Lean startup: Making it work in large organizations
By Scott Kirsner, Editor, Innovation Leader
At companies like General Electric, W.L. Gore, Telefonica, and others, executives are finding that the principles of Lean Startup can help them gain customer input faster on new products in development, and at reduced cost. The Lean Startup Method was started in 2008. Lean Startup describes a new approach to developing prototypes, gaining quick feedback from customers, gathering data, and pivoting until you’ve created something that customers really want.
Innovation Leader, a community for executives responsible for new product development, surveyed it members to gauge how its working. What we found is that there are major benefits to be gained, provided that lots of training takes place, even including at the highest levels of the company. “Rather than filtering things through focus groups and surveys,” GE vice chairman Beth Comstock told researchers, lean startup “encourages you to just get things in front of the customer.”