NPDP

The Culture of NPD Processes

Posted on 05.12.22

We all know that culture influences business outcomes more than any other variable. Great strategies must be translated into effective business plans and implemented at the operational level. Yet, if there is a breakdown in communication as a result of cultural conflict, a great business strategy can fail mightily.

Having an open, accepting cultures paramount for success in innovation. The ability to “fail” allows new product development (NPD) teams to take risks. Without risks, there is no opportunity for innovative growth. And, of course, growth drives learning.

If you’ve read this far, you’re probably thinking, “Yes, culture impacts innovation success, but what do I do about it?” The answer is that every organization must adapt their NPD process to their culture. When there is a logical match between organizational culture and the NPD process, strategic goals for innovation are readily achieved.

Different Organizational Cultures

Culture is an unwritten set of rules that dictate how a group of individuals interact. At a societal level, Asian cultures are known for group consensus while American and European cultures are better known for independent actions. There is no right or wrong culture; however, people’s behaviors will reflect the dominant culture.

The Prairie Dog Culture

Prairie dogs share a lot of their living space with other prairie dogs. They mostly live underground within a complex network of tunnels. Yet, a sentinel is posted who alerts the group to a threat at which point, the entire community responds as one – diving into the tunnels for safety.

The Lion Pride Culture

Lions, on the other hand, are fairly solitary animals in the wild. Lion prides have a hierarchy that leads to the paternal head. As in the movie, The Lion King, the head lion might make poor decisions, but the rest of the pride follows. Similarly with a good decision, the pride follows along obediently.

Everything In-Between Culture

Of course, between the extremes of a prairie dog clan and a hierarchical lion pride are the vast majority of organizational cultures. Some companies lean more heavily to one side than the other. Yet, every organization has a distinctive culture that encourages (or discourages) innovation.

Culture and the NPD Process

One of the biggest challenges of Agile implementation for tangible product development, and in large corporations, is cultural change. The Agile philosophy pushes decisions to the lowest levels in an organization. However, many senior executives are threatened by their perceived lack of involvement in these day-to-day decisions. They wonder how they can take responsibility for profit and loss, if they don’t control each and every decision.

Of course, this lack of trust results in a hierarchical decision framework. From an innovation standpoint, these organizations find it impossible to adopt Agile processes. Instead, fear of failure results in a review- and approval-heavy staged-and-gated processes. It’s not unusual to see “half-gates” in these organizations, as senior leaders micromanage the decision points.

In my experience, hybrid NPD processes like WAGILE and Lean NPD, are excellent transitions for hierarchical organizations investigating improvements in speed-to-market. WAGILE (read more here) is a great NPD process when the product managers have close communication and interaction with end-users and customers. Lean NPD is a better approach for organizations that innovate in B2B or wholesale markets, relying on market research external to the core development team.

Culture is the Crown of Innovation

Culture not only drives strategy, but culture dictates the innovation process. Risk-averse organizations are challenged to transition to Agile, regardless of their desire to do so. Instead, adopting a hybrid waterfall-Agile NPD process allows the organization to design and deliver new products quicker, cheaper, and better while building on internal strengths.

Want to learn more? Join the PMI CBC chapter on 17 May for a brief discussion of Project Management in New Product Development. Register here for this free event. Also join our monthly Product Development Lunch and Learn webinar on 13 June at 12 pm Central Time to learn more about Project Management for NPD Processes. Register here.

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

Product Development Creativity

Posted on 04.27.22

Check out the short video summary (about 1 minute) then read on!

The last few years have brought tumult, upheaval, and an endless parade of changes to how we work and live. Business in the United States has shifted from small companies to large corporations. Technology has introduced a permanent “work-from-home” culture. Some people don’t even shop for their own groceries or go to restaurants or the cinema anymore!

Unprecedented change is scary. As individuals, we can prepare ourselves for desirable changes, like a new fitness routine or an extra-long vacation. But as a group, people often resist change. We want to know the benefits of change and one negative voice in the crowd introduces questions to all.

While debate is good and healthy for any society, product development professionals and product managers view debate and change through a different lens. How can we creatively address a new market need?

