A lot of businesses talk about the importance of innovation and of prototyping. Yet many companies, big and small, struggle with this in practice.

Prototyping is critical.

But the truth is, for prototyping to work, EVERY aspect of your company has to be aligned around it: people, process, product, and even sales and distribution.

In fact, without holistic alignment around a “prototyping culture,” prototyping can become more of a time drain than a benefit. So how do you make sure that doesn’t happen? The key to a successful prototyping culture is focusing on the 4 P’s.

1. People

Everyone on your team needs to accept that failure will happen, and that learning and improving is the priority.

Difficulty:

Ways to overcome that difficulty:

2. Process

Process should be optimized around development speed, and it should have clear milestones for assessing whether or not to proceed with an idea or kill it.

Difficulty:

Ways to overcome that difficulty:

3. Product

Don’t “over-innovate” your product. Take an existing solution, figure out and keep what works, and then improve and innovate on a specific area.

Difficulty:

Ways to overcome that difficulty:

4. Promotion (Sales & Distribution)

Products should be tested early, because eventual positioning & distribution of the product could impact feature development.

Difficulty:

Ways to overcome that difficulty:

At the end of the day, prototyping successfully — and, in turn, innovating successfully — is a multifaceted process that requires nuance, thick skin, and cultural alignment.

It comes down to mindset and to strict, diligent adherence to a set of principles designed specifically to cultivate a prototyping culture.