Developing Products in Half the Time

I found that this book was packed full of common sense, which is rare in a development management book. Although it has a lot of examples of manufacturing of phsyical goods, I found it great as a software manager. There aren't many spare words in this book, either -- it's terse and well edited, so you get the raw facts and the necessary stories to back them up, but not a lot (or any, really) fluff. I am putting it on my bookshelf for software engineers, right next to Writing Solid Code and Debugging the Development Process, two classics for software engineers and team leads, respectively.

Absolutely the best book there is on the subject of new product development. Of particular import is the discussion on market and pricing dynamics, which may be new to technical-types. Choosing the right product to develop is critical to avoid "The Innovators Dilemma". The book however needs to add more to the discussion of the importance (and risk) of rapid return of (partial) information to the team during the development cycle, as well as human (team) dynamics. I would therefore recommend "The Team Handbook" as a necessary adjunct.

While the first edition was a bit dry to read in the first four chapters, the second edition is more fun. The value of the content has not been reduced with rev 2.0, on the contrary.The book is full of sound business theory which is well explained and put into real life context to help the non-MBA to transfer the message to their respective challenges.Also invaluable are the hints towards common pitfalls. They show that the authors have really applied the theory and are aware of the human factor in change processes.I read rev 1.0 and 2.0 and will probably buy 3.0 as well.Keep going!

Over 14 years of software experience confirmed alot of what this book offered. It's well written, chalked full of great facts and gives you a perspective on the possibilities for software development. Let's face-it, software development has almost zero manufacturing issues. So, if your looking for the real reason to implement processes and methodolgies into your development processes, this book will take you there.

I found that this book had some excellent observations and perspectives on improving the product development process. Ch. 9 on Achieving Overlapping Activities was especially good. However, in Appendix B, the authors show their inexperience in the real world by arguing that World Class Manufacturing and Total Quality Management are impediments to rapid product development. In fact, the concepts practiced within these philosophies will, if properly implemented, work in concert with the other practices discussed in the book and result in faster and better product development. The authors missed this opportunity to fully explore the benefits of a truly integrated product development process. Nonetheless, this book is worth reading and owning.