Hi again! The questions I am getting are mainly along the lines of, "What do you mean by 'fixing innovation'? Can you give an example?" Yes. I can.
Client: I need some help building a prototype. The first two didn't work, and now our budget is nearly wiped out.
Me: Why do you want a prototype? Wouldn't you rather have a finished product?
Client: Of course, but we aren't ready to make the final product yet.
Me: Why not? What's stopping you?
Client: Um... I guess we don't know how yet.
Me: Exactly. So how is a prototype going to help you?
Client: Maybe, after we build it, we'll know how to make our final product.
Me: Maybe? You're leaving something as important as that to chance? Forget the prototype, and let's focus on what's stopping you from building a product: missing knowledge.
The big secret that nobody will teach you in business school or engineering school is that innovation is NOT about building prototypes. It is really about creating knowledge. Sometimes building a prototype is a good pathway to that knowledge, but usually it is either the most expensive and time-consuming path, or no path at all.
So many innovative companies charge ahead building a prototype without understanding why or whether they need to. I advise them to stop and question what's keeping them from building the final product. I know that is seldom possible. The important thing is knowing exactly why.
Then, that obstacle or obstacles can be targeted with a specifically designed R&D program that may or may not involve building prototypes. But it is guaranteed NOT to involve wasting time and money!
Unless a prototype is designed specifically to teach you what you need to know, it is likely to be a pointless exercise. Designing a prototype, a test or a research project to produce specific knowledge requires specialized training and experience. You won't save money doing it yourself or with inexperienced technicians.
Another common prototype mistake is to confuse a research prototype with what we call a "Pre-Production Run" or a "Production Pilot Run." These two are totally different and have specific purposes.
When a company doesn't understand the difference, they often purchase 20 or 100 of each part needed to build a research prototype, thinking that they are certainly going to use them in the production model, and it's cheaper to buy bulk. This is almost always a waste of money. Worse still, it paints the design into an awkward corner by constraining it to re-use these stockpiled components long after they are found not to be ideal.
That's why I'm always repeating, "Before you prototype, get expert advice or it could be your time and money straight down the gurgler!" Visit me at www.p-r-o-system.com.
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