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Planning for New Product Development

A famous quote by Eisenhower tells us that we should plan well but know that our plans will be disrupted.  Planning includes creating a set of activities, tasks, and milestones to achieve specific goals and objectives.  You can think of planning as a roadmap to a destination with rest stops (checkpoints) built into the route.

New product development (NPD) is important for every organization, regardless of size or industry.  Technology and markets are changing constantly.  Globalization introduces changes in raw material supplies, labor, and distribution.  Digitization has brought forth changes in how we manage relationships with customers and a dependence on sophisticated data models.  Without designing and launching new products, services, and applications, organizations will fall behind their competitors.

As Eisenhower’s quote describes, our ability to anticipate and manage risks is the purpose of planning.   NPD is risky.  Financial investments are lost if the technology or markets failed to materialize.  Revenue shrinks and expenses soar if customers express dissatisfaction with an existing or new product.  The organization’s reputation suffers irreparable harm if a commercial product fails to meet expected quality and reliability standards. 

So, instead of anticipating doom and gloom, let’s look at how planning can improve the execution and outcomes of NPD. 

NPD Processes Manage Risk

Implementing and following a step-by-step NPD process reduces risk.  For example, a standard waterfall process (see the figure below), simultaneously minimizes investment risk and technology risk.  In a traditional staged-and-gated NPD process, work is done in stages and decisions are made at gates. 

Each subsequent phase of work requires additional investment as R&D work scales to commercial production through the process steps.  Fortunately, technology risk is minimized because the knowledge, data, and information gained in each stage frames a go/no-go decision at the next gate.  If the business case and markets continue to look attractive, the new product development effort moves to the next stage of work. 

Planning Estimates

One element of planning that helps us to reduce risk is estimating.  The most successful organizations use both cost estimates and resource estimates to plan an NPD project.  Furthermore, the best organizations also use actual project data and metrics to create future project plans. 

What do we mean by using current data for future planning?  Most organizations create new products in just a handful of categories:

In many organizations, the bulk of NPD work is tweaking features of existing products to deliver a “new product” to existing markets or to introduce existing products to a new market.  These “derivative” products are common enough that it is easy to establish a database to improve estimates of future, similar projects.  That is, we can take averages of elapsed time and actual costs from a set of completed projects to plan a better estimate for a similar project in the future. 

An Example

Let’s say you are the Product Development Manager at a food and beverage company.  The company is constantly on the lookout for new flavors and considers any novel combination of juices as a new product.  Upon investigating the last three new flavors of juices launched in the past three years, you uncover the following data. 

  • Stage 1 (Brainstorming):  3 days, 10 people
  • Stage 2 (Concept Testing):  2 weeks, 4 people
  • Stage 3 (Business Case Development):  6 weeks, 3 people
  • Stage 4 (Prototype Testing):  12 weeks, 10 people
  • Stage 5 (Scale-Up):  15 weeks, 18 people

As the Product Development Manager, you can use this “average” data to estimate, to plan the next similar new product development project.  The result includes an estimated project schedule in Gantt chart format (see figure below), resource estimates, and cost estimates (see the table below). 

Derivative Product Development Estimates
Stage# FTE
(Full-Time Equivalent days)		Cost
($100k/year per FTE)
1:  Brainstorming30$11,538
2:  Concept Testing40$15,385
3:  Business Case Development90$34,615
4:  Prototype Testing600$230,769
5:  Scale-Up1350$519,231
Total Estimated Cost2110$811,538

For this project, the innovation team has estimated a profit of $1 per bottle of juice sold with 5-year sales of 100M bottles.  Thus, we can get a rough estimate of profitability (approximately $99.2M).  A rough business case estimate can help the organization determine whether to continue this project or allocate scarce resources to another one.

NPD Project Planning

Planning is the act of creating tasks, activities, and milestones to drive completion of goals and objectives.  Planning does not prevent all risks from occurring but minimizes uncertainties in technology and market development.  Even though new product development (NPD) is risky by its very nature, planning via a structured process allows us to create more accurate cost and resource estimates, thereby reducing investment risk. 

To learn more about NPD Processes, join the two-part workshop sponsored by PDMA and Global NP Solutions.   Register here – the first session is 17 June 2021.   Contact me at info at Simple-PDH.com to learn more about utilizing effective planning as a Product Development Manager.   

