).  It meant watching gauges and monitoring process variables in the sweltering heat or cold, rainy winters of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  It meant building a relationship and building emotional trust.

Stability

Successful innovations often follow a tortuous path of development – starting with one technology and target market and ending with different technical specifications and customers.  While it might feel chaotic to change direction in the middle of a project, the best innovation leaders and teams draw stability from processes throughout the NPD life cycle.  Understanding the mission and strategy of the project is foundational to success. 

Senior executives and project leaders demonstrate trust during a project by offering tools for stability.  Project team members should be aware of expectations in their work assignments, anticipated deadlines and milestones, and follow standardized design and development processes.  By establishing stable and predictable steps in the innovation process, leaders demonstrated capability to build relationships and emotional trust.

Trust for Innovation Teams

Innovation teams need foundational trust to create risky new technologies and products. Without trust, organizations are limited to incremental innovations that suffer from intense competition and low profit margins.  Accepting risk, by building trust within a team, leads to more radical innovations and longer-term profitability.

Intellectual trust is enough if you want to fight competitors on the incremental innovation front.  But, to take new risks, teams need to build cohesive teams founded on emotional trust.  Leaders demonstrate the characteristics for successful NPD by being open and honest in communication, treating all stakeholders fairly, and listening to all perspectives.  Furthermore, leaders generate a trustworthy reputation by providing stability and predictability for the team.  Creating a project charter with roles and responsibilities, deadlines, and expectations allows a risky innovation project to follow a more predictable path to commercialization.

Learn more

There are lots of ways to learn more about building successful teams and leaders for innovation. Here are few.  Give me a call at area code 281 phone 280.8717 for more information or send me an email at info@globalnpsolutions.com.  Enjoy your innovation journey!

Act now to improve the effectiveness of your cross-functional innovation teams.  Space is limited in our complimentary Q&A webinars on Building Effective Cross-Functional NPD Teams.  Part 2 is 28 August at 12:00 noon CDT covering Steps 3 through 5 in the process:  team processes, team charters, and virtual teams.  If you missed Part 1 (self-awareness and team trust), please join us on 6 September 2019.

Learn firsthand how establishing trust can improve cross-functional NPD team effectiveness.  REGISTER NOW – spaces are filling fast!

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3 Myths about Innovation Teams

As much as corporate leaders talk about the importance of innovation, they still complain about a lack of results.  Innovation is not magical nor is it easy.  Successful new product development (NPD) relies on deploying the right technology at the right time into the right market segment.  Complicating the situation even more is that you count on effective, cross-functional teams to ideate, design, develop, and sell the new products.  Yet building productive innovation teams requires leadership skills and temperance. 

Of course, lots of managers think that teamwork is easy – just pull together a group of people, tell them what to do, and then sit back waiting for the results.  Unfortunately, most of us have learned it’s not so easy to build and sustain effective, cross-functional innovation teams.  Let’s look at some myths of team building and how you can invert these assumptions to accelerate your innovation programs. 

Myth #1 – All Engineers are the Same

Or we could say all designers are the same and all marketers are the same and all salespeople are the same.  This myth is busted as soon as you consider your work colleagues on your existing and previous NPD teams.  We all know engineers who are extraverts, designers who are methodical, marketers who are analytical, and salespeople who are quiet and reserved. 

One way to better understand the work styles of your teammates and to build open communication is through the DiSC® Workplace assessment.  DiSC identifies a preferred work style for each team member:  dominant, influential, supportive, or conscientious.  While many engineers have a conscientious work style – with a preference for analytical, “heads-down” work – others are also dominant, influencing, and supportive.  The same goes for designers, marketers, and salespeople. 

When your team completes a DiSC assessment, it opens new conversations and builds camaraderie among the team members.  As an innovation team leader, you can match tasks and activities to the work style preferences of your team members.  When team members understand what drives motivation for others, productivity improves.  And when productivity improves, new products get to market faster spurring profitability.

Myth #2 – Everyone is Equal

Another assumption I see in my work with innovation teams is that managers assume everyone is equal.  As a Christian and as an American, I do believe everyone has equal opportunity, but not everyone has equal skill, nor should we populate an innovation team in exact percentages. 

Sometimes, managers make the assumption that if there are 100 hours of project work, then each of the five team members needs to 20 hours of work. Unfortunately, this situation is exacerbated by Myth #1 so that all the R&D work is assumed to be done by engineers and all of the marketing work to be done by the marketing department. 

Cross-functional teams increase the go to market rate and profitability of new products because the team members are not equal.  Each individual brings his or her own experiences to the team.  These experiences include successful and failed product launches in similar product categories, global customer knowledge, and lessons learned. 

The Team Dimensions Profile model teaches us that innovation projects go through stages of initiation, selling the idea, organizing for implementation, and actually designing and building the new product.  We rely more heavily on creative personalities to generate ideas at the front-end and more analytical work styles to organize and execute the project tasks near the back-end.  Cross-functional team members will find that as they understand which team members are “idea people” and which are “executors”, they will work together more effectively. 

