— E x e c u t i v e S e s s i o n —
Better, Faster Innovation
LEADING THE FLEXIBLE ENTERPRISE
August 11-12, 2004 / Hilton Boston Back Bay

Background

Why Flexibility, Experimentation and Iteration?

For many companies the economic climate for the past two years has left them with significantly fewer resources to invest in new product development. Yet, the need to rapidly innovate exceptional new products in response to current market trends, customer demands and emerging technologies is critical for a company’s growth and ultimately, its survival. However, many companies are still held hostage by rigid, linear development processes, constrained R&D budgets and organizational mindsets focused on getting requirements “locked-in” early, leaving them ill equipped to deal with constantly changing technologies and customer requirements.

Infusing flexibility, experimentation and iteration into the development process can readily allow organizations to proactively navigate market, technology and customer changes – so why are so few companies adopting experimentation techniques and a more flexible approach to product development? What are the organizational barriers - how can you break through them and how will you help your team make the leap from a mindset of “getting it right the first time” to one embracing the concept of “failing fast and early”?

This first-ever executive session on Better, Faster Innovation: Leading the Flexible Enterprise has been specifically designed to help product development executives consider the impact of using experimentation and iteration early on in development as well as the benefits of adding flexibility to the development process. You’ll be introduced to new technologies (computer modeling and simulation) that have made drastic cost reductions in experimentation and have created more opportunities to ask more “what-if” questions and generate preliminary answers throughout the development process. Through lectures, case discussions, industry practitioner case presentations, team case assignments and small group discussions, you will be introduced to a variety of approaches and strategies that organizations have used to achieve rapid, efficient, and sustainable R&D/product development. Although there is no one “best way” that works equally well for all organizations in all industries, there are certain common themes in effective product development that cut across organizations and industries – this session will explore these best practices in detail and offer you ample opportunities to apply the learnings to your own organization.

To achieve and sustain rapid innovation at your company, you’ll need practical steps and strategies to build flexibility, experimentation and iteration into your development process and to foster an organizational mind shift to embrace this new approach to development. Drawing on examples and best practices in innovation from IDEO, Microsoft, Intel, HP, Palm, BMW, and more, Thomke, MacCormack and Smith will assist you in developing a foundation for faster and better innovation processes. After a careful analysis of your own R&D/product development approaches, you’ll come away from this session with specific action plans for process improvements, new approaches to break down mindset barriers and put you well on your way to making innovation a core competence.