J PROD INNOV MANAG 2010;27:136–140
r 2009 Product Development & Management Association
Book Reviews
Book Review Editor: Donovan R. Hardenbrook, NPDP
Books reviewed in this issue:
 Unleashing Innovation: How Whirlpool Transformed
an Industry
 The Principles of Product Development Flow:
Second Generation Lean Product Development
 The Silver Lining: An Innovation Playbook for
Uncertain Times
Unleashing Innovation: How Whirlpool
Transformed an Industry
Nancy Tenant Snyder and Deborah L. Duarte. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2008. 244 þ xxiv pages.
US$27.95.
The Whirlpool transformation has become a poster
child for the power of innovation in recent years. Pos-
itive reviews in the popular business press allied to
diffusion within the new product development (NPD)
community and to alignment with contemporary
academic theory on innovation, not to mention one or
two Harvard Business School cases thrown in for good
measure, meant great anticipation for Unleashing Inno-
vation by Nancy Tennant Snyder and Deborah L.
Duarte by many in the NPD and innovation commu-
nities. The promise is there, and it doesn’t disappoint;
this is a richly crafted book where the reader will benefit
from almost 10 years of wisdom and hindsight from a
multinational manufacturer that transformed both its
business and the industry through an ambitious inno-
vation vision implemented as a major strategic initiative.
The starting point for that vision in 1999 of ‘‘in-
novation from everyone and everywhere’’ defines the
intended audience for the book—anyone who is
charged with, or involved in, the implementation of
innovation in an enterprise—innovation that is in-
tended to be inclusive and embedded within the cor-
porate DNA. There is much of interest to the NPD
community also, with many perhaps able to identify
with the starting scenario for Whirlpool as a process-
focused organization fighting against ever decreasing
margins, low product differentiation, and low cus-
tomer-brand awareness. Yet, as shown by Snyder and
Duarte through their presentation of the innovation
framework that has formed and developed in Whirl-
pool since 1999, the company did not take the easy
way out of innovating a handful of star products that
may reap advantage quickly and then fizzle out.
Rather, it focused on sustainable innovation (refer-
ring to sustainable competitiveness as opposed to any
sustainable development or environment themes), a
slower process that required patience until the tipping
point was achieved (see especially Chapter 7, ‘‘Man-
aging Execution and Results’’) and resulted in an ‘‘in-
novative company that makes appliances as opposed
to an appliance company that innovates’’ (p. xvii).
The overall approach to innovation is instructive:
‘‘We did not have to invent a discontinuous series of
innovations to change the dynamics of an industry;
rather, innovating around articulated and unarticu-
lated customer needs at the core of the business would
have a significant impact on our success’’ (p. 23).
The innovation framework used to drive sustain-
able innovation at Whirlpool forms the structure of
the book. An introductory part that showcases sus-
tainable innovation at work is followed by parts 2 and
3, each with five chapters that detail the main con-
stituents of the framework: the rational and emotional
drivers. The rational drivers, essentially the manage-
ment structure that directs, controls, and measures
innovation, are as follows: the strategic architecture,
management systems, innovation machine, innova-
tors and innovation mentors, and managing execu-
tion and results. The emotional drivers, essentially the
culture of the workforce necessary to sustain innova-
tion, are as follows: learn, dream, create, heroes, and
spirit. Through an entertaining narrative that does a
good job of telling the story of a near decade-long
strategic initiative, Duarte and Snyder highlight the
need for a strong interplay between the rational driv-
ers, which are ‘‘imposed from the top down,’’ and the
emotional drivers, which ‘‘cannot be imposed . . . and
can only be unleashed’’ (p. 26), and provide many
BOOK REVIEWS
examples along the way. Many of the key literature
references from contemporary innovation and man-
agement research are also weaved into the story.
