Using Agile approaches for breakthrough product innovation

Purpose According to the authors research, Agile approaches are increasingly being deployed successfully alongside phase-gate processes in engineering and R&D functions outside software, with a very positive result. Design/methodology/approach An Agile approach to product development has been a mainstay of the software industry since the turn of the century. In recent years, some non-software product-based companies have successfully combined both Agile and non-Agile methods in a complementary way to pursue breakthrough innovation. The article reports on how to make this combination work. Findings The study found companies adopting two general approaches when trying to introduce Agile into an existing phase-gate process: integrating Agile into a single innovation process or adding a partly parallel Agile path. Practical implications As a measure of Agile’s potential, the software industry has consistently produced patents at three times the level of the next-most prolific sectors. Originality/value Arthur D. Little’s research reveals that companies that have successfully added Agile methods to their toolboxes and tailor their innovation approaches by the type of innovation – incremental or breakthrough–perform significantly better than those that stick to single phase-gate approach.