Entroids provides a Think-Plan-Do framework to help manage new product development projects. The framework links strategic project needs identified in "four pillars" (business model, risks, requirements, milestones) to tactical planning and daily actions. It separates major tasks from smaller actions to focus on what's important. Using visual tools and establishing routines helps teams spend less time planning and more time executing, improving accountability and focus on the right actions. The framework is designed to help projects navigate change and avoid wasted effort through lean and flexible execution.

1. Entroids.com
Stage Gate & Lean Startup
Methods Provide Clarity On
“What” To Do In NPD And
Project Management Tools Are
Required For “How” To Manage
NPD. Entroids is the best way
New Product
Development
Entroidsway

2. Contents
2
3
4
6
7
9
12
14
15
The Problem
The What & How in NPD
The Solution
Why use Think-Plan-Do Framework
Tier 1 – Think Project Needs
Tier 2 – Create the Tactical Plan
Tier 3 – Focus on Right Actions
Make accountability & Focus a Habit

3. 3
The problem
Many New Products Fail Because They Are Poorly Managed In
Execution
Over 90% of new products fail. Poor execution of a great idea is one of the top
reasons for failure of a great idea. New product development (NPD) is challenging
because it needs to be nimble and lean.
In NPD, change is the norm.
Market requirements change as
you experiment and learn from
customers. Technology risks
frequently throw challenging
curve balls. Adding to the frenzy,
schedule changes frequently. If
anything, it might get pulled up
with new customer commitments.
Execution needs to be lean for many reasons. The team has to change course
frequently to avoid wasted resources and money. It is easy to run over budget and
waste time by working on the wrong things. Team members often work on multiple
projects. This makes it difficult to communicate and focus on the right things. Team
members are constantly drawn to and get bogged with constant firefighting in
ongoing operations and urgent tasks. Squeaky wheel always gets the grease; hence,
busy work can bury what is important.
Chapter 1
Poor execution of commercialization is a top
reason for new product failures. Chaotic world of
NPD requires execution to be lean and flexible –
to avoid wasted effort and resources

4. 4
NPD projects use methods like Stage Gate
or Lean Startup as a guide for “what” to do in
execution and some kind of project management
tools to collaborate and organize for “how” to
deliver results. The “what” and “how” are important
in success. “What” to do is well researched. There
are many methods like Stage Gate roadmap by
Dr. Robert Cooper or Lean Startup process by Eric
Riese. But, “how” to deliver results is ad hoc at
best.
Project management tools are used in “how”,
but they do not serve the needs of NPD.
Conventional project management tools are task
and collaboration tools. But NPD needs more.
NPD requires disciplined action, which is a
combination of sound tactical planning and timely
action. It behooves on the project leader to do the
tactical planning and adjust tasks and actions in
real time. The project manager becomes the
project sitter.
Conventional Project Management Tools do
not Meet NPD Needs
• Project management tools in the simplest
format are task management and
collaboration tools. These are great for
small projects and personal productivity.
Ex: Trello, Basecamp etc.
• Conventional project management evolved
in the construction industry through Critical
Path Methods and ways to maximize man
and machine utilization. The end goal is
defined and tool ensures the fasted and low
cost way to achieve the end goal.
Ex: MS project
• With the surge in IT projects, Scrum and
agile tools were developed to convert the
story boards to functioning software
products.
• In NPD the end goal is not defined and the
story board is uncertain. Market and
technology risks exist. NPD execution
needs to be lean and flexible. Entroids is a
tool made for engineering and technology
NPD.
The “What” and “How” in
NPD execution
Stage Gate Or Lean Startup Methods Provide Clarity On “What” To
Do In NPD And Project Management Tools Are Required For “How”
To Manage NPD
NPD requires disciplined action which is a
combination of sound tactical planning and
timely action. Conventional project management
tools do not help with both.
Chapter 2

5. 5
Project management in NPD is little
art and little science
Conventional project management
tools need a lot of work to create and
maintain. When change is the norm,
maintaining changes is a constant chore.
These tools do not help you determine
what is important, and identify tasks that
slipped through the cracks or which team
member needs help in focusing on right
priorities or which important risks or
requirements are slacking and which
ones are getting most momentum.

6. 6
Think-Plan-Do framework
for product development
connects the high level strategic
project needs to daily actions
and gives the ability to easily
step back and forth from high
level needs to actions deep in
the trenches of execution.
The framework has a
three tiered structure. At the top
tier are the important project
needs such as risks, milestones
and requirements. The second
tier is the tactical plan. Plan the
major tasks required for each
high level project need. This is
the bridge from strategic project
needs to activities. The third tier
is where all the actions reside.
These are the nugget sized
actions required to complete the
planned major tasks.
If you are planning a long road trip, it is likely that you will use the zoom
functionality in the mapping software while planning activities on route. You do not
pan through several hundred screens at street level. Yet, with Gantt tools that is
exactly what it feels like when you pan through hundreds of rows of tasks. In product
development you need the ability to zoom into tactical details and then be able to
zoom out to higher level to see the lay of the land and be able to zoom into another
area of the project execution.
The Solution
Entroids introduces the “Think-Plan-Do” framework for execution –
A GPS for NPD journey
Think-plan-do framework links strategic project
needs to team’s current actions – enabling you
to zoom in and out of your execution journey like
google maps
Chapter 3