The story of embedding sustainable innovation is
the real value of the book. The authors maintain a
delicate balancing act between the facilitating frame-
work of the rational drivers and the spiritual, often
intangible, power of the emotional drivers. Since the
framework as it is presented is the result of nearly a
decade’s worth of work, the reader will benefit from a
significant degree of hindsight and trial and error
within Whirlpool. The discussion of the S curve
(Chapter 7) provides a fascinating insight into the ap-
proach to a major transformation initiative and the
management nerve required. Some of the most pow-
erful elements also exist on a very simple level, with the
Whirlpool definition of innovation—’’ Innovation
provides unique and compelling solutions valued by
our customers and aligned to our brands; creates com-
petitive advantage that is difficult to copy; and creates
differentiated shareholder value’’ (p. 28)—an early
breakthrough in being able to grasp and also diffuse
the raw vision of ‘‘innovation from everyone and ev-
erywhere’’ (ibid.). At the core of the emotional drivers
is untapping the tremendous potential of the work-
force, and in a company like Whirlpool with almost
70,000 employees around the world that potential is
substantial. Introduced in the sustainable innovation
case of Chapter 1 and detailed in the emotional drivers
the authors show how people are driven to produce
results within efforts bigger than themselves, the re-
sultant spirit helping to overcome the problems en-
countered on a daily basis. Innovation heroes are
introduced in Chapter 11 and within a general con-
text that ‘‘change management does not change cul-
ture as well as stories and folklore can’’ (p. 197) and
that ‘‘without heroes to lift our spirits, innovation can
wither over time’’ (p. 183). Further, given the current
economic climate, a cautionary tale is presented
against the cancellation of innovation programs dur-
ing tough times from the experience of Whirlpool Eu-
rope in 2003, since ‘‘putting innovation on hold, even
for a short time, diminishes the emotional drivers that
are helping you in other parts of your business’’ and
‘‘when you diminish emotional drivers, you create a
hole you have to dig your way out of’’ (p. 134).
The NPD community will find immediate interest
in Chapter 5 on the Innovation Machine or I-Pipe at
Whirlpool. It discusses the innovation funnel, fuzzy
front end, and its implementation and integration
with the product development process that predated
J PROD INNOV MANAG 137
2010;27:136–140
it. Yet many other chapters link with the I-Pipe
(which provides more value to the NPD community),
including discussions on its financial reengineering
(pp. 67–70), metrics used to measure its ongoing
health and innovation in general (pp. 125–131), and
the learning process at different stages (Chapter 8).
Some key lessons for the community include the need
to focus on postlaunch to maximize the value of new
products, the development of an open, transparent
system so that employees are motivated to share their
ideas, and several techniques that were introduced by
the consultancy Strategos, which helped Whirlpool
get started on its journey, including challenging
orthodoxies and lens smashing (pp. 175–176).
The book is not perfect. Some of the key messages
are overly repetitive and perhaps indicative of Sny-
der’s evangelization activities over several years, while
some of the literature references are glossed over and
best left out if not discussed in sufficient depth. The
chapter on I-mentors is light on actual content though
perhaps best explained by commercial sensitivity,
while one or two other chapters do not have the
same flow as the rest of the book, especially the chap-
ter on learning. Yet, given the scale of the task in
presenting the Whirlpool transformation, the authors
have done an excellent job.
In sum, for anyone in the NPD, innovation, or
management fields, this book is a must for the book-
shelf, though there is probably greater value for the
strategic initiative implementer than for the NPD
manager. It is a book that will yield immediate in-
sights and that will likely endure as a reference source.
A final note related to the innovation heroes concept
presented in Chapter 11: They are described as rebel-
lious, off-corporate-ladder types. Yet Snyder, as the
main architect of the transformation (previously
director of strategic initiatives and now vice president
of leadership and strategy), and both chief executive
officers involved in this journey, Dave Whitwam
and Jeff Fettig, are undoubtedly part of the new
Whirlpool innovation folklore.
Steven P. MacGregor
IESE Business School
The Principles of Product Development Flow:
Second Generation Lean Product Development
Donald G. Reinertsen. Redondo Beach, CA: Celeritas
Publishing, 2009. 294 þ ix pages. US$39.95.