Learn more about building a successful NPD team at any of these upcoming events. 

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A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC  

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What are the Functions of New Product Development?

Most organizations recognize that innovation is crucial for both the short-term and long-term success.  We are acquainted with stories of familiar brands, like Kodak® and Sears falling into decline.  And while business and change management played a role in the recent decline of the JCPenney’s brand, a lack of customer-oriented innovation is also to blame. 

Innovation and new product development (NPD) serve as important business functions for strategic growth.   R&D requires a long- term investment, as do market and technology development.  Thus, we can say that NPD serves three primary purposes for the business:

  • Value Creation,
  • Value Extension, and
  • Value Preservation.

Note that “value” here means the ability to deliver profit to the organization while simultaneously establishing market demand for products and services. 

Value Creation

Most of us think of innovation in terms of value creation.  By designing new-to-the-world products with new technologies, we can create market value.  Such products meet the specific needs of a target customer who spends their money to acquire a convenience, a luxury, or a new way to solve a problem. 

Consider some examples from your office that you probably use every day.  These products create value for you through convenience.  For instance, a combination webcam and microphone provide the ability to move about during a virtual meeting.  You are not tethered by a USB cable to a headset and with a wide-angle camera, you can move a few feet to the left or to the right.  This convenience allows you to stand or stretch during a virtual meeting, just as we used to do in real life.

Another convenient product that you might find in your office that adds value to your everyday routine is the software on your computer.  We have the luxury of single click calendar scheduling in apps.  This saves us the time and headaches of back-and-forth scheduling with others.  It’s especially a time-saver to schedule meetings with large groups of stakeholders!

Value Extension

So, new products give us new value, especially through convenience and solving problems to eliminate wasted time, money, and energy.  NPD also offers to extend the value of existing products and services.  We often call these innovations “derivatives” since they are derived from a primary product.  Many organizations spend the bulk of their R&D effort in value extension. 

Value extension uses new technology to make the product better, faster, or cheaper.  Making the product better allows the company to maintain strategic pricing and sustain revenue over the long–term.  Making the product faster or cheaper (from the manufacturer’s viewpoint) goes directly to cost-savings and to the bottom line. 

Google appears to have mastered value extension.  A combination of products and product families has grown from a simple search engine.  Accessing advertising, shared documents, and e-mail through a single log-on ID and password offers convenience but also offers more (a version of better, faster, cheaper).  Features extend from desktop and laptop computers to mobile devices giving customers access to their accounts at all times, all places (value extension). 

Value Preservation

Finally, NPD helps to preserve product value over the long run.  A typical product life cycle includes introduction of a new product, growth in market share, maturity with increased competition, and decline as the market reaches saturation and profits decrease.  (Read about the product life cycle – PLC – here.)  Innovation can revamp and revitalize a product or brand so that declining profits are reversed.

For example, many of us remember an advertising campaign from a few years ago for a very dull, everyday product:  milk.  The California Milk Processor Board successfully reversed declining sales and preserved product value by increasing product awareness. 

Preserving value might be as simple as a new ad campaign to re-ignite interest in a product or service.  On the other hand, technology improvements or new market applications may be needed to spark renewed customer interest in the product or brand.  It is the job of a product manager to watch for market disruptions and trends, including timing for revamping a product or brand.

Take-Aways

As a business owner, product innovation professional, or technologist, you have some simple take-aways to construct your own analysis of NPD functions.  Follow these steps.

  1. Classify your new product portfolio according to the NPD function (value creation, value extension, or value preservation). 
  2. Assess the value (revenue or cost-savings) of each product and category of products. 
  3. Prioritize the projects and resources assigned to NPD efforts.
  4. Identify gaps between necessary resources need and assigned for the highest value-add projects. 
  5. Reprioritize your new product portfolio according to available resources and strategic growth objectives. 

Let me know if you want some guidance in assessing your NPD functions!  A deeper dive into the knowledge base, such as NPD Processes (sponsored by PDMA and Global NP Solutions), can introduce you to some additional important concepts for successful innovation.  Register here – the first session is 17 June 2021.  Contact me at info at Simple-PDH.com to learn more about the functions for value in NPD.