Creative Change

In new product development (NPD), we seek to introduce positive change into influence customers. Creative solutions to our customers’ problems help them to live better lives and to engage in their own businesses at a higher level. New product designs force change but success is the adoption of that change.

Creativity is defined as “the ability to transcend traditional ideas.” NPD practitioners and product managers are constantly looking for new ideas and concepts to solve problems in a new way. For example, e-bikes (electronic bicycles) are experiencing huge growth. The electric motor offers a creative solution for people who are not fit enough for cycling and for the elderly who still want to enjoy the outdoors.

Steps for Creativity in NPD

A typical NPD process includes the following steps.

Understand the customers problem
Generate ideas to solve the problem
Create prototypes to test solution ideas
Finalize the results and feedback
Refine the product concept

We apply a variety of creative tools at each step to ensure the product development process advances. We also want to make sure that our customers accept and will adopt the proposed new product solution. For instance, e-bikes are much, much heavier than a traditional bicycle so people are less likely to travel with an e-bike.

Here are some creativity tools to apply in the traditional end process to gather customer feedback and lead to greater customer satisfaction.

Customer shadowing, empathy map, journey map
Brainwriting, affinity diagrams
Wizard of Oz, paper prototypes, focus groups A/B testing
Voice of customer, statistical analysis
Product roadmap, feature releases, value stream mapping

Product Development Creativity

Product designers cannot sit still. Change is happening in tsunami steps all around us. We must adopt new technologies and generate creative solutions to help our customers. Learning and applying a set of creativity tools ensures we have a variety of new products available to release in the short-, medium-, and long-term to satisfy consumers across the spectrum. Creativity can be re-learned and practiced in everything we do every day.

Learn more in our free Product Development Lunch and Learn webinar on 9 May 2022, 12:00 pm CDT, 3 Creativity Tools. You might also be interested in our Deep Dive Creativity Workshop for Product Managers on 27 May 2022. Check out our course calendar here, register here for the free Product Development Lunch and Learn, and register here for the in-depth creativity workshop.

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

Creativity In Product Development

Posted on 04.13.22

What does “creativity” mean to you? For me, my hobby of card-making is creativity. I can combine different colors, textures, and patterns on a 5×7-inch canvas that I send with love to family and friends.

Of course, my work life also includes creativity. Solving problems and coming up with unique answers is creative work, too. However, like most adults, I often fail to equate “creativity” with trouble-shooting or any other of my day-to-day activities. Yet, working in product development demands creativity from all professionals and disciplines to successfully generate products to the marketplace.

New Product Development

New product development (NPD) is a broad term covering the design of unique technologies to the introduction of an existing product into a new market. Products span from the tangible (goods we touch, like cars or cell phones) to software and applications (search engines and instant messaging). Product managers today are often responsible for identifying new customer needs to feed the product development pipeline.

Successful product managers and product development professionals link customer needs with novel and creative solutions.

Inspired By Creativity

To deliver delightful new product solutions to our customers, we must offer them creative products and services. NPD teams use several different stimuli to understand customer needs and to identify creative solutions to those consumer problems. For example, the customer journey map (downloaded a template here) is a creative tool to track customer behaviors and satisfaction throughout the product selection and purchase process. The figure below shows another example of a customer journey map.

The customer journey map is one of my favorite tools to identify new product needs. Sometimes, we can creatively solve a customer’s need by changing how we package, deliver or market a product instead of developing additional features and functions. The customer journey map helps us identify these simple, non-technical opportunities. Keeping things simple is highly valuable in NPD!

Another creativity tool I love to use with innovation teams is brainwriting. While traditional brainstorming focuses on collaborative creativity, brainwriting first utilizes individual problem-solving to address NPD questions. Brainwriting works by presenting a problem to a group of people, typically the innovation team. Each individual, quickly and by himself, records a potential idea or concept. After a short period of time (about 30 seconds), they pass their sheet of paper to the person sitting at their right.

This person then adds a new idea or builds on the first idea. After another 30 seconds, the paper is passed to the right again. This process repeats several times until perhaps a half dozen ideas are collected on each sheet of paper. At that point, the page is returned to the originator who then selects the “best” idea. These concepts are then shared and prioritized as in a traditional brainstorming session.

