Developing Products in Half the Time: New Rules, New Tools

by Preston G. Smith, Donald G. Reinertsen

In 1991, the original edition of this book became an instant hit as the leading guide to reducing product development cycle time. The expanded set of tools in this new edition meets the needs of today's more demanding times. The book's premise remains solid: time is worth money, and if you quantify this value you can buy time wisely, often to enormous advantage. Rather than pursing development speed at any price, the authors emphasize subjecting time-to-market decisions to the same hard-nosed business logic used for other management decision. Developing Products in Half the Time, 2/E is unique in providing tools for trading off schedule against other business objectives. It integrates powerful methods to manage risk and use resources effectively with proven techniques to accelerate product development.

Smith and Reinersten discuss hundreds of practical tools for reducing cycle time, describing each one's application and limitations. Countless examples including Black & Decker, Hewlett-Packard, Honda, Motorola, and other illustrate how real companies use the tools. With six more years of implementation experience and responses from readers of the original 60,000 copies, the authors have sharpened the original tools and added new ones.

Genres: Business, Management, Nonfiction, Technology

320 pages, ebook

First published January 15, 1991

Reviews

[Bruno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, it's a bit aged by now. But only regarding examples, cases etc.. The ideas and models presented in this book are surprisingly often still valid after all these years.

If someone wants to understand contemporary agile Frameworks, this book will help.

I consider it a must read for serious product development - as well as software development.

[Marcin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding. This book is packed with rules and tools to accelerate product development. Without a single direct reference to IT this book explains the essence of Agile and Lean in a buzzword free way.

[Antonio · Rating 4 out of 5]

I worked on a project with a client on the optimization of the R&D department, and I wanted to learn a little about theory in research and development processes.

This is my first book about the topic, and I learned a great deal about how to increase the pace of the product development process since it means faster income and being competitive.

This is my assessment of the book Developing Product in half the time by Preston G. Smith according to my 8 criteria:
1. Related to practice - 5 stars
2. It prevails important - 4 stars
3. I agree with the read - 4 stars
4. not difficult to read (as for non-English native) - 4 stars
5. Too long (more than 500 pages) - short and concise (150-200 pages) - 4 stars
6. Boring - every sentence is interesting - 3 stars
7. Learning opportunity - 5 stars
8. Dry and uninspired style of writing - Smooth style with humouristic and fun parts - 4 stars



Total 4,125 stars

[Kevin McDonagh · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a remarkably prescient book in regards to its advocating for diverse inputs constantly feeding into the Product Team throughout development, starting with discovery. Although termed differently, many concepts are still burgeoning as best practices in contemporary Product teams. There's still yet more treasure to be learned within this lived experience; I was surprised to have not heard the concept of the 'fuzzy front end', and where this book shines is walking the walk. It always starts at outcomes and high levels and then breaks down its salient points into potential returns on investment.

[Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book a few years ago and loved it. Picking it up again because it's time for a refresher as I pull a new team together.

[Bob Schatz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Strongly recommended. This is like a Back to the Future book. The 2nd edition (1998) and 1st edition (1991) are the foundations to what we do in Scrum for SW today. This book covers everything from Product Ownership, to Teams, to Management. Read it and you will have a deeper understanding of the history of what we're trying to do today. It references the New New Product Development Game (First reference to Scrum as a Product Development method) and it even talks about Black & Decker's Daily Standup meetings where each person on the team talks about what they did in the last 24 hours, what they're going to work on today, and what things are getting in their way....Sound familiar??

[Carl Gauger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a smart book with many excellent helps to a smart product development system. The authors offer keys to managing the process by knowing how to get the most out of time, cost and performance by such methods as concurrent development, risk assessment and management, staffing and resources, teamwork, etc. They cover all the most important aspects. Most of the time and risk is taken out of product development by investment in the "fuzzy" front end. The authors focus on this (often neglected) period and offer a good analysis of how to manage it effectively. If you're looking for a single sourcebook for a more efficient product development effort this one is worth it.

[Henrik Lindberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely not as clear as later books