Guest Post By Ron Boire
I know very few CEOs that would say they are good at stopping bad projects. The result is higher costs, lack of innovation, and unmotivated and fearful employees.
So, why is it so hard to stop a project that has not and will not deliver on its goal? In my experience, there are three factors: fear of failure and the results of that failure by managers and leaders, organizational momentum or culture, and lack of processes that produce transparency. According to published research, these three factors contribute to between 70–90% of new products failing. But, the problem is not the failure rate; the problem is how long it can take to kill a bad idea.
In the 1990’s I was responsible for the Mobile Audio Group for Sony in the U.S. We had dozens of the most popular and profitable products on the market, CD-Walkman®, Sports Walkman®, and every portable music device you could imagine, including one that made digital audio recordings — MiniDisc®. MiniDisc® (M.D.) was a bad idea.
MD was not a bad idea because the product didn’t work; it did work as advertised. It was a bad idea because it was both early in the digital wars…