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A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC  

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Separating Wheat from Weeds

There is a parable in the Bible (Matthew 13: 24-30) speaking of a farmer who bought good seed and planted it.  But, when small shoots first came through the ground, there were weeds mixed among the wheat.  Knowing that if he pulled the weeds, he would also uproot the wheat, he let the weeds grow with the good plants until harvest.  At the final harvest, the weeds were separated from the wheat and burned. 

Aside from the eternal lesson, this parable teaches us something about creativity and innovation.  Not every idea is a good one.  But if we try to kill all the bad ideas, we might also uproot some good ones at the same time.  Instead, if we let ideas grow, we can harvest creativity and separate innovation ideas for further processing while we discard the poor ones. 

Creativity

We often judge creative ideas after the harvest – when a new product is delivering profit and customers express satisfaction with service and functionality.  Likewise, we often “kill” ideas early in new product development (NPD) process when they do not appear to bear fruit – profitability or competitive advantage.  From a business perspective, I totally agree with separating the “weeds” from the “wheat” early in the product development effort.  From a leadership perspective, we do have to be careful to not tamp down the team’s creativity. 

Leaders must nurture creativity, just as a farmer nurtures young shoots.  Apparently, the leaves of a weed called “darnel” are indistinguishable from wheat – even by experts – until the plants mature.  Similarly, we do not know if an idea is good or bad until we test it with customers. 

One strategy to improve creativity, and to encourage customer feedback on all ideas, is to let the biggest naysayer try to prove an idea is bad.  Within constraints of time, budget, and scope, a team member who doubts the success of an idea can try to demonstrate it is a bad idea.  Either they are correct, or they become the biggest champion for the concept.  Either way, the team wins, and customers are best served with creative, innovative ideas. 

Tools

In innovation, we have several tools at our disposal to separate the wheat from the weeds.  First, a rigorous NPD process compares the goals of an individual idea with the strategic objectives of the organization.  A company’s vision might be to grow a specific product line or brand.  Or the firm may have goals to cut costs.  New product development projects must align with these goals to advance. 

Another tool that product development professionals use to promote good ideas is Product Portfolio Management (PPM).  Within the framework of PPM, organizational leaders rank and prioritize all projects and ideas.  Decision criteria vary from firm to firm but generally include strategic alignment, profit potential, and customer satisfaction.  PPM balances risk of short-term and long-term innovation investments as well. 

Quality

Finally, innovation is mixed with quality just as the farmer’s field was mixed of weeds and wheat.  Successful product development only occurs when we deliver quality products and services to our customers.  Quality includes elements of reliability, functionality, and maintainability. 

Quality in new product development encompasses the product design and the project management process.  In the former case, we test ideas and concepts with customers and ensure that QC standards guide manufacturing.  In the latter case, we work to constantly improve the system in which a project moves through various development phases and gates.

Separating Wheat and Weeds

Today’s technology is very different than in Biblical times.  Robots patrol fields taking photos of young shoots to classify them as weeds or wheat.  Ultra-accurate machines then spray precisely on the weed leaves to kill them or exactly on the wheat leaves to fertilize them .  However, the risk is the same – if you mistake wheat for a weed you can kill your entire crop. 

As product innovation leaders, we must be careful not to kill good ideas along with the bad ones.  Maintaining creativity is important to continue designing and developing new products and services to satisfy customer needs.  We need to let ideas mature to test concepts with potential customers.  On the other hand, limited investment reduces the risk of failed products. 

Tools like an NPD process (we recommend WAGILE product development) and PPM help to sort the “weeds” “wheat”.  Organizational strategy and growth goals help to differentiate good ideas from poor ones.  PPM, in particular, ensures the best ideas are ranked the highest. 

Finally, quality is what the farmer sought – wheat provides quality food while weeds are mostly inedible.  Likewise, positive innovation quality metrics include customer satisfaction, market share, and market penetration.  Having QA and QC in place throughout the product design and development process.

Learn More

If you want to learn how to separate the wheat from the weeds, please join me for an in-depth Innovation Best Practices Workshop starting 2 June March 2021.  Special discounts for multiple attendees and the unemployed.  Contact me at info@simple-pdh.com for more information.

