Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) was a swordsman, a masterless samurai, and an independent teacher. He won his first duel at age 13. By the time he was 29, he had dueled more than 60 times. He never lost. http://oplaunch.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/a-better-perspective-on-competition-during-new-product-development.mp3 Subscribe on iTunes. Duration: 6 minutes. File Size: 3.5 MBytes   Rule 9 from “The Book of Five Rings” by Miyamoto Musashi is “Do not do anything useless.” Musashi’s...

Some emphasize that product development begins with writing code and that effort transforms into a win. The lingering question for this type of three-part development model is “What is Phase 2?” Some emphasize that product development begins with writing code and that effort transforms into a win. The lingering question for this type of three-part development model is “What is Phase 2?” What is Valued by Gnomes that Code? Many managers track business metrics and project metrics during Phase 2...

In the book Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder, Nassim Nicholas Taleb shared insights on optionality that can be expanded to include new product development environments. This post provides an introduction to the non-linear gains associated with antifragile systems that may be realized by designing new product development environments that help individuals improve their capability to synthesize many new options continuously and enhance their proficiency to exercise options that are...

In this post, I will share ways to categorize new product development artifacts. I will clarify several memes. Then, I will offer a concept that individual contributors can use as they determine what they should be doing on a particular day. Two Types of Artifacts in New Product Development During new product development, many artifacts are produced. The word artifact is from the Latin phrase arte factum, skill + to make. Typically, the product is a valuable project artifact. Other artifacts...

When the Beatles performed on the Ed Sullivan Show on 9 February 1964, there was noise from screaming fans. During this performance, John, Paul, George, and Ringo had difficulty hearing each other. However, they delivered a great performance. How did they coordinate their musical efforts? Requisites to Coordination The requisites to coordination in that noisy environment included: Individually, John, Paul, George, and Ringo were proficient musicians. They invested years developing their...

The greatest value of producing interactive prototypes can be the impact on the network developing new products. In some development environments, this value may not be communicated as a primary objective. Sequential Development Processes Some textbooks summarize the steps to new product development (NPD) as a sequential process: Select one idea from a large list of possibilities Scope the project. Develop a plan that includes estimates to transition from an idea to a complete new...

In some new product development (NPD) organizations, managers may feel that they are herding cats. Other organizations embrace a different approach and produce better Development Experiences [DX]. Herding Cats Herding cats is an idiomatic saying that refers to an attempt to coordinate an intractable situation where individuals that are part of a team tend to do very different things. A manager may say “Managing developers is like herding cats” or “Managing designers is like herding cats.”...

This post explores feedback and feed forward approaches to improve development experiences in new product development (NPD). This post was inspired by a new appreciation of the feedback and feed forward labels in John Boyd’s OODA loop sketch of 1995. OODA Loop sketch that includes feedback, feed forward, and implicit guidance & control. Created by Mark A Hart. Based on a 1995 sketch by John Boyd. A more common and older use of the phrases feedback and feed forward is from the design...

This post explores several approaches to prepare for absorbing changing requirements in product development projects. This post was inspired by Alistair Cockburn’s recent remarks. Project Requirements Many development projects have formal requirements. Most often these are found in projects that follow a waterfall methodology or those that embrace the Big Design Up Front (BDUF) approach. Typically, these types of projects contain requirements that include features that must be in the final...

How do you get individuals involved in new product development to do more of the effective activity? There are many approaches. In this episode, I will explore several concepts from game development. I will describe how to develop the conditions for a core compulsion loop to drive positive Development Experiences (DX) in new product development. Game Thinking and Game Mechanics Often, playing a game is associated with the concept of fun. During game development, individuals are involved in...

Which approach to new product development will produce better results? Reductionism or Recursion? Reductionism According to Wikipedia: “Reductionism is a philosophical position which holds that a complex system is nothing but the sum of its parts, and that an account of it can be reduced to accounts of individual constituents.” In new product development, reductionism is rationalized as breaking development tasks into manageable pieces. Typical artifacts are seen in organizational charts or...

Individuals expect stressful portions of their new product development projects. An abundance of complaints may be a precursor to an abundance of stress. Individuals expect to have sufficient resiliency to cope with the stress. Even when exhausted, individuals expect to recover in time to keep their commitments to the next project. Individuals expect to survive. There is a potential for something more positive than survival. This post explores the potential for growth. The Negative Aspects of...

A devastating zero model can guide your actions when deficiencies are discovered in projects. This concept may help you recover from new product development problems.  Suddenly aware In one of my current projects, I had the impression that everything was satisfactory. The objectives were clear. We had support from the highest levels of management. It seemed that many of the individual contributors were engaged and working in a cohesive and harmonious manner, Then, I learned of one exception....