Creativity Tools in Practice

Please join me for the May Product Development Lunch and Learn session on 9 May 2022 at 12 pm CDT (1 pm EDT) to learn 3 Creativity Tools. These webinars are free and full of dialogue with fellow NPD professionals and product managers. REGISTER HERE.

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

Defining Innovation Leadership

Posted on 12.17.20

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

The Innovation Framework

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why You Need to Define Innovation Leadership

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

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

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

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

What Are Your Plans for 2021?

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.

About Me

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

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

The Wagile Philosophy

Posted on 08.27.20

Watch the short video summary and then read on for the details!

In business and innovation, we often talk about strategy. I think of strategy like a destination when I take a trip. I need to know where I’m going so that I can plan how to get there and what resources I will need. Strategy indicates the vision, mission, and values.

When I take a vacation, I enjoy hiking and being outdoors. I also enjoy history and trying new foods. These are a reflection of my values or philosophy in choosing a destination. In business and innovation, our values form how we make decisions and what activities or behaviors are acceptable in achieving strategic goals.

Recently, I encountered two small businesses with similar goals but different value systems. The first bicycle shop I visited had a huge sign on its door – “We are not taking any repairs. Wait here and phone us to enter the store.” The second bicycle shop, sounding exasperated at the disruption in supply chains by the corona-panic, said “We are only taking repairs. We’ve improved our delivery time to four days from two weeks.” It’s easy to see the difference in philosophy and values for these two businesses. And, I bet you can guess which store got my money!

What is Wagile?

Wagile is a hybrid innovation management system taking advantage of the rigor from a staged-and-gated system while adding in the flexibility of an Agile development process. Most organizations end up becoming overly bureaucratic with staged-and-gated processes, hindering speed-to-market.

On the other hand, many organizations that have tried implementing Agile have struggled, too. Scrum (read more about Scrum here) is the most common way that firms implement Agile in a new product development (NPD) project. Yet, Scrum was designed for software. Companies are challenged by the definition of “done” and in getting sophisticated technical design elements completed in a two-week sprint.

Wagile – part waterfall and part Agile – encourages iterations where necessary and increases customer interactions. But, Wagile maintains the discipline of a waterfall (or staged-and-gated) process.

The Wagile Philosophy

For any project management system to succeed, the values of the organization must support the steps, tasks, and expected outcomes of the process. The Wagile philosophy supports a key innovation goal of speed-to-market.

Move fast
Practice discipline
Understand risks
Engage customers
Provide autonomy

Move fast. The benefit of Scrum is moving fast and creating prototypes quickly. Customers test many different versions of the potential product and designers select the attributes that best satisfy the needs of end-users. The Wagile philosophy includes moving fast to quickly determine the most important features and to eliminate bad concepts early. The end result? Cost and time savings during development.

Practice discipline. While waterfall (staged-and-gated) processes can become overly bureaucratic, Agile projects are often viewed by senior executives as chaotic with ill-defined scope and goals. Wagile enforces discipline by placing critical success metrics on each project. An innovation project does not pass a gate review without a clear go-forward plan. We know that creativity is expanded when the problem is bounded by clear expectations and aspirations so discipline is necessary to win with new products.

Understand risks. Uncertainty is always present in an innovation project. Waterfall processes attempt to manage risk with detailed upfront planning. Yet, plans usually are erroneous in one way or another. You might plan two separate electrical feeds for a fire water system but forget that a utility outage will disable the whole plant. Risks are managed, but not eliminated, with planning.

On the other hand, Agile gives a “hand wave” response to risk. These systems assume you’ll know it when you see it. So, the Wagile philosophy endorses risk management and creates a trigger/ response list to manage risk. However, the Wagile philosophy also recognizes “positive uncertainties” to expand and capitalize on surprise results.

Engage customers. While Scrum includes a specific role for the Product Owner (read more here), end-users are still frequently neglected from the process. Wagile forces customer interactions via specific measures at each gate review (e.g. competitive analysis at the Idea Gate and market testing at the Constructability Gate). Moreover, the role of the Customer Representative (see more about the Wagile Roles and Responsibilities here) is wholly responsible to ensure end-user feedback is both accurate and timely. Design Thinking tools are crucial in gathering information throughout the NPD project. (Join me on 11 November 2020 for a complimentary life design workshop – register here.)