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A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC  

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Project Controls in Innovation

Controlling is often a misunderstood management function.  In everyday use, we use the term “controlling” to mean manipulating or limiting other’s behavior.  Yet in engineering management, project management, and new product development (NPD), controlling is an important process that helps the team leader assess the performance of a project and of his or her team. 

Definition of Controlling

Let’s define controlling as follows, consistent with the American Society of Engineering Management (ASEM). 

“A management function of measuring performance and comparing the results with established standards to ensure that the work conforms to requirements and brings a desired outcome.” 

Defined in this way, controlling is a critical function that assures work meets expectations.  If at any time, the project outcomes are not meeting expectations, we make adjustments to bring the product or project work into alignment with the plan. 

Steps in Controlling

There are typically four steps that product and project managers follow in controlling. 

  1. Set a baseline,
  2. Measure performance,
  3. Compare the baseline against performance measures, and
  4. Take corrective action as necessary. 

Set a Baseline

In project management and NPD, setting baselines for performance should be easy.  In reality, however, setting baselines requires substantial planning effort on behalf of the project leader.  The baseline must reflect the best outcome of project planning.  Principles of project management dictate that during the initiation phase, the project leader and team members identify requirements from all project stakeholders.  Gathering and documenting project requirements ensures that stakeholder expectations can be met. 

In innovation projects, customer needs are documented in the PIC (product innovation charter).  During all stages of the structured NPD process, the innovation project team will test customer needs to ensure alignment with the product design.  One way in which to map customer needs to engineering design specs is to use the QFD tool (quality function deployment).  Read more about process design here. 

Measure Performance

In Step 2 of controlling, we measure the performance of engineering and project teams.  Here, both individual and team member performance are assessed as well as the project requirements.  For example, if a new product development project had a customer requirement to increase battery life by 50%, the engineering team would measure all new battery designs against the performance standard.  A new battery with just 20% increase in lifetime would be inadequate, while a battery with a life that is 48% longer is considered a successful technology.  The project is approved when it meets the technical hurdles and would move along in the NPD process. 

image from creative commons with free to share and use

Compare Baseline Against Performance

In Step 3 of controlling, the project leader and project team members assess the project performance by comparing current design elements against the baseline set forth in the project plan.  It is important to ensure that the baseline and product performance requirements are measurable so that this comparison is meaningful.  Objectives are stated in measurable terms and metrics are gathered without difficulty or subject to opinion or interpretation. 

Again, for instance, battery life extension of 50% is measurable.  The initial battery in the current product demonstrates an average of 3-hour life before requiring a recharge.  Sample batteries in lab tests demonstrate 4-hour, 4.2-hours and 4.4-hours.  These data points are easy to compare to the initial product performance level.  The product development and innovation teams strive for measurable goals and objectives to improve customer satisfaction. 

Take Corrective Action

At the heart of the controlling process is the idea that correcting errors early leads to higher quality products and that the development effort will be less expensive overall.  Thus, the final step in the controlling function is to take action based on analysis of the data from Step 3.  In the case where performance matches expectations and baseline plans, no action is required. 

Frequently, controlling will reveal that a project is over-budget and/or behind schedule.  In these situations, the project manager and sponsor must work with the customer to modify the plan.  Some tools are available to help accomplish the work within the required time frame, but these schedule adaptations normally require additional costs (e.g. crashing and compression).  Further, missing the timeline for a new product launch can impact the overall profitability of an innovative new product. 

Controlling Function

In engineering management, project management and new product development, controlling is an important management function.  The four steps in controlling are: (1) set a baseline, (2) measure performance, (3) compare the baseline against performance, and (4) take corrective action as appropriate.  To learn more about the controlling function and other ways to improve new product project execution, you must earn your New Product Development Professional (NPDP) certification.  Check out our training and speaking schedule for innovation and project management here. 

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Innovation Project Scheduling

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

image from creative commons with free to use and share designation

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

Innovation Project activities

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

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

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

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

Roadmapping

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

Example of a Simple Product Roadmap

Backward Pass Scheduling

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

Detailed Scheduling

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

Innovation Project Scheduling

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

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

Learn how to make your innovation process flexible!

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A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC   

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What Word Will Describe 2021?

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

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

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

Outreach

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

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

Economical

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

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

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

Willingness

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

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

Creative Cafe

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

What is Your Word for 2021?

