The challenge of crafting new visions

When teams develop new products, they often face the challenge of generating a unified vision that everyone agrees on. This process, known as sensemaking, is crucial for aligning the team’s goals and ensuring the success of new product development. Traditionally, there have been two approaches: one where a single creative lead drives the vision and another where the vision emerges collaboratively. This study examined the dynamics of both approaches.

Understanding the research purpose

The researchers aimed to uncover how effective product visions are formed at the early stages of innovation. Specifically, they wanted to see whether visions are more successful when one leader drives them or when all team members contribute equally. They also explored how the process of “letting go” of old ideas affects the creation of these visions. To this purpose they analized the vision creation dynamics of 26 top management teams. The researchers captured how the verbal descriptions of a vision change from individual insights to a shared concept.

“One of the most difficult aspects of our research was observing how people can become emotionally attached to their initial ideas,” said Professor Roberto Verganti from the House of Innovation. “It’s challenging for them to let go, but this step is crucial for creating something truly new and innovative.”

Key research findings

• Innovation thrives on “letting go”: The study found that individuals who were open to discard their initial ideas contributed to a more fertile environment to create a more novel and effective product visions.
• Both leadership and collaboration matter: Whether a vision was led by one person or developed through collaboration, what mattered most was the ability to “let go” of previous ideas.
• New visions build on fresh insights: Novel content emerged when team members were willing to abandon older concepts and rethink their approach.

Why this research matters

This research suggests that organizations should not focus solely on generating ideas but also on creating environments where team members feel comfortable discarding outdated ones. This ability to rethink and reconstruct is essential for innovation. Future research could explore how different team configurations or organizational cultures affect this process.

Meet the researchers

• Paola Bellis: School of Management, Politecnico di Milano.
• Roberto Verganti: House of Innovation, Stockholm School of Economics.
• Federico Paolo Zasa: School of Management, Politecnico di Milano.