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Time Limit podcast • 47 episodes

Innovation Process with John Carter

Product development expert John Carter, author of Innovate Products Faster and former Bose chief engineer, talks with Brett Harned about what innovation really is and how organisations can plan for it. He argues for a permanent innovation budget of roughly $10,000 per professional, a protected discovery space with governance, and dismisses 20 percent time as a myth, then explains how to handle an idea that arrives mid-project.

Key takeaways

  • Innovation is an idea plus the execution to deliver it; the spark often comes when you are away from the work.
  • Fund innovation deliberately, about ten percent of the product budget, and keep it permanent; 20 percent time rarely survives billable work.
  • Governance matters more than process: a sponsor, a product vision to filter ideas, a protected space and a hand-off back to the organisation.
  • When a game-changing idea appears mid-project, hold a boundary-break review and ask leadership to move the goalposts or park it in discovery.
  • Individuals should focus on one idea, align it to the business and gather cheap market evidence.

About this episode

“You need an innovation process so that once the individual has really vetted their idea and believes there's a market for it...you need to be able to transfer that to the organization at large, where they can execute on it.”

“Innovation” is an exciting idea for many, but often a tad scary for project managers who are tasked with keeping project on time and under budget. But innovation doesn’t have to break all of your project plans if you have a well-structured innovation process and solid governance in your organization.

In this episode of Time Limit, Brett sat down with John Carter, who invented Bose’s Noise Cancelling Headphones, helped design Apple’s New Product Process, and authored Innovate Products Faster. His take on how organizations, teams, and individuals can go from creative spark to an executable idea—without wrecking well-laid project plans—is not only insightful, but it’s comforting. There’s real proof here that making lofty ideas a reality doesn’t have to be confusing or even lengthy. 

Through the course of the interview, John and Brett discuss:

  • Innovation planning
  • How organizations should invest in innovation
  • How to budget for innovation and even new ideas
  • How governance impacts innovation
  • Innovation process for organizations and project teams
  • Can you make innovation happen on the side?
  • How to set goals to be more innovation, in your career or within an organization

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