Luckily, you didn't have to actually be there this time. We wrote it all down in New Product Development: Embracing an Adaptable Process - EXFO Case Study.
In the fall of 2010, I joined APQC's Collaborative Research team on a trip to Canada, where we visited the Quebec City offices and manufacturing facility of EXFO, one of the world's leading providers of optical networking technology and services for the telecommunications industry. It manufactures the kind of equipment you need tiny tweezers and dust-free rooms to put together.
Although I got separated from the group and lost during a tour of the facility, I managed to stay in the action for the majority of our site visit—long enough to see that the organization takes product development processes to new levels. Anyone interested in process design, adaptation, and governance should read this case study we ultimately put together.
EXFO has not only developed highly-defined process maps, stage-gate procedures, and role definitions; it also leverages detailed policies to make adaptations to these norms. EXFO's business is highly market-driven, so its processes for developing products must remain responsive. Many organizations that start small and then experience rapid growth fail to implement rigorous processes that work as the business and the work force expands. EXFO shows how to do it successfully.
Plus, how can you not appreciate an organization that makes this video to celebrate its 25th anniversary? I'm not sure why EXFO chose Rascal Flatt's cover of Life Is a Highway rather than Canadian Tom Cochrane's original version to lip dub, but I like to believe there was some sort of rigorous process involved in that decision… ;) Watch and wish your organization was this much fun.