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The beneficial connotations of the phrase ‘best practice’ include safety and success. In New Product Development (NPD), best practices often involve benchmarking. PDMA’s NPD glossary includes the following definitions:

Best Practice: Methods, tools or techniques that are associated with improved performance. In new product development, no one tool or technique assures success; however a number of them are associated with higher probabilities of achieving success. Best practices likely are at least somewhat context specific. Sometimes called “effective practice.”

Benchmarking: A process of collecting process performance data, generally in a confidential, blinded fashion, from a number of organizations to allow them to assess their performance individually and as a whole.

Often, best practice reports are accompanied by survey results, case studies, or templates.

The caveat of context

Note that the definition of best practice includes a caveat regarding context. Before adopting any best practice, consider context issues such as:

• How does your company culture compare to that of the companies in the report?
• How long will it take for the desired change to permeate your organization?
• Where is your proposed new product on the technology-adoption life cycle compared to products highlighted in the report?

Contrasting correlation and causation

The definition of best practice includes the phrase “...associated with higher probabilities of achieving success…” Results are not guaranteed.

One synonym of associated is correlated. In NPD, it is important to distinguish correlated items from situations where one action causes a specific effect.

For example, a vendor may report that the collaboration effectiveness of NPD teams typically doubles after incorporating their tool set. However, buying their tool may not produce a similar result for your organization.

Cause and effect relationships

Some best practice reports correlate specific initiatives and results. Unfortunately, implementing a context-appropriate best practice may not produce the desired result.

A recent presentation by Dave Snowden of Cognitive-Edge defined the following types of systems:

• Simple: Repeating patterns and consistent events. Typically, best practices and defined processes will provide effective support for decisions because there are clear cause and effect relationships.
• Complicated: Expert diagnosis is required to discover cause and effect relations. Fact-based decisions are based on inputs from experts.
• Complex: Emergent behavior with competing ideas. Unknowns. Pattern-based leadership. When external conditions change, adapt and learn.
• Chaotic: No clear cause and effect relationships. Pattern-based leadership.

Insights about your NPD environment are required to optimize the use of best practice reports.

Preparing for future development

Best practices are derived from past practices. Typically, best practice reports contain summaries of events that occurred months before the release of the study. Some of the recommendations may not be applicable for future new product development projects.

In a rapidly evolving new product development environment, what capabilities should you develop to sustain your competitive advantage?

Part 10 of this series will include several of my suggestions to prepare for future development.

Other posts in this 10-part Detrimental Connotations in NPD series

Quick Fix, 1/10
Product Requirements, 2/10
Subject Matter Experts, 3/10
Design, 4/10
Designers and Developers, 5/10
Marketing, 6/10
Launch, 7/10
I know it when I see it, 9/10
Collaboration, 10/10