Provide autonomy. Many of my readers know I am a chemical engineer. I suffer from some of the common “nerd” traits of engineers – we need quiet time to deeply study a problem and we need to justify a solution based on data and facts.

The Wagile philosophy supports engineers and product development teams by providing autonomy. Senior executives typically are far removed from customers and daily operations on the factory floor. Let the people with the expertise make the decisions.

Of course, when a decision crosses a threshold of high investment or unusually high risk, the team should consult upper management. But under normal circumstances, a flat organizational structure with responsible decision-making guardrails in place allows an innovation team to function most efficiently and productively.

Apply the Wagile Philosophy

While you may be using a traditional staged-and-gated process for innovation or you’ve been trying to implement Scrum, you can make some giant steps to effectiveness by adopting the Wagile philosophy. Focus on moving fast within a discipline of critical success metrics. Understand the project risks and uncertainties but test those limitations with customers. Feedback from end-users should guide a product development effort. Finally, let the experts do their work and give your teams autonomy to make decisions within their control.

Learn More

Learn more about Wagile Product Development in my Webcast with PDMA on 10 September (register here).

Get the full Wagile Product Development course in a virtual, facilitated workshop on 10 November 2020 (register here). Includes templates, tools, and implementation tips.
Check out where I’m speaking next (click here) and book me for your next event.
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.
Get your NPDP Certification! Join our October online class (Thursdays) following the brand new, 2^nd edition PDMA Body of Knowledge. REGISTER HERE!

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 Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

Roles in Wagile Product Development

Posted on 08.20.20

When I was in graduate school, I spent the better part of one day organizing our tool chest. In one drawer, I put all of our metric wrenches and sockets and then laid them out by size . Not only did it look tidy, but it was much more convenient to grab the right tool when you needed it. Everything had an assigned storage place and organizing the parts and pieces according to the job increased our efficiency in the lab.

People are what makes systems work. We assign roles and responsibilities within organizations to ensure that activities and tasks are completed. Similar to a tool chest, assigning job roles to different people ensures they are trained appropriately to conduct tasks as expected. The system itself often is less important than how the people assigned to various roles and responsibilities carry out their tasks within that process.

Wagile Product Development Reviewed

In the Wagile system of product development (read more here), certain roles and responsibilities are assigned to ensure an efficient product innovation effort accomplishes timely goals. As a quick recap, Wagile is a hybrid approach to traditional waterfall project management and the Agile philosophy commonly applied to software development. The advantage of Wagile over other new product development (NPD) systems is that it enhances the frequency of customer feedback during design and development. Another advantage of Wagile is that it applies iterative development within predetermined boundaries (e.g. budget and schedule). Finally, the biggest advantage of Wagile is enhanced communication and team collaboration. Read more about Wagile here.

Roles in Wagile

In every project management and product innovation system, it is critical to include customer perspectives, internal stakeholder viewpoints, and contributions of vendors and suppliers. The key roles of internal stakeholders in a Wagile process include the Project Leader, the Customer Representative, the Team Leader, and the Cross-Functional Team.

Project Leader

Because Wagile adopts the Agile philosophy, the process succeeds at improving time-to-market of new products by reducing hierarchy and bureaucracy. The role of Project Leader is much like a Scrum Master. The Project Leader serves the team to reduce barriers to efficiency and productivity. In addition, s/he interacts with senior executives, external stakeholders, and the Customer Representative to ensure the product development effort is on target. Some Project Leaders act in a dual role as a brand manager or product manager, tracking the overall life cycle value of the new product.

Customer Representative

No product development project can be successful without customer input. The role of Customer Representative in Wagile is to build trust with customers, to collect end-user data, and to organize market research activities for the target customer segment. In Scrum, the voice of customer is delegated to the Product Owner role. (Read more about typical Scrum roles here.) Yet, in practice, the product owner often bypasses true customer insights and reflects internal priorities for project execution instead. A critical performance metric for the customer representative in Wagile is the number of external customer, consumer, and end-user interactions.