Moreover, using a common vocabulary of our work style preferences can help moderate the pace of work. Creators are tasked to a higher degree when an NPD project is initiated but need to tamp down their style when operations and manufacturing decisions are made.  Understanding how each team member is unique – and not equal – enhances communication and improves the quality of new product delivery. 

Myth #3 – Teams Don’t Change

Unfortunately, I’ve met some very cynical managers in my time.  They assume that they’ve been saddled with a group of people to do work and that no one can change.  Carol Dweck describes this as a fixed mindset.  (Read my book review of “Mindset:  The New Psychology of Success” here.)

The fixed mindset assumes talent is given at birth and cannot ever change.  Knowledge is like a reservoir that empties over time and cannot be refilled.  In contrast, a growth mindset is one that cheers on failure for the sake of learning and praises baby steps because those baby steps will become leaps of knowledge in the future.  Great innovation leaders exhibit the growth mindset and challenge teams to find new ways of working.  One model of building effective, cross-functional teams is through the Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team®. 

In Five Behaviors, team members assess their levels of trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results.  They learn how their work styles influence their responses in different team situations and how to manage conflict in a healthy way.  Applying a growth mindset, teams learn new ways to commit to project goals and to achieve mutual accountability.  And over time, the needle moves on trust to demonstrate the building of an effective team innovation team. 

How Do You Bust Team Myths?

Innovation is critical to the success of every business.  The product life cycle is shrinking so that companies need to launch more and better products faster just to keep pace with global competition.  But managers often fail to build the appropriate infrastructure to support and nurture NPD teams. 

First, job titles are not reflective of a team member’s work style.  Use a DiSC assessment to understand and share work style preferences.  Team members learn new skills and can adapt to situations across the NPD life cycle better as they begin to understand each other at a deeper level.

Next, everyone is not equal at all times on every project.  Successful innovation teams capitalize on different skills at various points in the NPD process.  Creators are great at brainstorming ideas, advancers can sell the concept to executives and customers, refiners analyze and organize relevant processes, and executors design and build the new product.  Each unique team member contributes to the project based on his or her experiences in life lessons.  The Team Dimensions Profile helps the team recognize how each person can excel and help each other during the different stages of the product development life cycle.

Finally, people can change and want to grow and learn.  A fixed mindset will doom any innovation project to failure.  Instead, adopting a growth mindset and teaching the team about trust, conflict, and accountability will build cohesiveness, yielding tangible financial results. 

Learn more

Act now to improve the effectiveness of your cross-functional innovation teams.  Space is limited in our complimentary Q&A webinars on Building Effective Cross-Functional NPD Teams.  Part 1 is 31 July at 12:00 noon CDT covering Steps 1 and 2 in the process:  team member self-awareness and managing team behaviors.  Part 2 is 28 August at 12:00 noon CDT covering Steps 3 through 5 in the process:  team processes, team charters, and virtual teams.  You will be automatically registered for Part 2 when you register for Part 1.  Anyone who attends the Q&A webinar will have access to your choice of work style assessment (DiSC, Five Behaviors, or Team Dimensions). 

Learn firsthand how applying a growth mindset can improve cross-functional NPD team effectiveness.  REGISTER NOW – spaces are filling fast!

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Building Innovation Leadership

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Epic Innovation Failures and What to Do Differently (Part 2)

Last week in the blog, we talked about some epic failures.  Nokia, Sears, and Google all demonstrated huge failures by failing to recognize the competition and failing to understand customer needs.  This week we’re going to talk about what to do differently and how to learn from these epic failures. 

What to Do Differently

Hindsight is blessed with data and analysis, but as innovators we need to ask what can be done differently.  At the key decision points in product development what could Nokia, Sears, or Google have done differently?  These companies failed to innovate, and it cost them business.  In the case of Sears, the cost has spread to employees losing their jobs and impacting growth in other arenas.

#1 – Don’t Underestimate Changing Trends

Nokia, Sears, and Google+ experienced epic failures because they failed to recognize changing consumer tastes.  Moreover, these companies made a classic error of investing in sustaining innovations.  Disruptive innovation serves customers with new business models, not just new technology.  The iPhone offered conveniences in data transfer, no matter how clunky or slow, that Nokia devices did not. 

#2 – Scale of Operations Does Not Translate to Innovation Success

Sears had huge investments in department stores across the country.  The back-office operations were hefty in order to manage product purchases and distribution across nearly every household category.  On top of that, Sears’ own brands, like Craftsman, required intensive management. 

Sometimes, the scale of operations can add cost benefits.  If a factory can increase throughput, then the variable cost per unit declines and profits increase.  However, innovation suffers when the scale of operations becomes unfocused and the strategy moves to serving everyone all the time.  This is the core reason that sustaining innovations slowly drive a business into demise.  Focus is a key ingredient for long term innovation success.  Focus is something that Sears had lost along the way. 

