Working Through Major Product Development Hurdles Early for Faster Product Development
Analysis of projects that were unsuccessfully commercialized often shows that potential show-stoppers were known early in the development process but not addressed. Every research project has some areas that will prove to be more difficult to develop. When they are large enough of a hurdle, they can be considered potential show-stoppers. If a way to accomplish those tasks isn’t found, the project will not be successfully commercialized.
Part of the responsibility of the project development team is to determine what those show-stoppers might be. Once they are discovered, team members then figure out a plan of action that will resolve the issues. There is a human tendency to just ignore the issues and hope they eventually resolve themselves. This rarely happens so it rarely serves to hide or ignore potential show-stoppers.
A better approach is to articulate the issues as clearly as possible and then put together a plan early in the development work to address the potential show-stoppers. This will give researchers the maximum amount of time to think about and develop solutions. Waiting until the end just minimizes the time available to come up with a viable solution. This also tends to mean that any solution that is discovered will either be more expensive, less optimal, or take greater personnel time to develop. By waiting until the end to address show-stoppers, the team is trading off thinking time for physical action.
It also tends to create additional stress just at the time that the team will already be under high stress. Initially, a project is usually low on the radar screen of management time and attention. As additional resources are added to a project, the project gets more management time and attention. This tends to magnify any hiccups on a project.
Stating the issues early and putting together a plan to address them gives management time to adjust to the potential issues and be reassured as progress is made on addressing them, rather than fearing a huge unknown that “suddenly” crops up. This prevents management from wondering what else they haven’t been told about and whether it can be solved in time.
