Big companies have a special challenge when innovating. Itās that each function in the company affects the outcomes.Ā Itās not just product development or marketing that decide the results. Other functions also matter. Yet the pressure to succeed falls to project and product management. Functions as Links in a Chain There is nothing new in the […]
The Quagmire of a Positive Innovation Culture Innovation is interesting. You must create something and win in a market to declare your work a true innovation. You seldom hear managers call an innovation bad. By definition, an innovation is successful. Someone paid money for it. And it fulfills a need. This is all good. Except […]
Itās surprising to see how product strategy can trip us up. It seems like every part of the topic should help us, not lead us astray. Product Strategy Problems The problem is that many managers see product strategy as the roadmap of changes to a single product. Or they view it as the roadmap for […]
I have a simple message for managers who oversee product development portfolios. Portfolio Balance is Misguided. The problem is no one knows what the balance must be. Instead, we make it up. Thatās right, the gurus and experts make up numbers to impress you. Portfolio balance is BS. It would seem portfolio balance should guide […]
Jobs-to-be-Done and Product Line Strategy Jobs Theory suggests people donāt buy products and services. Instead, the theory says people āhireā products and services to achieve an outcome – a job done. Recognizing how customers āhireā products helps marketers to better understand buyer decisions and choices. The āJobā ties direct to outcome measures[1]. And these measures […]
The āPivotā is synonymous with successful startups. Experts love to tell the stories about how pivots are the key to success. Paypal, Starbucks, and Twitter all found fortune through a pivot. And youāll also hear business school and consulting jargon thrown at the topic. Phrases spring to mind like strategic agility and business model re-alignment. […]
Germans declare it Industrie 4.0. The Yanks tag it as The Connected Enterprise. And the Brit’s give it the 4th Industrial Revolution moniker. Any way you slice it, itās the future. The product development community, especially those in large organizations, donāt seem as caught up in a name. Iāve seen Innovation 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 […]
If youāre interested in NPD and R&D portfolio management, here is an important insight:Ā Most Portfolio Management presentations discuss only development projects.Ā They doĀ notĀ show, analyze, or rationalize front-end work. Anyone new to product development might assume Portfolio Management should only be about products under development. But if thatās all, then portfolio management misses its greatest opportunity for […]
When I began my career in product development a few decades ago, I simply didnāt understand how easy it is to screw up a product line. I was envious of those managers overseeing product lines. I thought managing established lines didnāt cause people to lose sleep worrying about how to develop and launch new stuff. […]
