Myths of Product Development – Part 1

There are myths of product development that Quality can help with.

How do we integrate quality with product development? Using quality tools and techniques early in the design phase can lead to more successful outcomes. But we cannot do it by treating the product development process like a manufacturing process.

Listen to this Part 1 as we unpack Harvard Business Review’s “The Six Myths of Product Development” by Stefan Thomke and Donald Reinersten. We review three of the six myths in the article, revealing the misconceptions around resource allocation, batch processing, and rigid development plans.

Join us as we review why treating a product development process like a manufacturing process is riddled with pitfalls. The reasons why it doesn’t work provides us understanding to what we CAN use quality tools and techniques to do to improve product development.

This is Part 1. Tune into the next episode for Part 2, where we will review the remaining three myths of product development.

One of the significant insights from this episode is the emphasis on NOT treating product development like a manufacturing process.

The philosophy of Quality during Design plays a pivotal role here, advocating for cross-functional team involvement and the use of quality tools and techniques to refine design concepts. This approach enhances the early design phase and sets the stage for successful product outcomes.

The Harvard Business Review article:

Reinersten, Donald and Stefan Thomke. “Six Myths of Product Development.” Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2012/05/six-myths-of-product-development. Accessed July 1, 2024.

Six Myths of Product Development (hbr.org)