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

See you soon!

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

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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 info@simple-pdh.com or area code 281 + phone 787-3979 for more information on coaching for entrepreneurs and innovators.

What Innovation Leaders Do Differently

In a lot of ways, innovation is a mystery.  It does not happen spontaneously, but it occurs in an instant.  Innovation is not the work of a lone genius, but it requires independent hard work.  It is not easy, but it is rewarding. 

Because it is so hard to characterize, innovation is also hard to define.  Is innovation just something new?  Or is innovation only a new use for something old?  Does innovation make life easier for some and bring profit to others?  Can innovation happen on the micro-scale as well as in the macro-environment? 

The answer is “Yes” – yes, to all these questions and more.  Innovation is the art and science of creating a new product, service, or technology that brings value to both customer and provider.  Innovation is leading greatness. 

Leadership and Innovation

While companies often struggle with repeatable innovation success, I argue that success with innovation is bound by leadership.  True leaders recognize and nurture the growth of innovation in their teams.  Innovation leadership is more than funding R&D or designing a clever marketing program.  Leadership in innovation requires an in-depth understanding of the organization’s culture, your customers, and even of yourself.  There are four levels to building innovation leadership:  learning, adopting, transforming, and sustaining. 

Learning

A learning organization is one that recognizes the importance of long-term, sustained innovation.  Yet, they don’t know how to get there.  These organizations inherently appreciate that standing still and hoping for our “old normal” isn’t going to happen.  But they don’t know what to change to take advantage of the next phase of economic growth. 

Learning organizations focus on strategic development, opportunity identification, and market insights.  Strategy integrates vision, mission, and values of the organization.  Where do you want to go, how will you get there, and what are your common beliefs?  Market insights mean you have an in-depth understanding of customers, trends, markets, and competition in your industry. 

Adopting

Once you understand the market space and your unique approach to customer needs, then you – as an innovation leader – make decisions about projects and pathways to achieve goals.  We all have more ideas than time, resources, and money.  Adopting innovation leaders apply tools, like new product development (NPD) processes, to frame decisions for generating value.  Great leaders are willing to accept calculated risk.  Winning the war is more important than 100% success in every small battle.  Failure in innovation is treated as learning and not as a time to blame or punish.  (Note that NPD processes cover a wide range of frameworks and approaches.  Read more in The Innovation ANSWER Book, Chapter 3.)  

Transforming

Many organizations stop once they have systems and processes in place to manage product innovation projects.  That’s okay but it’s not leadership.  Innovation leaders seek to transform the organization to drive higher level creativity and more satisfaction with customers.  Again, this is a decision-making process, but instead of focusing on each step in executing a project, transformative leaders aim to drive change in the culture and behaviors of team members.  Open cultures that tolerate constrained risk and defined exploration tend to be more innovative.  Train your teams in creative processes (like design thinking) and allow them freedom and autonomy to discover new and interesting relationships among customer needs, technologies, and market trends.  (Join our virtual Design Thinking workshop here.) 

Sustaining

One success is good.  Two or three successes is great.  Repeatable innovation success is terrific!  The way to achieve fantastic results in satisfying customers with continued innovation is by sustaining learning and growth.  Innovation leaders and teams need ongoing support and challenge for continued success. 

Because product innovation is often an isolated role within companies, many innovation leaders use a master mind or other peer support group to challenge their growth and curiosity.  Master mind groups allow innovation leaders to share with like-minded peers to speed learning for implementation success.  Trust among members allow you to go beyond your own constraints and boundaries as you both give and receive help. 

Innovation Leaders are Different

Operational managers and functional department heads are judged on hitting easily measurable targets, such as cost of production or number of widgets manufactured.  Success of innovation leaders is not as clear cut and success is defined by strategic objectives and customer satisfaction.  Thus, the goal posts are constantly moving. 

However, innovation leaders can build success for themselves, their teams, and their organizations by creating a framework for long-term change.  Innovation cultures learn from the opportunities presented to them, adopt industry best practices, and transform their organizations with defined decisions.  Truly successful innovation leaders continue the journey by sustaining growth and learning to establish cultures and relationships that support creativity and freedom. 

What is Your Level of Innovation Maturity?

