Introduction…

So… do these comments express a need for unfettered time to innovate during the development of a product or are they manifestations of technical anarchy?

I believe it's a lot of both. And, because there are almost always time and cost dimensions associated with the business benefits of creativity, innovation and technical anarchy, one needs to be able to manage them, know when they foster real product enhancement and when they are valuable and when they are not.

This article deals with the general value of innovation, as characterized below, within the context of a business-based product development project. This article does not address specific theories or descriptions of innovation nor will it deal with technical anarchy (i.e. developers & designers hankerin' after total freedom from time and cost constraints).

First, I think we all have a pretty good idea of what product development is all about; but if you don't, take a look at http://www.techmankanata.com/dev/author/Richard-Dick-Haney/6.htm for some in-depth discussions of the various facets of product development.

Now, what exactly is 'innovation'? How is it related to 'invention' or 'creativity'? Well, some definitions I've seen are legal, some are technical, some are social, some are philosophical, a few are even spiritual and many are verbose prose, poetry or even tautological in nature. For an excellent, contemporary and business-oriented discussion of innovation refer to the book by Tom Kelley (General Manager of IDEO Product Development) - "The Art of Innovation"; www.theartofinnovation.com.