A study was conducted of 69 analysts evaluating 267 early-stage new product
development (NPD) projects in a major global chemical company over a 10-ye
ar time span. Positive correlations were found between profits resulting fr
om NPD project analyses and the degree of creativity of the analysts evalua
ting those projects, Creativity can be reliably measured with standard psyc
hological instruments, such as the MBTI(R) Creativity Index. Analysts with
MBTI Creativity Indices above the median for the group studied identified o
pportunities providing 12 to 13 times more profit than those with MBTI Crea
tivity Indices below the median, when both groups were rigorously trained a
nd coached in "stage-gate" business analysis methods,
NPD requires breakthrough creativity because the first ideas for commercial
ization are almost never commercial until they have been substantially revi
sed through a thought process involving branching. It is therefore most pro
ductive to preselect innovative, creative people for the early stages of NP
D, and then teach this group the business discipline required in stage-gate
NPD processes.
The results show that by utilizing these principles, both the overall speed
and productivity of typical NPD processes can be increased approximately n
ine-fold, or nearly an order of magnitude when compared to today's typical
linear stage-gate processes. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc.