Product Development Best Practices - Best for Who?

The problem with product development "best practices" is that they are somebody else's. Why not concentrate on what will work for you?

We believe that there is only one measure of the value of our product development services: enduring improvement in your new-product innovation as a result of our involvement. We work with you to provide more than just "best practices" or "compelling concepts." Even if they fit, "best practices" are of no value until your people start using them and they actually improve your performance.

Our product development training incorporates several techniques to maximize the prospects for adoption and improvement after the class. Our consulting normally follows a momentum-sustaining model developed by Robert H. Schaffer CMC. You can read about this model in his book, High-Impact Consulting. For example, read about how we carried these concepts into action in one engagement, or see our article on continuous improvement.

Our experience with many other companies on this path helps you to avoid some of the traps along the way, for instance, the "Smart-Talk Trap" (Harvard Business Review, May-June 1999, pages 134-142). The smart-talk trap especially afflicts firms that pride themselves on hiring the smartest people.

Client-centered objectives: Although many of our clients engage New Product Dynamics because they wish to accelerate their product development, cycle-time reduction isn't always an appropriate objective. Some clients need a more disciplined product development process, while others desire a more agile one. Consequently, we start working with you to understand where you are in your product development journey and where you would like to go. We have no fixed solutions or models that we fit you into.

Cross-industry fertility: We bring our experience from software developers to firms that make pumps and valves, and vice versa. Although high-tech is different and medical device manufacturers are highly regulated, many of the core issues carry right across these surface distinctions. This provides you with a richer selection of solutions, some of which your competitors are probably not aware of yet.

Cross-functional: Although the bulk of innovation work is usually done within the R&D department, many of the major delays and opportunities to displease the customer fall outside of R&D. Consequently, our work always involves people from departments such as purchasing, marketing, finance, manufacturing, and quality. This is essential for obtaining buy-in to improvements in a process as encompassing as product innovation is.

Multilevel: Likewise, both the developers and management up to senior levels must be involved in finding and implementing the solution. As an outsider commissioned to resolve an issue, we have the essential freedom to work and several levels in the organization needed to facilitate change and build ownership of the solutions.

The client has the answers: Invariably, we find that the most pertinent solutions come out of the client organization. The consultant/trainer's role is to precipitate these, based on our experience with what has worked and not worked elsewhere. We help you to find your solution faster and overcome the corporate immune system that tends to reject new approaches.

Fact-based: Our longer engagements include fact-based analysis. Unfortunately, due to inertia, simply showing someone a better technique has proved to be an inadequate pad from which to launch improvement. By collecting facts from your organization, we build a compelling case illustrating the weaknesses of the present techniques. This motivates people at all levels and in all functions to explore a new approach.

Ongoing complimentary support: Because we measure ourselves on your success in improving, we remain available, without extra charge, to answer the inevitable questions that arise and to resolve the hurdles that attempt to thwart improvement. We also show you how to build your own best practices through continuous improvement.

When can we start helping you to build best practices that are truly yours? For more specific information on our typical services, see that page.

What are the pros and cons of engaging a consultant or trainer rather than making improvements internally? Consider your improvement options.