Abstract

Most leaders of new product teams are aware of the complexity of the problem they confront and the changes that must occur before cross-functional teamwork can accelerate new product development processes. Most know, for instance, that promoting cross-functional thinking, collaborative decision making, and concurrent organization of new product workflow are advantageous. Only a select few, however, consistently act on these insights and affect meaningful changes. The differences between more and less effective leaders lies less in what they espouse or profess and more in the process by which they learn and form new visions and develop new ways of defining their behaviors.