Team Leader

The Team Leader and the Project Leader are like an old, married couple. They work together to accomplish the project goals and complement one another. While the Project Leader often focuses on longer term strategic objectives, the Team Leader focuses on operational and tactical goals. The Team Leader is charismatic and builds collaborative skills for the team. S/he also manages the new product development scope, schedule, and budget but has autonomy for decisions for project outcomes.

Cross-Functional Team

Not all project teams are created equal. The Wagile Cross-Functional Team brings together the “generalist–specialist” mentality of Scrum team members while also capitalizing on the depth of skills needed in a traditional project team. While teams are generally small in Wagile as in scrum, scalability is less of an issue.

Small teams allow for quicker and better decisions, so Wagile uses intimate Cross-Functional Teams to complete the tasks of the new product development project. However, as product innovation advances to later phases and requires greater talent investment, sub-teams form to accomplish specific goals and objectives. Communication among Cross-Functional Teams (and sub-teams) is vital to the success of any project, regardless of the project management system.

Roles for Wagile Product Development

Like any system, Wagile product development relies on the people to do the work of the project and to progress toward goals. Understanding the roles and responsibilities of key players within the system allows each person to access necessary training, streamline workflows, and improve communication. Critical roles in Wagile include the Project Leader, the Customer Representative, the Team Leader, and the Cross-Functional Team.

Learn More

Learn more about Wagile Product Development in my Webcast with PDMA on 10 September (register here). Contact me at info@globalnpsolutions.com for a complimentary 30-minute innovation coaching session.

Check out where I’m speaking next (click here) and book me for your next event.
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.
Get your NPDP Certification! Join our October online class (Thursdays) following the brand new, 2^nd edition PDMA Body of Knowledge. REGISTER HERE!

About Me

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

What is Innovation Management?

Posted on 08.06.20

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.

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

About Me

Mixed Skills for Work Today

Posted on 05.07.20

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

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

What are Skills?

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

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

Mixed Skills

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

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

Building Mixed Skills

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

You can learn more about NPDP certification here. Benchmark your own innovation maturity with the Innovation Health Assessment™. Take the complimentary Innovation Health Assessment here. Contact me at info@Simple-PDH.com for more information on developing your skills for a rewarding career in product innovation.

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

Happiness and Innovation Work

Posted on 01.31.19

Recently, I listened to two different business-oriented podcasts on happiness. The first one discussed happiness as a form of contentment, while the second one addressed how we can better manage our time in exchange for happiness. Working more hours was not an element of happiness (of course) yet working better and providing for others through our work did lead to greater degrees of happiness, according to these experts.

Moreover, happiness is a part of our work as new product development practitioners and project managers. Our new product designs are successful when the features and attributes product feelings of happiness in our customers. And with the wealth of our society today at large, we are often seeking happiness as consumers more than we desire simple, functional solutions.

What is Happiness?

Dictionary.com defines happiness as “the state of being happy,” and happy is defined as “delighted, pleased, or glad, as over a particular thing.” This implies that happiness is a transitory mood as much as it is a continuous state of mind. I feel happy when I learn new tools for my favorite hobby, and I feel happy when I’m on vacation with my husband.

I prefer the term content over happy. Dictionary.com defines contentment as “satisfaction, ease of mind”. This definition feels more long-term and deep to the soul. Contentment may be reflected as a sense of happiness and joy, a feeling that others can see and know that you are satisfied with your life circumstances.

Each of us has our own definition of happiness, contentment, and satisfaction. We know when we have these feelings, whether they are in-the-moment or are deep and in our souls. And, if you’re like most human beings, you want more happiness, deeper contentment, and greater satisfaction.

The Role of Innovators

As innovators and new product development practitioners, our role is to bring products and services to people so they can increase their happiness. This might be done by simplifying their lives, minimizing steps to complete a task, or bringing leisure to their lives. Understanding our customers’ motivation is paramount in designing and developing satisfying new products and services.

For example, innovations that decrease the time consumers spend doing household chores can free their time to pursue activities that bring them happiness and contentment. Products and service like flushable toilet cleaning pads, home grocery delivery, and robot vacuums all help us accomplish dreaded tasks quickly and easily. Then, we can invest our time in more satisfying activities.