#3 – Market Timing is Important

AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) still emerging, and we don’t yet know how markets and consumers will use these technologies.  Lowe’s has had some success to help do-it-yourselfers with AR.  Google Glass was probably launched too early in the product life cycle, while Google+ was launched too late to be competitive.  Market timing means having deep customer insights and understanding the competition.  Innovation depends on understanding technologies, products, customers, and the global marketplace.  These skills require that a company look outside-in rather than inside out.  Before launching a radical new product, like Google Glass, testing of features, attributes, and end-user acceptance need to be completed in a thorough fashion.  Market research data is far less expensive than a failed product launch!

Epic Failures and what to Do Differently

Last week we looked at some major product and brand failures.  But failures are only useful to study if we learn from them and then approach future projects with new knowledge.  To prevent epic failures and take advantage of the benefits of disruptive innovation, companies need to do three things well. 

  1. Understand market needs and consumer trends. 
  2. Focus on what you do well and don’t scale outside your focus area. 
  3. Time product launches based on customer needs rather than technology availability. 

How to Innovate Differently

Knowing what to do and knowing how to do it are two very different skills.  You know the stories of epic failures and now you need to implement innovation best practices.  Join me for the July online New Product Development Best Practices Training and our August Innovation Master Mind Q&A webinar.  Best practices training teaches you how to innovate effectively and the Innovation Master Mind makes you accountable for long-term innovation success.  For more information please contact me at info at Simple-PDH.com. 

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Epic Innovation Failures and What to Do Differently (Part 1)

2019 marks the 30th anniversary of “New Coke”

The Apple Newton.  BlackBerry.  Segway.  Blockbuster.  New Coke.  And the list goes on.  We are all familiar with the legendary failures of these brands and products.  Yet, the path to a successful, commercial product is littered with failures.  We even encouraged fast failure as a way to learn from the rapid prototyping of minimally viable products. 

What’s even worse than having a failed product is not learning from the failure.  Innovation is about smart failures and establishing a technical and market database that builds knowledge and customer insights.  Failures point us in the right direction to design better products and services to meet customer needs.  But along the journey, we need to learn from those mistakes and errors. 

Epic Failure #1

Nokia was a household name.  The Finnish company was first-to-market in developing a cellular network; and through the early 2000s, Nokia was a leading supplier of mobile phone devices.  What Nokia failed to recognize was that data transfer was becoming the primary utility of mobile phones, and not voice communications.  Partly because of the company’s size and entrenched strategy to serve existing customers, Nokia continued to focus on hardware, eventually losing out to Apple’s iPhone.  

Epic Failure #2

Sears had a long and rich history in the United States.  In a way, Sears was the Amazon of its day.  The Sears catalog was a mainstay in any home.  You could order anything from Sears:  a car, furniture, farm equipment, and of course, clothing and shoes. 

Sears managed the transition to local retail, and many shopping malls were anchored by a Sears department store.  Americans purchased washing machines, curtains, and hand tools to fill their homes.  Yet today, Sears department stores stand empty and shopping mall owners are actively seeking tenants to fill the large, looming empty spaces. 

What happened?  Like Nokia, Sears management failed to recognize changes in market trends in customer needs.  In particular, Sears failed to respond to the threat of low-cost retailers, like Walmart.  Add to that, a failure to keep up with customer trends, and we see hundreds of Sears stores closing across the country. 

Epic Failure #3

The behemoth tech company, Google, seems to control every element of our internet experiences from search to email and document storage.  Google also has a reputation for testing innovations and pulling products from the market that are unsuccessful. 

Google+ was an attempt to pull social media (and advertising dollars) to the platform.  Yet, Google+ had few subscribers and paled in numbers compared to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  Meanwhile, in 2015, the company launched Google Glass, a venture into hardware providing augmented reality (AR).  The devices were expensive, and consumers immediately questioned the privacy of users and those around them that wore the glasses. 

We can learn from Google to pull failed products from the marketplace.  There is no use throwing more money at Google+ or Google Glass when the market dated does not support product adoption or growth.  Yet, Google also made the same errors as Nokia and Sears in assuming they knew what customers wanted and that the competition was of no concern. 

What’s Next?

Nokia, Sears, and Google have all had very public failures.  Management within these companies thought they had made sound decisions based on existing customer data and assessments of technology.  Yet, all three companies left out critical information in their decision-making processes.  Innovation requires we focus on the customer and market trends, understanding competition, and scale of operations to time the markets for new product profitability.

Prevent innovation failures by learning innovation best practices and completing your Innovation Health Assessment.

Next week, will wrap up this two-part blog series with a look at How to Do Things Differently so you don’t fall into the same innovation traps as Nokia, Sears, and Google.  In the meantime, to prevent epic failures with your own innovations, you should register for Innovation Best Practices training in July.  This course teaches you how to avoid product and brads failures by focusing on innovation strategy, customer insights, and successful implementation practices.  Register for the July online training here. 

