During new product development, some problems are fatal. In other cases, certain factors may limit the success of development efforts.
To facilitate the discussion of items that impact qualities such as the efficiency or effectiveness of new product development, I began using the phrase "Success Limiting Factor" (SLF) on 11 December 2010.
The intent of the phrase success limiting factor is to convey an explanation that avoids linear reductionism. The intent is to provide insights that are more subtle than overly simplistic conclusions about "the weakest link."
Rationalized post-project review comments
Perhaps you have overheard conversations in a post-project review session that can be summarized by comments such as:
- "The project was a success but our timing was bad. The problem is the economy."
- "The project was a success but our target customers are buying the competitor's product. Our competitor has more resources."
- "The project was a success but the news of a few minor defects hurt our sales. Why can't our marketing department do a better job of controlling what is posted on Twitter?"
Instead of congratulating ourselves regarding internal metrics, new product developers should be reminded that when we fail to deliver value to an abundant number of customers, the project failed.
Impacts of SLFs
SLFs are items that impede new product development. They are detrimental to success. There are many SLFs and each has a unique relative impact. The most important indicator from all SLFs is the impact at product launch. This is the aggregate indicator.
Some SLFs have a deterministic nature. In some cases, there is a simple cause and effect relationship. These types of factors have first-order effects.
In other cases, the relationship between an SLF and the impact is more complex. These types of SLFs have second-order (or higher) effects. The impact varies because of interactions in the system. For more information refer to the Wikipedia entry for a complex adaptive system.
Achieving more success with less wasted effort
For a given set of project constraints (budget, resources, scope, time table,...), what does it look like when a team achieves better results? When plotted as revenue versus time, the desired outcome is more success for the development investment. This is more return on investment.
When SLFs are reduced, customer's are more likely to recommend a product to their friend. This is the basis for assessments such as net promoter score.
In future posts in this series, I will identify specific SLFs and suggest ways to reduce their impact.
Listen to Success Limiting Factors in New Product Development [4:50 minutes, 1.9 MBytes, Apple iTunes / QuickTime is required]