Innovators can identify new product features and services by observing customers. Observation and ethnographic research are important tools for new product development practitioners to fully understand customer needs. Interviewing consumers during or after task completion can help identify their pain points. For instance, a person would express a pain point of taking a dripping toilet brush or rag to a storage area after scrubbing the commode. The flushable toilet pads eliminate that pain point for customers. Minimizing both the time and mess involved in an undesirable, but necessary, chore can increase a consumer’s happiness.

You can start to brainstorm ideas for products and services by asking customers what makes them happy and what tasks they really dread. On what tasks do they spend their time when they’d really rather be doing something else? What are chores that have to done on the weekend when they’d rather spend time with family and friends? Answers to these questions can guide you and provide insight to identifying valuable customer pain points. Then, you can begin to design products and services to address these pain points and usage issues. Innovation must start with the problem first!

Increasing Happiness with Innovation

Not all innovations automatically increase our happiness. New product developers must watch out in designing products with lots of features and products that are all-encompassing solutions. Too many features and options can make a product or service too complicated and many people will choose to continue with their current solution rather than spend time learning how to use a new product. It is frustrating to exchange precious time to master a product with many features when the consumer only needs a few, basic functions.

Construction worker with machines at the background looking happy

As we consider our own happiness and contentment, we can also consider what makes our customers happy and satisfied. I think this is what makes innovation such an engaging and dynamic career path. We get to help others save time and solve problems, and in doing so, we find self-satisfaction and contentment.

Learn More

If you want to learn more about designing and building products and services for happy customers, please join me in an innovation best practices workshop. Prepare for your New Product Development Professional (NPDP) certification with self-study, facilitated online, or classroom courses. You will immediately impact the success of your innovation efforts by iden3tifying strategies and tools to bring happiness to your customers. Feel free to contact me at info@simple-pdh.com or 281-280-8717 for more information on innovation, project management, and leadership training or coaching. I love helping individuals, teams, and organizations achieve their highest innovation goals!

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.

Innovation Ecosystem

Posted on 01.17.19

Innovation is hard work. While we often imagine a really clever guy in his garage creating the next big thing, reality teaches us that discipline is a far more important trait to successful innovation than is imagination. Discipline supports creativity and frames the context of an innovation ecosystem.

Key Components of Innovation

Innovation certainly requires discipline and creativity – as well as flexibility – for new product development (NPD) team members and leaders. An innovation ecosystem requires pertinent processes, tools, and metrics to lead to repeatable success. Some of these elements are:

A well-considered innovation strategy,
Product portfolio management and knowledge management,
An NPD process, and
Ongoing team and leadership training.

Let’s take a look at each element in turn.

Innovation Strategy

Every company, large or small, has a strategy. Usually, the strategy is documented and reviewed annually. A corporate strategy describes why the business exists and how it expects to accomplish its mission. An innovation strategy is a subset of the organizational mission and specifically describes the details of the new product development programs.

For instance, I worked with a company that wanted to be viewed as “Number One” in an organic food category. Their vision included customers choosing their brand over all other competitors because the food was healthy. The innovation strategy, therefore, built on the vision of delivering healthy products to the marketplace, yet also had to strike a balance between customer tastes, product features, and the labels of “healthy” and “organic”.

Thus, the innovation strategy breaks down the corporate strategy into specific goals and objectives for a new product development program. Healthy foods must be tasty and have textures and flavors that consumers enjoy. The innovation strategy includes, then, a focus on customer needs and definitions (what does “healthy” really mean?) and on technology development (can we manufacture a low-fat, high fiber product?).

Product Portfolio Management (PPM)

Product portfolio management (PPM) is the system to identify in which projects to invest. Knowledge management (KM) captures technical, product, and market data for future use. Both PPM and KM are critical to long-term success of an innovation ecosystem. Yet, historically, both PPM and KM fail in implementation.

PDMA studies show that only about half of companies have a well-functioning PPM process. This is a disappointing statistic since PPM is how we make decisions regarding which NPD projects to advance and which to halt. PPM provides an evaluation and comparison of all innovation projects based on competitive advantage, market attractiveness, technical feasibility, and profit potential. An effective innovation ecosystem uses PPM to guide data-driven project decisions.

