ELP 2011 Project Leadership (Group Discussion)- July 29th, 2011

Under The Leadership Umbrella

On July 29, 2011 we learned about Product Realization, which is a model to illustrate a systemic approach to “get things done”. This explanation may seem common sense, but usually common sense is the least common of the senses. This model showed the stages of development to take an idea from conception to its full implementation and it is based in continuous process improvement. We also related this model back to previous discussions of Adapters – Bridgers – Innovators.

We can start by saying that it is a cycle, there are times assigned to each activity, and we need to be careful when doing the “hand off” from one activity to the next activity, so the process does not slow down and the idea still carries its roots and original concepts.

The first three activities to Develop a New Product involves: Ideation, Conceptualization and Visualization.  The Ideation stage is thinking before acting. It is the process of producing new ideas (Architecture is a constant new development of ideas). Then we move to Conceptualization; which is the stage of organizing those ideas in such a fashion that the ideas show connectivity. This is helped by Visualization which is implementing media to express the desired Concept.

High Innovators live constantly in Ideation & Conceptualization & Visualization. After these 3 activities, they tend to get “bored”. Therefore, speaking and going on to new ideas is critical to the success of the process in discovering how to “hand off” from Innovators to Bridgers to carry out the process.

The next two activities to perform in order to transfer to Product Introduction & Feasibility Efforts are: Articulation and Demonstration. Articulation is the moment to express the new idea to someone else that has never seen or thought about it before. Demonstration is critical. In architecture, a model or rendering to small scale demonstrates how the idea works and can get implemented. It is ideal to receive feedback from others to improve the product. This case applies when the client can see what the architect is talking about and then the level of anxiety reduces considerably.

The final phase of the Product Realization is Product Execution, which feeds well into the Adapter role. The activities in this phase are: Iteration, Optimization & Regeneration. Iteration: Is a continuous process to improve the product per the feedback received; meaning to “do it again” often enough times until you find a way to implement it effectively. This actually drives to the next step which is Optimization, this means to optimize the product to become as close as possible to what the actual final desired output will be. Finally, we start the Regeneration process; how do we apply what we have learned to what we are going to do next?

It is desired that this cycle occurs within Absorptive Capacity, which is a model of collaboration to achieve a common objective, without forcing ideas but evaluating what is good for all the members involved.  The challenge is to solve challenges in order to create positive transformation with values and behaviors shared by all parties involved.

We place all this effort Under the Leadership Umbrella, in order to create positive interventions in our society.

Dulce Torres
HKS, Inc.