Antidote for Terminal Sameness
|
|
| Freedom from
Project Surprises Newsletter - Issue #60 |
April 2010 |
|
|
|
Everyone has something they
would like to see different, some aspect of the development process
that they
know is causing continuous disruption in new product releases. The
frustration
is obvious; the major steps to make it go away rarely occur, often
smothered by
a battery of excuses that keep a complete solution just out of reach.
The fact
is that a solution that involves significant change enables the most
basic
instinct - fear. That unchecked fear is keeping significant new product
execution improvements from being
realized.
Jeff Jorvig, IC NPD Coach
|
|
News of Interest to New Product
Development Teams
Leadership Quote of the month:
"Begin
with praise and honest appreciation. Call attention to people's
mistakes indirectly. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing
the other person. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders...Make
the fault easy to correct. Make the other person happy about doing what
you suggest."
-- Dale
Carnegie |
The Antidote for Terminal
Sameness
Does the following statement reflect your reality? "I
want things to be different, but I don't want to change." If you
are in alignment with the majority of the
population then this is indeed a core belief of yours, although one
that is
definitely not publicly disclosed. This sentiment is the primary reason
that
new product execution stays pretty much the same. Maintaining an
emotional bond
to the comfortable known keeps valuable change out of the picture.
New product execution remains in a status quo state not
because of technical reasons, but because of a deep-rooted fear based
anchor.
Organizations are technically brilliant while failing at execution,
simply
because they are dinosaurs when it comes to engaging real change. If
things are
to be significantly different, there needs to be significant change! There
is no other way; recognize that, deal with it and move forward.
Harsh? Absolutely! Many organizations are perplexed by their
inability to significantly improve new product efforts. In reality they
have
fallen into the pit of terminal sameness and are unable see the
situation as
anything but one of maintaining the status quo. The execution problems
have
consumed them. They are unable to get enough of a grasp on the big
picture to
see the major root issues that are siphoning off the teams
productivity. So
yes, I am being harsh, only in the hopes of jarring some brave souls to
take a
realistic view of the fears of change that are holding them back.
To the right is a list of the most likely fear based reasons that
keep people from changing.  See them for the
de-motivating fears that they are
and move on. Risk-averse types will see these as solid barriers and
continue to
thrive on crisis management as the norm. Risk-takers will see these as
hurdles
to be dealt with, knowing a better way is on the other side. Where are
you?
Project execution stagnation is the norm today and the contenders
for solutions have been an ever-increasing emphasis on the technical
tools and
methods for tweaking them to a higher productivity. How's that been
working
out? Tweaking keeps the fear of change in check, while also failing to
provide
solutions that make a substantial impact in time to revenue. When ready
to make
a real difference it will require a real change, not a tweak.
It's imperative to honestly ask yourself if you are keeping
things the same out of a fear of change. If this is the case you are
unknowingly suppressing substantial improvements, so be real in your
personal
assessment. If you want things to be better, really better, then you
along with
everyone else will need to embrace change. The new mantra for your
organization
must be "I want project execution to
be significantly better and I am ready
to accept substantial change as a solution".
There is no shortcut! Fail to embrace change and your new product
execution
will continue to be consumed by terminal sameness, expect nothing
different.
"Again and again,
the impossible problem is
solved when we see that the problem is only a tough decision waiting to
be
made." -- Robert H. Schuller
|
| How I
can Help
"Providing solutions to the systemic project challenges that
quietly steal early revenue opportunity"
- An Agent for
Change.
- Discovery
& Solution - Do
you need to find and remove the the barriers to a predictable and
streamlined new product flow? Maybe you need to understand the history
of past failed project activities. Our Discovery & Solution
services provide the results you need.
- Requirements
workshops
- I will facilitate the timely closure of a high quality set of
requirements for a specific product. If you have a complicated project
where requirements closure is critical, this would be an ideal
candidate for a workshop. More information can be found here.
-
Design
services - Digital & analog IC design, PC Board Design,
Firmware.
-
NPD Flow
Management - Web based best practices, flow, task, deliverable
& monitoring of the project portfolio. Details here.
-
Register
Management - Tool
for synchronization of register information between hardware, firmware,
validation and documentation. Delivers the RTL code, verification code
and documentation for common or custom bus interfaces.
-
NPD team one day workshop to improve planning, execution and monitoring skills for
design projects.
- Ready made downloads:
schedule, checklist, analog design guide.
- Increase management bandwidth via Virtual Design Manager.
- Full listing of common services here.
Contact me today via email, or phone at
480-442-6730. |
|
Feedback
To increase the value of this newsletter for you I would like
to hear your comments.
- What do you like or not like about this
newsletter?
- What subjects would you like to see covered in
the future?
- How is the format?
- Ask me a question related to new product
development and I will anonymously post and answer it here in this
section.
Please email me here with any questions,
comments or suggestions that will help me better serve my readers. I
would enjoy hearing from you.
|
|
|
