The technological Valley of Death sounds dramatic because it is. In the life cycle of a program or product, it’s the difficult divide between concept and production.
“[The Valley of Death is] called that because many, many programs get to level three, level four, and they don't go any further, or they may make it to level five, but they don't go any further.”
Why is the technological Valley of Death such a hot topic? Because getting a product from one end of the valley to the other - from inception to operational - is how innovative ideas come to life. But things don’t make it across the valley often enough.
Innovation is the lifeblood of an organization - if new ideas don’t get to the operation stage, a company’s growth quickly stalls.
Stephen Cook, Deputy Group President at Dynetics, knows all about the technological Valley of Death. In today’s episode, he explains why it’s so hard to cross the valley successfully, and how Dynetics and Leidos successfully live in the valley.
“Don't fear it. Right. It's gotten this name for good reason. But there are reasons to change it and there are ways to deal with it.”
On today’s podcast:
- What is the the technological Valley of Death
- Why it has become so common
- 5 keys to success in crossing the Valley
- Examples of innovations that made it through the Valley
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