Decisions can be fun!

Recently I’ve been writing quite a few deep and thoughtful blog entries on serious subjects that relate to accelerated strategy and product development (e.g. Massively parallel thinking, Thinking Breakdown Structures, Accelerate Ideas into Reality, etc.).  I don’t want to lose sight of a simple truth – Decisions can be fun! Decisions are how we human [...]

Thinking Breakdown Structures

For any strategy or design situation, a Decision Network provides a Thinking Breakdown Structure (TBS), a way to decompose the situation into well-framed, loosely-coupled, bite-sized and manageable “thought packages“.  It provides a way to “Image the whole, then execute the parts” when the work to be done is thinking that creates the future (aka decisions). [...]

New product innovation decisions

I’ve mentioned previously that a Decision Network provides a very powerful innovation framework for creating breakthrough products and services.  Although every decision within a Decision Network can be an innovation “node”, some decisions are more innovation-rich than others. Within the product design decision pattern, I have a Behaviors to Exploit decision that can be a launching pad [...]

Massively parallel thinking

The following is crazy talk, but sometimes it’s helpful to aim impossibly high to uncover the roadblocks to dramatic improvement. Why does it 6, 12, 18, 24 months or more to design and deliver a new product to market?  How fast could it be done if all the inefficiencies were removed?  Is there a theoretical limit [...]

Criteria: Functional Model

In my previous post, I said that “Functional design is not just adding up the list of functions …, but rather organizing them into a lean, mean performing machine.“.  Functional design is a fairly abstract process, so it’s quite helpful to have a set of “concrete” criteria that can be used to evaluate competing designs: [...]

Decision: Functional Model

Form – Fit – FUNCTION.  I’ve always wondered why this little design ditty isn’t inverted; the heart of any product design lies in its Functional Model.  This decision determines which capabilities the product will deliver to the end user; a product that provides more functionality or the same functionality with better performance will generally win [...]

Scoring alternatives – keep it simple

The evaluation of alternatives in a decision should be a simple process that unlocks many insights.  Effective scoring begins with a clear definition of criteria.  Each criterion (factor, stakeholder goal) represents an arrow or vector in the direction of “goodness”.  Scoring is the process of placing the alternative somewhere along this arrow based on its estimate performance.   [...]

Rapid scoring of alternatives

Everyone wants to make quick, hiqh quality decisions.  It’s important to find a balance between “analysis paralysis” and “speed kills”.  For example, I encourage the folks that I mentor to take their time when defining criteria; understanding their stakeholders’ needs, walkaway points (must limits) and priorities is crucial to a high quality decision.  The best [...]

Decision precision

I’ve coached folks in making a several thousand strategy, engineering or life decisions over the past 20 years.  In most cases, we have used a simple weighted-scoring method to evaluate the relative “goodness” of alternatives against a set of criteria.  Criteria are given weights that express their relative importance; a 10-point weighting scale is typically used.  The [...]

Methods-based mentoring of entrepreneurs

Generally speaking, there are 2 types of effective consultants in the world.  First, there are subject matter experts, those who have deep experience in some industry or technology domain, who have “been there, done that”.  Second, there are methods-based consultants who use multi-disciplinary methods to work across industries and technologies. Their skills are rooted in common patterns [...]