NOV – Client Interview

Director of Product Development

NOV’s Director of Product Development discusses the art and science of creating a purposeful strategy and managing the allocation of resources while addressing Stage-Gate execution issues.  He shares lessons learned that have helped NOV to grow globally

Designing and Executing a Portfolio Management Solution In a De-Centralized and Global Innovation Product Development Environment 

Stage-Gate International interviews Mike Francis, NOV

Mike Francis is the Director of Product Development for National Oilwell Varco. He is responsible for the strategy and execution of the NOV’s global new product portfolio. Previously, he was the Director of Corporate Product Management where he directed National Oilwell Varco’s (NOV) Global Innovation program that intended to generate ideas for new products across 1,000 locations and 60,000+ employees. He was the founder and leader of a department responsible for product commercialization, multiple systems/personnel related to innovation, portfolio management, and life-cycle management. At NOV, Mike designed a common new product development process and architecture across dozens of business units using the Stage-Gate® methodology to create a systemic way to evaluate new opportunities.

SGI: Let’s start by telling our readers a little about yourself and your company.

MF: I have been with National Oilwell Varco for eight years.NOV sells oilfield equipment, everything from downhole to the top as well as the entire drilling package. You will see some of our equipment on 95% of the oil rigs that are out there. We have over 1000 locations around the world, with 60,000 employees and are the market leader in oilfield drilling equipment technology. My role is the Director of Product Development. I run the strategy and execution of our largest business unit, which includes portfolio management, strategy setting, idea generation, as well as ensuring we have the right climate and culture across the organization. I started out in an advisory role within our corporate segment, setting up many of the innovation processes and systems used around the company and then transitioned into more of an operational role within one of our business units.

SGI: What is your favorite new product out right now and why?

MF: It’s not really a new product, but I tend to gravitate towards some of the disruptive technologies that are out there. One of the neat, disruptive technologies that can really change how we live our everyday lives is internet-enabled devices for watching television such as the Roku and Amazon Fire. They have the potential to push the cable companies into looking at and changing their business models. Consumers are increasingly asking for more customized ways to view their television. Amazon, Roku, Google, and others are making great strides to change the business model. I am interested to see what that will look like over the next five years.

SGI: What do you think is the biggest portfolio management challenge that organizations are facing?

MF: I think one of the most crucial and difficult aspects of our job is defining the strategic direction of the portfolio.To really understand strategic buckets and to visualize from a customer perspective – where are we going – is placing great demands on portfolio managers and companies.

SGI: What advice would you give to others on how to tackle this challenge?

MF: The difficulty is quantifying what the customer finds important and then defining a targeted innovation strategy towards meeting those needs. It is a little bit of art, it is a little bit of science, and it takes some time. In order to do it correctly, you have to be very thoughtful and avoid taking a shotgun approach to planning strategy. You have to get buy-in from the entire organization, from top-level leadership all the way down to those that are executing the portfolio strategy that is in place. If you do not have that strategy piece, as I mentioned, then you will have a portfolio that is scattered all around. Whether you have 6 resources or 60,000, you want to allocate those resources correctly to the best project. The only way to do that is to clearly articulate and define what the overall innovation strategy is. For a global company like NOV, it can be a little more difficult to implement as we are dealing with geographies and customers that all have very different needs. A key piece to this is tying vision to execution and execution quality. It is really easy to have the vision, but what we want to do is to operationalize our vision and that is all about execution. I think in terms of portfolio management those two pieces tend to experience the most difficulty in first connecting and then staying connected.

SGI: What do you think Summit attendees would be most interested to know/learn about your upcoming Summit presentation?

MF: I think a lot of the attendees might be in similar positions to us. We are a global organization with a high headcount, multiple facilities, diverse product lines, and are trying to come up with an approach that allows us to execute effectively upon a global portfolio management system. If you are a global organization or are looking to grow globally, some of the lessons I have learned in the last few years could prove to be rather insightful. I hope people will find value in the information for anyone interested in implementing or evolving a global portfolio management system.

SGI: Looking into your crystal ball what do you think will be the greatest challenge facing product portfolio managers 10 years down the road?

MF: I don’t know if the challenges will be drastically different from today. It really is all about balancing resources and constructing a portfolio around the most attractive projects. We need to have a risk mitigation system in place, but at the same time, we have to look at disruptive products and projects. We want to look at things that maybe three, four, or five years out. In order to do so, you need to have a strategically aligned portfolio. Creating a purposeful strategy and managing the allocation of resources while addressing execution issues will remain common themes that will test portfolio managers well into the future. As innovators, summits like these are a great opportunity to learn from each other and to grow our innovation community in a way that will allow us to tackle these challenges more innovatively.