"We're not as smart as we think we are"---exposing the big myths of innovation

I don't know how many people got the email from Alex Cooper with this subject line, but I thought it was a good one. Here is the jist of what he has to say:

"The heart of innovation lies in the ability to gather new information, interpret the information, and apply that learning to the product or service that is being developed. This is true for open innovation initiatives as well as “traditional” innovation processes.

Yet for understandable reasons, most product development processes and product developers resist new information seeping into the development process midstream and disrupting schedules and budgets. Fingers are pointed in every direction and no one ends up particularly happy. A product or service that everyone knows could have been better gets launched into the market anyway, because "good" managers don't launch products late or over-budget (in the best-case scenario, the company is able to launch a follow-up product quickly that overcomes the initial shortcomings). Alternatively, the product is delayed repeatedly and absorbs major cost overruns until it launches into a marketplace that is long past caring. Or it is mercifully put out of its misery by the new management team that comes in to really clean up the R&D mess.

However, product development doesn't have to be managed in this way. The best product innovation processes should be designed to respond to new information proactively. While there is a powerful myth that permeates all levels of management (whether in corporations or other organizations) that you should know everything that you need to know before you begin a project, the one thing that you can count on in innovation is that you can always know more."

It goes on from there, but also points to the upcoming workshop, "Flexible Product Developement: Building Agility for Changing Markets." I posted a copy of the brochure below if you are interested.


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