Likewise, an effective knowledge management system captures the tacit knowledge of customers, subject matter experts, and key stakeholders and translates these disparate bits of information into explicit knowledge. It is inherently difficult to ask a customer what features they want in a new product, but KM allows us to save and share customer challenges, desires, and feelings about product usage. KM goes hand-in-hand with PPM by supporting clear definitions of customer needs.

NPD Process

Established NPD processes are also critical to an organization’s long-term success with repeatable innovation. An NPD process needs to be formal and structured with key steps, roles, and responsibilities determined in advance for all innovation projects. However, the specific NPD process deployed by a company should fit its culture, scale of operations, and degree of innovativeness sought. The standard NPD processes that my clients use include traditional staged-and-gated processes, Scrum, and hybrid processes.

A traditional staged-and-gated NPD process follows a linear pathway through a project. Designed by Robert G. Cooper in the late 20^th century, the NPD team will set project requirements early in the process and will build the product according to this pre-determined feature set. Cooper recommends – as do I – to continually test the product assumptions with a wide range of users throughout each stage of the NPD process.

A Scrum process follows the Agile philosophy by adapting the work in a short sprint (e.g. two to four weeks) to the highest priority feature or feature set. Customer involvement is intimate in a Scrum NPD process as the customer both sets sprint priorities and approves the incremental product output from each sprint.

Finally, hybrid NPD processes are becoming the norm in innovation as neither a traditional staged-and-gated process nor an agile/Scrum approach is ideal. Hybrid NPD processes support the innovation ecosystem through continuous communication with the customer while utilizing a formal requirements design and development methodology. Keep in mind that no NPD process is perfect, and an NPD process should be updated regularly to reflect organizational, market, and technology needs.

Team and Leadership Training

A successful ecosystem relies on a clear strategy and established practices and procedures (PPM, KM, and NPD processes). To make the cogs turn, however, people must be motivated and inspired to do creative work while at the same time understanding organizational boundaries and limits. Team and leadership training is the last, but perhaps most critical piece, of the innovation ecosystem puzzle.

NPD teams and innovation leaders benefit from New Product Development Professional (NPDP) and Best Practice Training. In these public or customized workshops, team members safely learn how to clearly identify the innovation strategy, implement PPM and KM, and streamline the NPD process. Moreover, teams learn the tools in market research to understand, test, and validate customer needs with concept tests, prototypes, and post-launch reviews.

Likewise, teams need to develop cross-functional and conflict management skills. These are learned and practiced through Situational Team Leadershipand Virtual Team Training. Virtual teams offer a huge advantage for innovators to tap into local market information while designing a product for global reach.

Finally, leaders need to approach innovation with flexibility, adaptability, and patience. Leaders should be trained in situational leadership, virtual team management, and change management in addition to understanding the overall NPDP best practices. Innovation leaders also need ongoing support since other the NPD function is often isolated from other business functions and requires special skills and business frameworks.

I recommend an ongoing sharing and exchange for innovation leaders with a trusted group of like-minded product management professionals. Having your own personal advisory board facilitated by an innovation expert can help you advance and accelerate your innovation ecosystem. Check out the Innovation Master Mind as a way to rapidly improve your innovation programs through industry collaboration and problem-solving. (Register here for a FREE pilot session of the Innovation Master Mind on 23 January 2019.)

A Successful Innovation Ecosystem

I am constantly reminded of the delicate balance in nature’s ecosystem. Rain, sunshine, and fertilizer allow plants to grow and thrive. An innovation ecosystem requires feeding and nourishment to also grow and thrive. Key elements of an innovation ecosystem are the innovation strategy, product portfolio and knowledge management, an established NPD process, and team and leadership skills development.

Innovation is fun and exciting! When we apply and formalize these elements in an innovation ecosystem, we realize both personal and professional success while delighting our customers.

Learn More

Feel free to contact me more information on customized NPDP training. I can be reached at info@simple-pdh.com or 281-280-8717. I love helping individuals, teams, and organizations achieve their highest innovation goals!

A Division of Global NP Solutions, LLC

Study. Learn. Earn. Simple.