Why Has Product Innovation Declined?
There are many possible explanations for this disturbing fact, but a strong factor is pressure from the financial markets that has driven industry managers to be overly conservative—make no mistakes! Consequently, they have established development systems that reduce variation (such as Six Sigma), reduce “waste” (Lean), and plan uncertainty out of the project (phased development, including Stage-Gate). Although such systems have been successful in other parts of the business—especially the factory—in improving profitability, they have had the unfortunate side effect of inducing rigor mortis in product development activities. What Can We Do? Fortunately, there is much we can do to restore flexibility—and thus innovation—to new product development. As explained on the rest of this website, many tools and approaches can lower the cost of change, thus allowing us to make changes during product development—even late in development—without too much disturbance. Learn about the types of tools