Last chance:  If you complete all the questions in the Innovation Health Assessment survey by 30 June 2019 and enter code “Blog 19”, you will be entered to win a $15 Starbucks gift card through a random drawing.  Instructions for to register your data and to complete the Innovation Health Assessment are here.

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Product Development Fundamentals

New product development (NPD) is a set of processes and systems that convert ideas into saleable products and services.  Successful NPD means that those processes are simple, repeatable, and lead to profit.  Nearly every organization – big or small – creates new products and services in order to stay competitive.  But, to win the competition, the business must be successful at continuous NPD.  As Peter Drucker said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

Simple

NPD processes and systems must be simple to lead to repetitive success in innovation.  As an engineer, I appreciate simplicity.  The most elegant systems that humans have ever created are truly the least complicated.  And as an engineer, I know that when a system breaks down, it is much quicker and easier to troubleshoot a simple system then a complex one. 

Simple NPD processes include traditional staged-and-gated systems as well as emerging agile processes, like Scrum.  A typical staged-and-gated system for innovation requires the NPD team to lay out goals and action plans for the next stage of work.  A set of gatekeepers, will approve the course of work along with an appropriate budget and by assigning adequate resources.  In this way, each stage of work is evaluated for risk and the gate reviews ensure progress on the project as the new product moves from idea to concept to prototype and, finally, to commercialization. 

Scrum processes are also simple systems to develop new products.  In this case, flexibility in design is valued and product specifications are varied to ensure customer satisfaction.  Risk is managed via frequent customer feedback, and prototypes are created in parallel while the NPD team scopes the remainder of the project. 

Repeatable

Regardless of whether an organization chooses to follow traditional staged-and-gated NPD systems or more flexible Scrum project management frameworks, innovation processes must be repeatable.  Processes should repeatedly eliminate poor concepts early and rapidly advance the most promising ideas.  Project advancement decisions are made on a consistent and predictable basis.  As a result of repeatable innovation, investment in design and marketing is steady while new products grow in contribution to the overall product portfolio. 

Profitability

I recently heard someone say that if you’re not making sales, you are just playing with a hobby.  New product development must lead to business profits or the business will suffer.  Of course, there is an expected time period in which the investment in design and development will exceed sales, but at some point, every successful product or service turns a profit. 

As a kid, I really loved doing plastic canvas needlepoint.  I made all kinds of cool items from coasters to tissue box covers and tic-tac-toe games.  During the course of a summer, I completely saturated my mom, sisters, and grandmothers with my clever crafts.  So, I put the rest up for sale at the shop of a family friend.  After Christmas, half of my “wonderful” products came back to me.  I made a teensy, tiny profit and learned the difference between a hobby and a business.   

Fundamentals of Product Development

New product development requires three facets to be successful:  simple processes, repeatable systems, and profitable endeavors.  Without these three fundamentals an idea might be converted into a reality but not a commercial, saleable product. 

To learn more about product development fundamentals, join our easy online course at www.simple-pdh.com.  Learning about Product Development Fundamentals is the first step in your journey to becoming an innovation leader.  Contact me for more information!

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How Does Capital Impact Innovation?

I am usually an optimistic person and I truly believe everything will work out okay in the end.   Deadlines are always met, even if the team leader has to exert herculean effort.  What we worry about today rarely matters in a year’s time. 

Yet, I have to admit that I’m often pessimistic when I hear that the economy is different.  To me, economic forces (without government intervention) are natural laws, just as are physical laws and the rules of thermodynamics.  People “in-the-know” are telling us that the economy is different now, though, so let’s look at how that impacts innovation. 

Loose Capital

Interest rates remain very low, so capital is easy to come by.  What’s puzzling – and perhaps different – is that many large corporations are choosing to spend their capital on stock buybacks instead of investing in future growth.

From an innovation standpoint, these companies are signaling that they don’t have any good ideas.  That is a really troubling thought.  But I bet if the executives at these firms asked their R&D, operations, and marketing folks for ideas, they would learn about some great investment opportunities in new product development. 

Production vs. Development

When capital is tight, companies focus – as they should – on productivity and efficiency.  Investments during economic downturns keep the factories running and will improve bottom-line growth on their income statements.

Yet, it’s not bottom-line growth that gives a company longevity.  Top-line growth – which means finding new sources of revenue – is what sustains a firm through both good and bad times.  Investing in new product development (NPD) on a disciplined basis allows a firm to access top-line growth and to sustain a business over the long term.

Learning

At the heart of the matter, innovation is about learning:  learning customer needs, learning new technologies, learning about relationships.  Many executives forego innovation projects, especially in economic downturns, that are inherently risky.  Yet, risk and failure support learning. 