Take the Innovation Health Assessment™ to identify your organization’s innovation maturity level.  (Free registration here to maintain integrity of the database.)  If you are a learning organization, what is your strategy?  If you are an adopting organization, what are your decision-making processes?  If you are a transforming organization, how can you further build teamwork and creative collaboration?  If you are a sustaining organization, how do you give your innovation leader support? 

One way to gain cross organization knowledge of product innovation is through the New Product Development Professional (NPDP) certification.  Register here for our next course in January 2021. 

About Me

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

© Simple-PDH.com

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC  

Study.       Learn.       Earn.       Simple.

This was first published on the blog at www.Simple-PDH.com. Follow me on Twitter @globalnpd.

What is Innovation Management?

Since the world turned upside-down in March, we have all encountered a tremendous amount of change.  In my viewpoint, a lot of the changes in society have been negative and I suspect the politicians in charge are finding it difficult to extricate themselves from the mess they made.  One change we have seen from the corona-panic is, of course, limited contact with other people. 

Limited contact and limits on group gatherings has had a weird impact on my casual acquaintances.  I used to go swimming at an indoor pool and would arrive, jump in, swim laps, shower, and head home.  Once in a great while, I would exchange a few words about the weather or temperature of the water with another lady in the locker room. 

Now, I am swimming in an outdoor pool.  We all must make paid reservations in advance and can swim for only 45 minutes.  What is unusual, though, is that all of us chat with each other.  We are gathered together, outside the building, following all the random spacing and inane mask rules, waiting for the allotted time.  Most of us prefer swimming longer than 45 minutes, so we all get kicked out at the same time.  Again, we chat as we head home across the parking lot.  Overzealous government regulations have led to me getting know people I would not have otherwise met.

On Monday, for example, David asked why I was even at the pool.  He knows my schedule is to swim on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I explained I had a meeting on Tuesday, and then the resident swim coach asked what I do.  “I’m an innovation management consultant and coach,” I replied.  He looked at me questioningly.  “Innovation is making something new?”

Innovation is Making Something New

The word innovation has been overused a lot (see an earlier post on Authentic Innovation here).  In short, innovation does mean making something new.  It might be a new product or service.  It might be a new technology or introducing an existing product into a new market.  We might create a new business model, or we might find new ways to manufacture a product. 

So, innovation management means planning and implementing those things that are new.  My goal is to help others – individuals and companies – find effective and efficient ways to make new things.  The ultimate goal is to improve speed-to-market and increase profits. 

Innovation Change for Customers

We know we are “winning” at innovation when we make money and our customers are satisfied.  Change can be easy, or change can be difficult.  Sometimes change creates new opportunities – like my newfound friends at the swimming pool. 

What change is your business facing right now?  We all know that the corona-panic has disrupted supply chains and availability of retail goods.  But I want you to be specific.  Describe exactly what change your business faces today, in one month, and for year-end. 

If your changes relate to sales, you may simply have to wait it out.  But if the changes you face are structural and institutional you need to find an innovative solution.  This means polling your customers to understand their real needs and problems. 

Talk to Me

As an innovation management consultant, I want to know what changes you are facing.  Please post in the comments or email me at info@globalnpsolutions.com to describe your greatest innovation challenge emerging from the corona-triggered economic downturn.  Everyone who responds is entered into a random drawing for a free NPDP certification exam question set (a $125 value).  We will draw on 21 August 2020 and announce the winner on 25 August. 

See you at the pool!

Learn More

  • Check out where I’m speaking next (click here).
  • Get your copy of The Innovation ANSWER Book available at Amazon (now available on Kindle).
  • Reference the new PDMA Body of Knowledge, available at Amazon.
  • Do you know your strategy?  Is it time to narrow your focus or expand to serve more customers?  Join me for the two-part Reset Your Strategy workshop on 18 and 20 August.  Register here – special discounts for the unemployed.

© Simple-PDH.com

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC  

Study.       Learn.       Earn.       Simple.

About Me

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

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. 

© 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 info@simple-pdh.com 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 info@simple-pdh.com or area code 281 + phone 787-3979 for more information on coaching for entrepreneurs and innovators.

© Simple-PDH.com

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC  

Study.   Learn.   Earn.   Simple.