Six Fables of Product Development
Many companies approach product development as though it were manufacturing, trying to control expenses and improve quality by applying zero-defect, efficiency-focused methods. While this tactic can enhance the performance of factories, it generally backfires with product development. The process of creating items is profoundly not the same as the entire process of making them, and also the failure of executives to appreciate the distinctions leads to several fallacies that really harmed product-development efforts.
The authors, an HBS professor and a consultant, expose these misperceptions and others in this article. They l k at six dangerous myths
1. High utilization of resources makes the division more effective.
2. Processing work in big batches will be more economical.
3. Teams need certainly to faithfully follow their development plan, minimizing any deviations from this.
4. The earlier a project is started, the earlier it will be completed.
5. The more features a item has, the better clients will like it.
6. Jobs could be more effective if teams “get them right the very first time.”
The writers explain the adverse effects these “principles” have when used to product development, offer practical recommendations on overcoming them, and walk readers via a artistic t l that may help them keep tasks on track.
The fallacies that cause delays, undermine quality, and raise costs
Many product-development managers are often struggling to bring in projects on time and on spending plan. They do not have sufficient resources to get the job done, and their bosses need predictable schedules and deliverables. Therefore the managers push their teams to be more parsimonious, to create more-detailed plans, and to minmise schedule variations and waste. But that approach, which may work very well in switching around factories that are underperforming can really hurt product-development efforts.
The two are profoundly different although many companies treat product development as if it were similar to manufacturing. In the wide world of manufacturing objects that are physical tasks are repeated, activities are fairly predictable, and also the products being produced may be in only one place at any given time. In product development many tasks are unique, project requirements constantly change, while the output—thanks, in part, to the widespread utilization of higher level computer-aided design and simulation therefore the incorporation of computer software in physical products—is information, which can live in multiple places at the time that is same.
The failure to appreciate those differences that are critical offered rise a number of fallacies that undermine the l k, execution, and assessment of product development jobs. Together, we now have spent more than 50 years learning and advising companies on product-development efforts, and we have actually experienced these misconceptions—as well as other people that arise for different reasons—in a range that is wide of, including semiconductors, autos, gadgets, medical devices, computer software, and financial solutions. In this essay we’ll expose them and offer approaches to overcome the nagging issues they create.
Fallacy 1 High utilization of resources will improve performance.
In both our research and our consulting work, we’ve seen that the great majority of organizations attempt to fully employ their product-development resources. (One of us, Donald, through studies carried out in executive courses during the California Institute of tech, has found that the product-development that is average keeps capacity utilization above 98per cent.) The logic appears apparent jobs simply take much longer whenever folks are not working 100% for the time—and therefore, a busy development organization will undoubtedly be faster and much more efficient site right there than one that’s perhaps not of the same quality at using its people.
However in training that logic doesn’t endure. We’ve seen that jobs’ rate, efficiency, and production quality inevitably decrease when managers totally fill the plates of the product-development employees—no matter just how skilled those managers may be. High utilization has serious negative unwanted effects, which managers underestimate for three reasons