Early Influence — The Cornerstone Of Innovation

The primary purpose of this chapter is to explain the importance Early Simultaneous Influence (ESI) and its effects on performance in both goods and services. ESI represents an operationally specific subset of organic teaming practices focused like a laser rifle on the integration key stakeholders in the value stream from concept to customer experiences. A defining characteristic of ESI is its inclusion of the outset of development of functions typically involved only at late phases of the value stream, such as manufacturing and service. Development operations in mechanistic bureaucracies is serial so that specialized functions performs prescribed roles at points as though working on an assembly-line. In concurrent development systems, all functions in the value creation stream are engaged in decision-making up-front where the bulk of costs are committed and opportunities for innovation are greatest. Engaging downstream functions, such as those in manufacturing and service only after key decisions have been made, means that their contribution are of marginal utility for realizing total value for customers. So much has already been determined at early phases of the development cycle that subsequent changes may be so expensive that innovative options at late stages are limited in both sectors, especially goods.