In a period of loose capital, investments in learning and innovation are tremendously valuable.  Many studies have shown that firms with continuous R&D outperform their competitors.  Moreover, companies that work on next generation products during an economic downturn are the best positioned for success when the stock markets recover.  An investment in innovation will create an environment of long-term learning that contributes to top line growth period

Capital Investment for Innovation

As firms plan for a predicted, cyclical downturn in the next few years, senior leaders should consider their approach to capital investment in R&D.  Stock buybacks signal you have run out of ideas for new products and services.  Instead of propping up the stock price by shrinking the number of shares, invest in innovation to grow revenues.  New customers in new markets create new opportunities.  Your stakeholders will embrace the learning and growth that arises from innovative thinking! 

Are you struggling with innovation investment decisions?  Call me now at area code 281 phone 280-8717 to schedule a free, 30-minute innovation coaching session through Gold Level Leadership Coaching program.  Chief Innovation Officers (CIO) and New Product Development Professionals (NPDP) can learn strategic innovation practices in the Innovation Master Mind (IMM) group.  Click here to register for the next innovation Q&A webinar and Join the IMM Now! 

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Design Thinking Tools

Last week, I had the pleasure of presenting to the South Texas Section of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (STS AIChE) for the professional development hour.  I love to help people learn how to solve problems more creatively, so we discussed and practiced several different design thinking tools for innovation.  My thanks to Babak Rafienia (pictured here with me) for his high-level organizational skills, despite torrential rains and flooding in Houston on the night of the event.

Design Thinking Model

Design thinking is a collaborative and creative problem-solving methodology that helps individuals and teams find the best solutions by focusing on customer empathy.  The model is simple – two steps – identify the problem and solve the problem. 

However, we do iterate between a Discovery Stage and Define Stage to correctly identify the problem, and we cycle between creating multiple solution alternatives and evaluating them in the solving phase.  No new product development (NPD) team should ever go to the lab without clarifying a customer’s problem.  It is fun to invent new things, yet unless there is a market need for the technical solution, developers are just playing. 

Discovery

In the discovery stage we use tools like a customer journey map and a customer empathy map.  These design thinking tools help us to understand how consumers know that they have a problem, what they think and feel about the problem, and how they identify product and service solutions.  The customer journey map also involves following end-users past the point of purchase to understand how they feel about the product during use and at the end of its life cycle. 

Define

The define stage of design thinking clarifies the customer’s needs into a simple statement.  At the STS AIChE meeting, we practiced defining problems using noun/verb matching.  This tool increases collaboration and also encourages creative solutions.  It’s important to differentiate between complaints and problem statements.  You may never make a whiner happy, but you can design product solutions that address clear and simple problem statements. 

Example Affinity Diagram

Create

A fun and useful design thinking activity for an NPD team is to collect the problem statements from the define phase and categorize them using a mind map or affinity diagram.  In our practice exercise at STS AIChE, we used the example of disrupting airline travel by employing a variety of design thinking tools, including customer journey maps and noun/verb matching.  Our affinity diagram showed some key categories of improving the waiting areas before boarding a flight and enhancing seating on the airplane itself.  The next step (Evaluate Phase) would be to generate and test simple prototypes of say, larger and lighter standing seats (one idea from our session). 

Design Thinking Tools

You can use design thinking tools to address a lot of different situations and problems.  The benefit of design thinking tools is that they are fast and easy to use, they build collaboration, and enhance creativity.  You focus on the end-user’s needs from a qualitative perspective ensuring that you build empathy for the customer. 

Act now

Our discount rate for Life Design Master Mind ends on 17 May 2019.  In Life Design Master Mind, you will learn how to apply design thinking tools to your own situation – whether that is growing the skills of your NPD team or to making a decision to go back to school or change jobs.  Give me a call at area code 281 phone 280-8717 if you want to review the Life Design Master Mind Q&A webinar recording from April.  Sign up here for Life Design Master Mind 17 May 2019 to get the upfront discount! 

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Continuous Learning for Innovation Leadership

Learning today takes very different forms than it did 10 or 20 years ago.  In the past, learning was primarily delivered in a classroom and was delivered based on a schedule given an employee’s tenure with the firm.  Skills transfer occurred from an expert teaching novices. 

Today, learning materials are delivered in short cell phone video clips, on-line, via webinar, and yes, even in a classroom.  Skills transfer occurs both vertically and horizontally, and training can be driven from an expert teaching a novice technical skills or from a new employee to experienced staff teaching market approaches.  Importantly, training is delivered more on-demand, when the learning is needed and job skills need performance enhancement. 

On-Line Training

There are a lot of benefits to on-line training period participants can access courses anytime and anywhere using practically any device.  (iPhones still have some format limitations to deliver video learning content.)  This means a person can access training during regular work hours or choose to learn new skills at home in evenings for weekends.  On-line training is very flexible. 

Of course, with the prevalence of on-line training, many organizations have observed the disadvantages, too.  A lot of on-line courses for leadership and innovation performance enhancement go unfinished.  Mandatory on-line training courses (e.g. for safety or regulatory requirements) must include constraints on screen advancing because participants tend to skip to the test in order to avoid dry, boring content but the training hours can be audited.  And while people have the best intention to do an on-line training class at night or on the weekend, there are lots of things that can get in the way such as sports, family, friends, yard chores, and so on. 

