Learnings from the Product Development and Management Association’s 33rd Annual International Conf

by Anne Orban, M.Ed., NPDP

At the Product Development and Management Association’s Annual International Conference two words were heard that, like spring bulbs in winter, have been dormant—teams and leadership.  The relationship between these words is important.  Just as the common sense that it takes a village to raise a child, it takes teams to bring new products successfully into the market place, and all along the way, lots of different people have to step up and act with leadership.

The distinction between acting with leadership and being a leader is one of the key messages communicated by Professor Jean-Philippe Deschamps, a keynoter at the conference.  And it is a message for all of us in product development. In product development it takes a village. There is no escaping that very different tribes must work together – the R & D, marketing, design, legal and financial tribes must all play effectively together. These tribes, and the companies they belong to, need leadership behaviors.  Professor Deschamps usefully distinguishes between leadership behaviors that are bottom-up and those that are top-down. He argues that the innovation culture must be seeded from the bottom up and that the innovation pay-off, which is the value creation for customers and for the company, must be ignited and steered from the top down.

Innovation leadership behaviors are essential at all levels in a company – from top to bottom.  How do you rate yourself and your colleagues on these leadership touch points?

1. I thrive on creativity and process discipline
2. I learn from my mistakes and help others recover from theirs
3. I am deeply rooted in the voices of the users and trust my gut feelings
4. I embrace the reality that it’s not all invented here
5. I have insatiable curiosity
6. I like to stretch and be stretched
7. I enjoy making team work truly collaborative
8. I believe in leadership by example and act on it
9. I speak my mind respectfully
10. I ask for and accept help from others

Clearly, your leadership quotient is higher with more “yes” than “no” responses.

If you are a senior executive, or aspire to be one, the innovation leadership work of Professor Jean-Philippe Deschamp, as featured at the PDMA Annual International Conference 2009 and available in his most recent book, Innovation Leaders: How Senior Executives Stimulate, Steer and Sustain Innovation, is well worth exploring