A Message from the PDMA Pittsburgh Chapter President

Welcome to the Pittsburgh PDMA! I am honored to serve as Chapter President for 2013-2014. As I stepped into this role, the Chapter was recognized as a Top Tier Chapter in the Nation! This is a testament to the response and support of our members and guests, the tremendous talent and dedication of our Board and the leadership and vision of our past Presidents – Jeff Thompson and Mark Adkins. I am excited and proud to be part of this growing and vibrant community of practitioners, academics and service providers engaged in the principles, practices and processes of effective product innovation.

This is one of the most dynamic times in history for innovation and product development. Bill Gates suggests in Bloomberg Businessweek: “We’ve had more progress in the last decade than ever before.” For innovators, product developers, designers and engineers, advancements in technology (real and virtual) have created a vast body of knowledge and resources including the advent of some of the most creative and unique product development platforms in history—crowd sourcing, open innovation, rapid manufacturing and the maker movement, just to name a few. There has never been a more exciting time for innovation and product development yet organizations, regardless of size, openly admit to ongoing struggles with sustainable growth through their product portfolios and pipelines. We continue to hear of the high number of new product failures and the lament over incremental product improvement.

The mission of our Chapter is to impact the success of product development by growing and unifying the knowledge, talent and resources in our region. With the connection to the international PDMA organization, we also enable wider access to global resources. This coming together of professionals from different perspectives, disciplines and backgrounds, creates a valuable forum for genuine dialogue about current best practices, methods, challenges, opportunities and new thinking.

I encourage you and your colleagues to become part of the innovation conversation and join the Pittsburgh PDMA community. Whether through membership, sponsorship, event participation or volunteerism, there are many ways PDMA can fit your schedule and interests.

See you at the next PDMA Innovation Forum on September 16th!

Randy Rossi
President, PDMA Pittsburgh
President, Bally Design

Why Aren’t We Doing Big Ideas Anymore? A Call to Arms for New Product Development Professionals

Join the Pittsburgh Chapter next Monday, September 16th, for an engaging Innovation Forum presented by Chris Miller, Ph.D., NPDP: 

Why Aren’t We Doing Big Ideas Anymore?: A Call to Arms for New Product Development Professionals

Where:  Catalyst Connection, 2000 Technology Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15219
When: 6:00 - 7:00 pm; September 16, 2013

In a world full of problems, why are we so focused on redoing what has already been done?  Can we really say that the world is better off because of our work?  Could we do better work, more important work?

As innovation professionals, we have a special responsibility to lead, to show the way, to make a difference.  It’s not about process, though process is important; it’s not about voice of the customer, though those who choose to ignore the customer do so at their own peril; it is not about technology mapping, or open innovation, culture or cross-functional teams, as important as these things are.  Success in innovation is driven by a passion to bring technology into the service of humanity in a meaningfully differentiated way.

Registration and networking will begin at 5:00 pm.  The cost is $25 for members and $35 for non-members.  Seating is limited, so be sure to register early.  

REGISTER NOW

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Often called a cheerleader for innovation, a prolific author, Chris Miller deals with everything that helps us to bring technology into the service of humanity, from how we explore for ideas and the mental processes involved in innovation, to success blockers that get in the way of discovery engineering.  Miller calls on his audiences to step up to the challenges of innovation by engaging in rigorous repeatable processes many of which are fundamental to how people have worked together to bring about change for hundreds of years.

Miller is a past President of the Product Development and Management Association, on the Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, formerly on the Board of Trustees for the Lancaster General Health Innovations Corporation, and an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award winner.

He is also an avid supporter of bicycle commuting, and of creating bicycle and pedestrian friendly communities.

June 20 Webcast: Social Networking

Learn Social Networking from IBM - How to Get the Biggest Payback

June 20 Webcast
2 - 3 pm EST

Can social networking help you build better products or be a better product manager? According to IBM executive and author Ed Brill, the answer is yes. In this webcast, Brill will discuss “Opting In,” lessons in merging product management and social networking from IBM’s use and leadership over the last decade. You will learn how, where, when, and why to participate in online communities, what the payback will be, and how to justify the effort internally.

Leveraging the "Lean Start-up" methodology for adaptable new product development

Faced with constant disruptions, now more than ever companies need to employ effective innovation processes to remain competitive. Harvard Business Review May 2013 - Why the Lean Start-up Changes Everything by Steve Blank looks at how we can apply the "lean start-up" methodology used by many young tech ventures for a more nimble process:

  “Lean Start-up” favors: 

• Experimentation to elaborate planning
• Customer feedback over intuition
• Iterative design over traditional “big design up front” development 

Break with conventional wisdom - writing an upfront plan based on the initial series of untested hypothesizes is a waste of time - in the word of boxer Mike Tyson, “Everybody has a plan until you get punched in the mouth”.

Agile development: a "Get out of the building" approach

• Don't develop in 'stealth mode' instead test hypotheses early and frequently 
• Customer insights drive small adjustments or 'iterations'
• If the customer feedback reveals that you've got it wrong - 'pivot' to new hypotheses 

What do you think about this borrowed approach?

MAY 16th INNOVATION FORUM: Intentional Insight - McKesson's Process for Innovation

Intentional Insight - McKesson's Process for Innovation 

Thursday, May 16, 2013
5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Regional Learning Alliance at Cranberry Woods

Jeff Thompson, Director of Innovation Programs at McKesson Automation, will provide an overview of the company's innovation process, Intentional Insight.  He will discuss the key elements of the program, how the program was developed, and the results.

Learning objectives: 

1. Understand key elements of the McKesson Process for application in your business 

2. Understand application of an innovation process founded on deeply understanding customers 

3. Appreciate the challenges in implementing an innovation program and solutions to overcome them

Agenda

4:00 - 4:30 p.m.     Registration Open 
4:30 - 5:00 p.m.     Networking
5:00 - 6:00 p.m.     Presentation
6:00 - 6:30 p.m.     QA

Early-Bird Registration

 Members: $20   
 Non-Members: $30

On-Site Registration

 Members: $30 
 Non-Members: $40

REGISTER NOW