Awkward Reality #170

I get nervous when I hear the words “validate” and “hypothesis” in the same sentence.

It’s usually a sign the new-product team has a supplier-centric mindset, not a customer-centric one. Validating hypotheses is converging around a supplier solution… which should occur after diverging around customer needs. It’s important to get the sequence right. Look around and study Problem Solving 101: Divergent thinking nearly always precedes convergent thinking.

More in article, Is Your Innovation Supplier-Centric… or Customer-Centric?