Imperfect Products Are Precursors to Success

(Bloomberg Businessweek, 25 January 2012)

In Brief: Given a 90% failure rate for new products, leading companies are testing new ideas with “minimum viable products” that deliver on the basic ambitions of a project. Companies then use consumer feedback to improve the final design. Such successful products include the Power Bar, new Starbucks drinks, and the iPad.

Our View: Progressive strategists realize that the more common stumbling block is not failure to develop new products, but failure to focus on new products with the best chance of supporting profitable new businesses. Leading companies develop innovation management competencies that  focus on fewer, more strategic innovations with the greatest chance of generating sustainable growth.