Classroom Training

A recent Harvard Business Review article (Mar/Apr 2019) notes the classroom training is essentially a thing of the past.  For all the benefits and flexibility of on-line training, classroom learning is not competitive.  And so goes the case against facilitated courses.  The argument is that classroom training is expensive, not only for the instructor and facilities but also because people are pulled away from their “regular” jobs.  Some employees will need to travel to the training center, resulting in added costs due to airfare, hotel, and rental cars. 

Yet, with all the expenses of classroom training, many organizations are missing the key benefit of face-to-face learning.  Networking.  Especially as employees climb career ladders, internal and external networks become a crucial resource for learning as well.  Leadership development and soft skills growth are best delivered in face-to-face format to allow a diverse cohort of young leaders opportunities to network. 

Kenny Smith, former Houston Rocket and ESPN basketball commentator, noted that the team was laser-focused on the game, especially during playoffs, when they traveled.  The team ate meals together, practiced together, and spent their free time together.  Home games always had distractions.  Classroom learning built this same camaraderie for an up-and-coming leadership cohort. 

Master Mind Groups

in the best of both worlds, people will get the training they need when they need it and are given a chance to build a reliance network for learning later on.  A master mind group offers a hybrid for learning and practicing leadership development skills.  Advantages of both on-line learning and the networking effects of classroom training are enhanced.  And because master mind groups are largely self-directed by the cohort, learning is on-demand and delivered just-in-time.  Training is delivered via live webinars, on-line video modules, podcasts, and through collaboration with your cohort advisory board.  In between live webinars, master mind members communicate on private discussion boards and complete required activities to develop and practice their leadership skills. 

Continuous Learning

As the March/April 2019 issue of Harvard Business Review emphasizes, leaders need continuous learning.  Successful innovation leaders don’t limit themselves to required corporate training courses or wait for nomination to an executive training session.  Smart, growing leaders are passionate about trying new skills how to improve their current situation.  They are as excited and proud to place a new certification on their Linked In profile as they are to share the development opportunity with their teams.  This is continuous learning. 

Contact Me

I am passionate about learning, especially for innovation and leadership.  I want to help you and I’m sure I can learn from you, too.  A great opportunity to engage in continuous learning is the Life Design Master Mind group where we apply tools of Design Thinking to career, professional, or personal challenges.  The next open cohort meeting is 21 May 2019.  Click here to register for your six-month transformation and learning journey.  Based on your feedback, this master mind group is extremely affordable.  You’ll also be interested to learn about the Flagship Innovation Leader program.  Join us for a free webinar in June.  Contact me at area code (281) plus 280-8717 or at info@simple-pdh.com for more information. 

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Why You Need Creativity for Creative Problem-Solving

A lot of people say they are not creative.  I guess we are afraid that if we share our imaginations and dreams, we might be ridiculed or criticized.  Yet, every day, an artist opens a new gallery.  She is proud and excited to share her creations with others. 

Kush Art Gallery, Las Vegas

Creativity is defined by Dictionary.com as “the state or quality of being creative,” which in turn means original thought or expression.  So, an artist creates original oil paintings and we admire them at an art gallery or museum.  An architect designs a modern symphony hall and we praise his work with the unique building style fitting into the skyline of the community.  My personal creative outlet is in scrapbooking and making greeting cards.  Someone who is a “real” artist might criticize the simplicity of my cards, but others find joy in receiving a handmade card on their birthday or anniversary.  I am not afraid of what others think because my creativity is my own and I relax while I am creating. 

Creativity, then, takes many forms.  It can be the creation of an original work of art or it can be the piecing together of various parts.  Dictionary.com also defines creativity as “the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns … to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods …”  This is the precise definition we should keep in mind as innovators applying Design Thinking to our life challenges.  Leaders can increase creativity in their new product development (NPD) teams by using tools that help team members capitalize on their individual strengths in a collaborative, sharing environment.  It is often the assembly of these various individual ideas into a larger whole that “transcends traditional thinking.“  And when we come up with new ideas and concepts, we can apply them to situations that improve customer satisfaction and product quality. 

Creative Problem-Solving

Problem-solving typically involves at least 5 steps to be successful period to be successful period

  1. Identify the problem
  2. Define the problem statement
  3. Generate potential solutions
  4. Test solutions
  5. Review and select the best solution

A standard problem-solving procedure is methodical and simple.  It should lead you to the best solution and in the shortest time possible.  Yet, I observe innovation teams marching through these steps, marking them “complete“ without a full consideration of really addressing the problem.  This is where creative problem-solving enters the picture.

Creative problem-solving doesn’t grab the first or the easiest or the cheapest solution.  Instead, creative problem-solving is a bit messy and it’s iterative, yet it will generate a better solution in the end.  For example, when you identify a problem that challenges your customers, is it a closed discussion in the problem statement such as “improve product reliability by 10%“.  Open-ended problem statements can lead to more creative solutions since there are not assumptions built in.  “Improving customer satisfaction” is a more open-ended problem statement than including a specific reliability improvement metric.

