Manage risk, embrace complexity

The best product for a business is not necessarily the most technically advanced or radical but the one that, through compromise and risk management, can be successfully delivered by you to your customers and yields the greatest return.

Despite all that is prized about innovation, developing a product for market is a risk averse process. That is not to say that risks should not be taken, or that innovation should be stifled as a result. The need to stay ahead of the competition means that risks should be taken, but in the context of prudence. Developing a product for market is about securing your next generation of revenue, so a decision to adapt unproven technology, or go for a radical change in business practice to deliver a new product should be taken in full cognisance of the risks they entail. By adopting and using appropriate risk management strategies the right decisions can be made.

Similarly addressing the impacts of a new product on an organisation and even redesigning aspects of an organisation to enable it to deliver a new product to market effectively is not trivial. However, if products are to succeed potentially complex change issues must be addressed well in advance of that change being needed. The use of effective communication, cooperation and collaboration strategies are key to effecting successful change. By focusing a development team on achieving not just a new product but rather a product capability, coupled with businesswide commitment to making the project succeed complex, issues will be addressed and solutions determined.

© Procentricity Ltd 2003