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. Thatâs 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 donât buy products and services. Instead, the theory says people âhireâ products and services to achieve an outcome – a job done. Recognizing how customers âhireâ products helps marketers to better understand buyer decisions and choices. The âJobâ ties direct to outcome measures[1]. And these measures […]
The âPivotâ 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 youâll 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, itâs the future. The product development community, especially those in large organizations, donât seem as caught up in a name. Iâve seen Innovation 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 […]
If youâre interested in NPD and R&D portfolio management, here is an important insight: Most Portfolio Management presentations discuss only development projects. They do not 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 thatâs all, then portfolio management misses its greatest opportunity for […]
When I began my career in product development a few decades ago, I simply didnât 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 didnât cause people to lose sleep worrying about how to develop and launch new stuff. […]