32381172 – problem – idea – solution

Creative problem-solving instead investigates the drivers and customer emotions that require product development work.  What percentage of customers complain about reliability?  How does our product reliability compare to competitors?  Where are failures in product reliability occurring?

Again, we return to the tools of Design Thinking to guide creative problem-solving.  Design Thinking allows us to empathize with customers to truly identify the problems they face.  We shadow and observe how, when, and where they use the product.  What is the reliability issue – does it occur immediately upon product usage or after 10 or 100 uses of the product?  And importantly, as NPD practitioners, we must ask why is product reliability important to the customer?  The food and drug industry will have different answers then companies that specialize in software-as-a-service. 

Divergent Thinking

When we’re satisfied that we’ve identified the right customer problem, and we can clearly and concisely define it with a problem statement, we generate potential solutions with creative ideation.  Ideation is just a fancy word that means creating ideas and concepts.  During ideation, functional NPD team members work with customers to combine, modify, and substitute pieces and parts to generate new ideas and concepts.  Ideation is a divergent thinking activity where even wild and seemingly illogical ideas are created.  Sometimes, there is a gold nugget within a crazy, impractical idea that leads to a creative product solution. 

For example, after an oil spill in the ocean, a large drilling company was stuck on how to clean it up.  Using the traditional problem-solving steps, they were only coming up with ho-hum, incremental ideas.  But, when they stepped back, applied the ideas of Design Thinking and creative problem-solving, they generated a unique solution to clean-up.  It started with the crazy idea that seals absorb a lot of oil into their fur.  Yet that innovation materialized in a rotating vessel equipped with oil-capturing brushes and a collection tank that facilitated removal of oil from the water surface. 

Design Thinking tools like analogies, role playing, interviewing, and SCAMPER all help teams generate potential creative solutions.  Matching, A/B testing, and card sorting are tools that provide insight to customer needs and whether we have defined the right problem to solve.  Design Thinking also lets us test prototype solutions for functionality and customer acceptance with a low-cost commitment during product development.

Creativity for Creative Problem-Solving

Creativity is generating new ideas with the ability to transcend existing thinking about a problem.  All of us can be creative, even though we might not be famous artists or architects.  We can combine colors, textures, and functions to generate novel ideas.  Importantly, we can be creative problem-solvers using deep listening with customers to empathize with their problems.  Understanding the many different facets of a problem leads to a better, more creative solution.

Design Thinking tools are great to apply as NPD teams create lots of potential ideas and concepts.  Lots of ideas is an expected outcome of divergent thinking and supports customer collaboration.  Creativity in problem-solving yields superior results and allows an organization to get to market faster with new products that satisfy customer needs.  Many of these tools and techniques also serve individuals well as they seek to make balance personal and professional decisions to find joy and purpose in life.  Join us on Thursday, 18 April 2019 at 3:30pm to learn about the Life Design Master Mind group.   The webinar is FREE and, based on your feedback, we have redesigned the online workshops to make it extremely affordable!  Click here to register.  Contact me at info@globalnpsolutions.com or area code 281, 280-8717 for more information or questions.

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Think Tanks and Advisory Boards

I am still super excited about the publication of PDMA Essentials Volume 3.   My chapter on virtual teams (Chapter 6) describes a model of five elements and 16 practices.  The virtual team model (VTM) helps new product development (NPD) teams improve communication and effectiveness when team members are geographically dispersed.  You can learn more about the VTM here or by taking an online course that helps NPD project teams and leaders apply each element to their real-world situation. 

It is also really exciting to read and learn from the other authors who contributed to PDMA Essentials 3.  The book offers descriptions of common innovation constraints (like dispersed teams) and offers practical solutions to overcome these barriers to productive NPD deployment.  Part 1 describes individual and consumer constraints in NPD.  You can read a related blog post that shares information from Chapter 1 of PDMA Essentials 3 (Increasing Creativity by Creating Boundaries).  Part 2 covers organizational constraints, like virtual teams, and Chapter 4 offers advice on using a think tank to overcome internal NPD barriers.  Finally, Part 3 describes market constraints that inhibit acceptance of new products and services. 

Organizational Constraints to Innovation

Innovators often face barriers to creativity and acceptance of failure within their organizations due to limited processes, structures, and resources.  For example, an organizational constraint to innovation within an organization includes limited training and the lack of enabling processes for NPD.  Successful firms and NPD project leaders embrace the inherently risky nature of innovation while simultaneously allowing teams to determine success criteria. 

Symptoms of Innovation Barriers

in Chapter 4 of PDMA Essentials 3, the authors describe five symptoms of innovation constraints within organizations.  These symptoms can be observed by project sponsors, executives, and even the team members themselves.  As an innovation process improvement consultant, I have noted these observable behaviors at client companies that are struggling to convert ideas into successful commercial products.  Symptoms of innovation constraints within or organization are (Chapter 2, PDMA Essentials 3, pg. 64):  

  1. Lack of internal cooperation,
  2. Lack of external cooperation,
  3. Shortcomings in goal-setting,
  4. Lack of adequate infrastructure, and
  5. Restriction of innovation action.

