Foreword

Over the past 35 years I have led design and innovation teams that have developed products for Fortune 500 companies, serving industries as wide ranging as automotive to medical, and through it all I have basically learned two things. First, all industries, companies, and the people who work for them evolve over time by responding to a myriad of influences (both good and bad), and as a result, people develop new skills, processes, and competencies. The second is that over time, as people are constantly bombarded by this myriad of influences, many will eventually succumb to doubt, fear, and confusion; however, there is a core set of activities that, if done well, can lead a product development team from the nascent germination of a meaningful idea to the creation of meaningful value, repeatedly. In other words, there is a path forward for product developers and their teams when they are purposeful in developing and improving their product development competencies, and this text is a guidebook for those who are just becoming aware of their journey to create innovative products and services. What’s more, the path provided by the authors of this text is proven.

As indicated by its title, this text is contemporary because it addresses the very current realities of business. Specifically, the authors have sifted through the noise associated with today’s ever-changing influences that impede the success of the product development processes upon which so many businesses depend. They have also identified a core set of timeless, trend-proof activities, such as how to:

• Empathize with your customers’ wants and needs and ensure that your product will become influential and integral in their lives
• Identify significant and meaningful problems to solve in order to substantially benefit customers
• Identify the best way to provide your product to your customers
• Motivate others to adopt your product and increase your customer base
• Test and retest the idea early and often during both “pre” and “post” launch phases to ensure the product and the product’s support mechanisms provide all of the elements of a winning customer experience

These activities will not only increase your potential for success but will also boost your confidence to create additional products with greater ease and success as you continue to evolve as a product designer, innovator, and developer.

The other word from the title that stands out for me is innovation. Many companies struggle to define “innovation,” much less create and refine the processes that allow the influence of innovation to contribute positively to their business. While there are many theories as to why so many companies never realize the desired return on their innovation investment, I think the main reason is that the road to realizing value from a new idea is long and complex, and quite frankly, when you consider all of the required activities for success, it is daunting, even when you have the backing of a large corporate budget. Yet, in this book you will learn that the word “innovation” implies that your great idea has not only reached its intended customers but that customers are using the product because it is providing them with new value—which also means that the product is providing value to your company. Additionally, despite the glamor and mystique often associated with developing and launching a new successful product to the market, product development requires a lot of hard work, and this text does not flinch in describing the work required for success. Whether you are an entrepreneur, an inventor, or a business person, the journey from an idea to value creation is a relentless pursuit of relevant knowledge and decision making. It cannot be overstated: developing and launching an innovation is a lot of work.

In order to streamline this work and increase the efficacy of the material, the authors have also leveraged the research and writings of thought leaders such as Simon Sinek (Start with Why), Daniel Coyle (The Talent Code), and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Finding Flow) to structure the text in a way that reflects how the brain works, which also serves to reinforce both how to best approach the product development process as well as support how we learn. As anyone sets out to attain new knowledge or learn a new skill in a particular subject area, it is helpful to understand the big picture of why the topic exists and why it is worth your time and effort to study. In this text, you will learn that understanding the why of product development is your starting point, for a multitude of reasons, as your initial efforts must focus on understanding the reasons why your customers’ problem exists and why it has evolved into its current form. Then, you will learn how to best respond in order to build the foundation of a differentiated approach that aligns with both the mission and vision of your company while also addressing the needs of your customer. This process finally leads to determining what the actual solution will be in the form of products, services, business models, and industry ecosystems. Additionally, this text will help you practice creating value for your customer by successfully addressing the original and ever-relevant question of why through repeated validation.

Keep in mind that relative to the work associated with answering the why and the how, the what is almost always the easiest to answer. In part, this is because resources are so much easier to acquire than ever before. Talent, technology, partners—now more than ever, there is a global pool of easily accessible assets and resources just waiting to help you create new value. The trick is knowing who and what you need, how and when you will put your resources to work, but most importantly why you are expending your time and resources toward these efforts in the first place. Ironically, why this is important is because all of this ever-increasing abundance of resources creates a cacophony of noise that makes the work of the product developer all the more challenging.

Therefore, the keys to benefiting from this text is to understand the sequence and depth of study required of each phase in the journey of developing a product and to experience why and how each phase of input results in progress. What’s more, the authors have identified a subset of tools and methods to encourage rigor and evidence-based decision making. You will discover that the more you practice using these structured, serial work activities, the more you will understand which tools and methods will be most productive for you. As a result of your dedicated practice, you will naturally develop an intuition that will help you modify these methods and perhaps even invent your own.

I recommend you study this book in three waves. Wave one: Focus on understanding the “never-changing” tasks associated with making progress toward creating new value with your idea. In addition to becoming familiar with the high-level concepts that are supported by the tools and methods provided by the authors, analyze the necessity of each activity in order to best arrive at why all of these things are timeless to product developers in the first place. Wave two: understand each area of work and study these areas as they harbor key activities that, when done in the appropriate sequence, best inform your journey and support the successful launch of a new product. Wave three: engage in “deep practice” with these tools and methods so that you can first become proficient, but do it with the intent of mastering them.

As our problems on Earth grow greater and more complex every day, we need more innovators who are willing to identify meaningful problems, so they can create meaningful solutions that in turn will create meaningful and sustainable value. This text will introduce you to what you need to know to begin this work, and more importantly, it will introduce you to what you need to do since creating an innovation is both physically and mentally taxing. In other words, this text can be considered a playbook that is designed to promote continuous progress and success; therefore, you should also know that no one can do this work alone. It is rare to find people who possess the knowledge and skills to cover all the phases and activities of product development, hence the reason for three authors of this text rather than one.

Lastly, take this opportunity to dig deep into the areas you enjoy most, and over time. you will inherently gain mastery through your continued practice. Your confidence will motivate you to facilitate and enhance these methods for your teams, and you will become known for your mastery, as well as for your refined intuition for developing and launching successful products. Celebrate this moment as one that marks your first step on a journey toward attaining innovation wisdom. Each subsequent step forward (including some necessary steps backward too) will compel organizations and talented teams to seek you out because of the progress you started this very moment. All you need to do now is turn the page to celebrate another step toward your future success, and if the noise and distraction from the myriad of influences inherent in this work ever overwhelms you or your team, reach for this book to reenergize and refocus on the proven and timeless truths that will always underlie successful product development.

—Bill Fluharty

Director of Industrial Design

Stryker, Medical Division