7. 7
Spend less time in planning
Reacting to change in project management is a breeze.
Whether a high level need changed causing a different
tactical plan or if there is new learning in the field that
affects a high level need. The changing course is visible
and easy to manage, because of the linkage of tactics
and plans through the three tier structure.
Communication
Communication of the changing priorities and focus
becomes easy. This is no longer dependent on the
project leader.
Lean execution
The tight alignment from the top and down ensures that
there are no wasted efforts.
Visual Management
Visual dashboards improve transparency and
productivity. Dashboards quickly provide revealing
insights on problems in execution.
Thought Leadership Put Into Action
We learnt from experts and packaged
the principles in a easy to use practical
tool. Some of the sources of inspiration
are below;
• The Lean Startup By Eric Ries
• Business Model Generation By
Alex Osterwalder
• Execution By Larry Bossidy & Ram
Charan
• First Things First By Stephen
Covey
• Mastering Lean Product
Development By Ronald Mascitelli
• The 4 Disciplines Of Execution By
Chris McChesney & Sean Covey
Why you use Think-Plan-Do
framework
Smart diagnostics and analytics help reduce cognitive load
required to update and manage projects
Automate accountability
Visually see each team member’s progress and contribution. Switch between team view and
personal view in all tiers with a simple toggle.
Smart diagnostics
Quickly see what slipped through the crack s with built in alerts and diagnostics. This reduces
the cognitive burden and human dependency in critical functions.
Reporting
Automatic reports for executives and team members in multiple formats
Chapter 4

8. 8
Think-Plan-Do Framework for
NPD execution
Tier 1: Strategic Project
Needs
Not Strategy but Project
related most important
needs
Tier 2: Tactical Planning
Execution Plan – For Each
Need
Tier 3: Focus
On Actions
What needs to
be done now
Entroids Way

9. 9
At the core of NPD there are
four pillars of execution in the project
management. These identify the most
important project needs. Success
depends on defining and executing
on these four pillars. Below is a
description of each pillar and is
presented as a separate visual tool.
The four tools can be accessed in the
THINK tab on the website.
The four pillars of execution
1. Business Model Canvas
A product (or service) is a solution to an urgent and
widespread problem. The solution starts as a hypothesis based
on several assumptions. There are nine important types of
hypothesis to consider that are captured on the business model
canvas. State the hypothesis on the one page canvas and create
experiments to validate and refine the product and solution.
Tier 1 -Think Project Needs
(Think-Plan-Do)
Think tier is the connection to strategic planning. These are the
most important needs for project to succeed
The four pillars of execution are Business model
hypothesis, Risks, Product Requirements &
Milestones. THINK tier provides visual tools for
each pillar. It is the link to strategic planning.
Chapter 5

10. 10
2. Risks
There are two broad types of NPD projects -
evolutionary and breakthrough products. Evolutionary
products are derivatives of an existing product, and
breakthrough products disrupt existing market and
products. Both are important, evolutionary products
meet existing customer needs and keep the lights on.
They are important to sustain an organization.
Breakthrough products are important for long term
growth and adapt to technology and market changes.
Any NPD project has significant risks.
Evolutionary products primarily have schedule and
quality risks and breakthrough products have
significant market and technology risks. Understand
the risks and mitigate them through the execution
journey. Identify your risks in the risk manager tool
and actively mitigate them through appropriate
tactical plan and timely action. Visual dashboard
communicates the severity of risks in terms
probability and impact.
Five Areas of Risk
There are five broad areas of risks:
Product: A tangible object, technology or service
offered for sale
Market: A commercial activity where goods and
services are sold
Business: A commercial enterprise that
produces a product or service to be sold in the
market
Finance: the capital and cash flow required to
achieve milestones that lead to success
Execution: the experience, skills and processes
required to carry out a business plan.
10
Impact
Probability
The famous one page business model canvas
by Alex Osterwalder has been adapted to make it
more actionable for engineering NPDs
9 segments In A Business
Model Canvas

11. 11
3. Requirements:
A product delivers value to customers through a
set of features. NPD execution delivers these features
at reasonable costs and effort. Not all requirements
are equal. There are core requirements that deliver
the value proposition and there are other
requirements that add expected functionality and
improve usability. Lean startup methodology
introduced the concept of MVP. Build an MVP of the
core features and test the value proposition with
customers. Get feedback and refine your features.
This is an ongoing process till you have verified and
refined all the features.
Manage MVP and feature development through
visual tools to evaluate requirements on value
delivered Vs effort required. Create validations and
deliverables and manage their execution seamlessly.
4. Milestones:
Guy Kawasaki said execution is about managing
milestones, assumptions and tasks. Create
milestones in the milestone tracker. If you use stage
gate process by Dr Robert Cooper, the gates can be
your milestones. Or you can create your own
milestones. Create deliverables and actions to attain
milestones. Visually track each milestone as to
required date vs expected date based on the
underlying tasks.
Great leaders think like a strategist and plan like a tactician. The ability
to combine both is rare and makes the difference
Entroids seamlessly makes the connection between strategic thinking
and tactical planning
Effort
Value
Required vs. Estimated