Think Tanks

In their research, the authors found that innovation constraint symptoms were driven by four primary causes.  These include lack of skills or motivation, and operational or strategic limitations within the organization.  As a solution, the authors describe a think tank to open the organization to creative problem-solving.  

An innovation think tank involves several elements.  First, a neutral, reserved space must be provided for the team members to practice their craft.  The space should provide appropriate resources, such as literature references and materials for experimentation, as well as individual desks for “heads-down” quiet time.  Often with today’s focus on collaboration, open office plans neglect the opportunity for quiet time that technical experts need to study and analyze complex problems.  A think tank can provide both reserved and collaborative spaces for expert team members working on an innovation project. 

Collaboration is a crucial element of success for any NPD endeavor.  However, while open office spaces encourage trust-building and social interactions, a project focus can be lacking.  The think tank model instead encourages facilitated networking to “foster communication and exchange” (Chapter 4, PDMA Essentials 3, pg. 72).  Networking and collaboration in the think tank are focused on problem-solving more than just establishing new relationships. 

In their extensive in practical research, the authors found that the think tank was a valuable tool for managing challenging innovation work, especially in the early stages of NPD projects.

Advisory Boards

An advisory board is a little different than a think tank.  The think tank is focused on internal processes and expanding the idea set of staff solving specific innovation challenges.  Advisory boards, on the other hand, look externally to identify customer needs and to seek collaboration for individual problems. 

In a customer advisory board, a panel of lead users convene on a regular basis to offer feedback to a company regarding its products and services.  The lead users and customers who either purchase large volumes or who use the products in unique ways.  The key to a successful customer advisory board is trust among the users and the firm.  NPD teams expect to gain insights on customer needs and to gain understanding of feature improvements through the dialogue of a customer advisory board. 

Professional advisory boards convene to help individuals advance their own goals.  There are a lot of examples of industry advisory boards and small business development advisory boards.  An industry advisory board is typically composed of company executives who lead and manage firms that manufacture or service products within the given category.  For example, a housing advisory board might meet regularly to discuss future needs based on the current labor market, and environmental issues.  Companies participate in industry advisory boards to learn what the future might hold, and to share common industry concerns.  Sometimes these industry advisory boards endorse or lobby for government regulations to benefit their industry. 

Small business advisory boards are usually run by a trained facilitator who guides the members through the formation and growth steps for a business.  The benefit of the facilitator of the facilitation is that the participants, who are newbies, can utilize the facilitator’s experience and guidance to frame their own decisions.  Another advantage of the small business advisory board is that all of the members are facing similar challenges at the same time, so they can share and learn from one another.  Knowing where to find an affordable web designer and which local financial institutions are friendly to small businesses is invaluable to these participants. 

Master Mind  

A master mind group is another category of think tanks or advisory boards and is founded for similar reasons:  to share industry knowledge, to brainstorm solutions to specific challenges, and to grow a business.  The key difference between a master mind group and a general advisory board is that each member of the master mind group is expected to actively participate in each session.  Master mind group members will be in the so-called “hot seat” for about 10 to 15 minutes during each meeting to share their challenges, much like a customer advisory board.  However, in the master mind group, the other members will immediately share ideas from their own experiences to address the issue, like is done in an industry or small business advisory board.  Thus, master mind groups have the benefit of members both giving and receiving help to achieve goals. 

Using a Think Tank or Advisory Board

Both think tanks and advisory boards offer a lot of advantages and benefits for innovation professionals.  Increased collaboration is a key outcome of the shared knowledge and experiences that group members bring.  Support and accountability to achieve goals is another important result.  And, finally, enhanced customer interactions to understand needs and challenges drive success. 

If you plan to implement a think tank or advisory board, be prepared to spend significant time planning the structure and necessary participation of group members.  If not, a single failure can doom the effort for all time.  You may want to hire a trained facilitator that can coach and support team members on their journey.  Be you sure that everyone involved treats this space and time for innovation as sacred without disruption of day-to-day activities. 

Learn More

To learn more about a specific think take example, please read Chapter 4 of PDMA Essentials 3.  There is a lot of information on the internet (of course) about industry advisory boards and small business development groups as well.  And if you are interested in accelerating your innovation success please join our open master mind group utilizing Design Thinking tools to tackle life’s biggest challenges.  You can learn more about the Life Design Master Mind in a free webinar held on 16 or 18 April 2019.  Register here for the webinar and click here to learn more about the Life Design Master Mind group.

For other questions about building successful teams for product development, I can be reached at info@simple-pdh.com or area code 281, 280-8717.  I love helping individuals, teams, and organizations achieve their highest innovation goals!

© Simple-PDH.com

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC  

Study.  Learn.  Earn.  Simple.