Imagineering is one of the greatest capitalistic tools ever created and most companies do not know what it is, nor how and why to make it part of their company’s culture.
It is an idea with value ramifications that can dramatically increase the probability of a successful and profitable new product launch.
Interested? To create a structure for imagineering within a company, one first needs to examine the difference between Design and Engineering.
Corporations have long combined the disciplines of Design & Engineering with mixed results. Usually Design falls under the auspices of Engineering, which will almost always create a friction between the two if each is true to their own discipline. As a result, the company usually winds up with a lesser product. The answer to creating better products lies within a deeper understanding of the two disciplines.
In general terms, Engineering endeavors to save money, Design strives to make money. Engineering is related to product refinement, while Design is akin to new product discovery. Those are significant differences!
To implement Imagineering within your company begin by creating an equal opportunity for influence between the two (Design and Engineering) within the corporate structure. After establishing an equality of influence, take an active role in the management over each of these separate disciplines. Once you do, you’ll be on the road to creating and establishing one of the great business tools for continued sales success.
I’m sure you have a firm grasp on what your company is prepared to spend in order to insure a lower operating cost, like better equipment within the plant, or creating processes and procedures to insure a lower cost of production, or how much engineering time should be spent to refine a new product or an idea.
Question… Have you thought about what you are prepared to spend in the discovery of a new product or idea?
Ask yourself what opportunities have you afforded to your design department in collecting the proper information so that they can start the design process with the proper premise? If your designers are pragmatic about their processes they will want to establish a premise for the design project before they start, otherwise they will be lost before they begin and you will never get the result you are looking to achieve.
Successful implementation of Imagineering demands a greater interaction of each of the disciplines of Design and Engineering with the customer and the consumer. This is especially true for designers.
Designers need time outside their cubicle and away from corporate influences. After all, their job is to design first for the consumer.
They have to be aware of trends and consumer movement. How much are you willing to spend for them to grasp and identify some of the outside influences that affect the consumer and his buying habits?
In the end, Imagineering is a well managed synergistic effort between those that can make you money and those that can save you money.
Like anything else of value, creating an Imagineering department within your company is a process of continuing effort. How it adds another element of success to your company will be as individual as you are.
Peter
First printed July 2006 in CEO Magazine. Reprinted with permission.
