In a prior role, I was responsible for leading a bottom-up innovation program at a large Fortune 50. Although I had top level support, the culture of the company at the time was such that the initiative was structured to be bottom-up. I had to win the hearts and minds of people and show value... Read More

Product portfolio management determines the innovation investments businesses will fund—and those they won't—in order to achieve performance goals. For consumer goods firms, these investment options extend across the entire innovation lifecycle and include early-stage ideas, new product concepts,... Read More

In 1996, the First Lady of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton published a book called It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us. In the book, Mrs. Clinton focuses on the impact individual and groups outside the family have, for better or worse, on a child's well-being.... Read More

Rising raw material costs. Pricing pressure. Economic uncertainty. Profit margins squeezed. For most companies, factors such as these have made the need to drive down costs and improve profitability a top strategic priority. Read More

Over the past several years, a significant amount of my work has been with large companies. In working with them, I have assisted with their innovation processes, specifically, improved the way they should manage their innovation processes. Innovation process management includes methods and... Read More

One of my favorite quotes is from Albert Einstein: Read More

Product portfolio management is the link between business strategy and the actual investments being made in product development. It is the governance process that determines the types of projects that enter into and remain in the development pipeline. However, many companies struggle to keep... Read More

An established best practice in idea management is providing feedback to participants. It is in fact, crucial to the success of such voluntary systems. Every idea contributor wants to know that his or her idea has been seen and considered. Obviously, they also want to know whether the review team... Read More

In terms of innovation management processes, concepts perform a somewhat delicate balancing act between ideation and product development. An idea needs to be explored from a variety of angles in order for its potential to become clear. However, as experts spend more time looking at it, they may be... Read More

Active in roadmapping, but encountering difficulties? During a webinar on Product Line Roadmapping by Paul O'Connor of The Adept Group, a majority of participants indicated that this was their case. It may be of interest therefore to touch on some issues I noted recently after discussions with... Read More