Examples from the Development Guide

Interdisciplinary Leadership Competency

The ability to manage people and projects representing a variety of diverse disciplines in the research and development process toward the organization’s ultimate goal of producing commercially successful products.

Sample Behavioral Indicator from the Survey

Bring together the resources, whether internal or external, needed to move products through research and development to market.

Recommendation from the Development Guide

Make Meetings Multidisciplinary

When putting your core team together and any adjunct teams, make it a rule to include representatives of as many disciplines as will be involved or interested in the process and outcome. The more varied the inputs you get, the more you and your team will begin to think in broad, interdisciplinary terms that forestall problems and promote development. Be sure to include manufacturing and marketing people early on and throughout the process to ensure your team will be focused on issues related to commercial viability, not just pure technical innovation.