12. 12
Tier 2 - Plan Major Tasks
(Think-Plan-Do)
Lay the foundation for execution. Create the tactical plan by
defining major tasks required for every need in the Think tools.
Strategic project needs identified in the four pillars lead to the plan tier, which is
to translate the ‘needs’ into tactical plan. For each need identify one or more major
task. Major tasks for risks should be mitigation, requirements should be validation,
assumptions on canvas should have experiments etc. The major tasks should be
complex requiring significant effort. Generalize and combine actions to create planned
major tasks.
Creating the major
tasks is the trickiest part
of using the think-plan-do
framework. Resist the
temptation to create
actions as tasks. Think
of Major tasks as goals
in execution, driven by
project needs defined in
the four pillars.
Create the tactical plan for each strategic project
need. PLAN tier provides a visual Gantt chart to
create the tactical plan. Each THINK need is
automatically linked to a PLAN item for usability
Chapter 6

13. 13
Productivity expert Stephen Covey uses the analogy of filling jar with rocks and
pebbles in explaining planned major tasks. If you have to fill a jar with rocks and pebbles,
you achieve more by placing the rocks first and letting the pebbles fill the gaps around the
rocks. If you put the pebbles first then there is not enough room to put the rocks.
Likewise, in ‘task manager’ plan the rocks of your execution. Tasks are visually managed
in a Gantt chart.
Each task is executed with many smaller actions. Within the task you can create a list
of actions required to execute. In the next section we will show how to create a “pull
system” for activities in execution.
Think-Plan-Do framework separates the rocks from the pebbles
in execution. Achieve more by focusing on what is important
Achieve more by first placing
the rocks. Don’t sort the pebbles

14. 14
Activities are nugget sized
actions that need to be done to
complete the major tasks.
Separating smaller actions from the
Gantt chart makes execution lean.
Gantt chart is not cluttered by many
smaller actions making it easier to
update and maintain. It also helps
to focus on the important tactical
goals without sorting through a
myriad of actions. A separate
‘Current Activities’ tool helps you
visually manage all important
actions on an activity board. These
are presented as sticky notes
The reality of ongoing operations is that we are constantly pulled into urgent fires to tackle.
Important activities are easy to get buried in the whirl wind of daily distractions. Stephen
Covey says if you spend more time on the “important” actions then the “urgent” would
disappear. Current Activities tool is the visual dashboard of your “important” actions and
keeps them in front of you.
Focus on the right actions
(Think-Plan-Do)
Execute the tactical plan with each nugget sized
action at the right time. Create a pull system of current
activities for each planned item in the DO tier.
Chapter 7

15. 15
With Entroids, you spend less time in planning
and more on doing. It is important to establish the
discipline of using the tool appropriately. Every day,
each team member should review his activity
dashboard and update his sticky notes appropriately.
This takes 10 minutes or less but is an invaluable
reminder of the important things. To create a habit, it
helps to tie it to a trigger. Create your trigger to
review the Activity dashboard once a day. For
example, if you drink coffee, let the first cup of coffee
at work trigger you to open the current activities
dashboard and review them. If you are not a coffee
drinker, tie it to any other established habit that you
do consistently.
Have a team meeting about once a week or any
cadence that applies to your product. In the meeting,
as a team, review and update ‘Tier 1 project needs’
(four pillars of execution in the Think tab on
Entroids.com) and the ‘Major Tasks’ (Task manager
in the Plan tab on Entroids.com).
Other things to consider doing in the team
meeting are reviewing the reports, alerts and visual
dashboards. Catch cracks in your execution and
make corrections. In the risk and requirement
dashboards, look for high risk and important
requirements items (top right quadrant, in the visual
dashboard) that do not have planned tasks, see
which item had most momentum in your execution.
In the milestone tracker, see the required date
and expected date for each milestone and if the
milestone is expected to slip, explore its related tasks
and see what needs to be done to pull it up. In the
task manager, all tasks in the current period should
have activities, or else you are not moving them
forward.
With Entroids, you will
spend less time in
planning and follow up.
Visual tools and TPD
framework keeps
important things in
focus automatically. It
is extremely important
to build the discipline of
using entroids in a
systematic way.
Making accountability & focus
a habit
Chapter 8

16. 16
About this e-Book
‘Entroids way’ E-book explains the philosophy of think-Plan-Do
framework for managing execution of NPD. Entroids is the best way
to manage if you use Stage Gate or Lean Startup methodologies. It
is created by experienced product managers, in combination with
inspiration from thought leaders like – Steve Blank, Alex
Osterwalder, Eric Reise, Stephen Covey to name a few.
The framework visually links strategic project needs to tactical
planning and daily actions. This allows smart diagnostics. This
makes it easy to make changes on the fly and minimize effort
required in managing programs and improve team communication
and accountability.
Watch this video to learn more