Why do so many new products fail in the market? What causes schedule and cost overruns? How can products be developed right the first time? Unlike books focused solely on speeding development or cutting costs, Blind Spots: Why Product Development Projects Miss Their Targets reveals the often-overlooked traps that lead to costly failures and overruns, explains why they happen, and offers practical, actionable ways to avoid them altogether. By the end of this book, readers will understand: Why unjustified optimism causes many new products to fail and miss their targets. - How incentives, assumptions, and human behavior drive unrealistic forecasts. - Proven steps to identify and prevent failure before it occurs. And be able to: Develop products that truly meet customer needs. - Hit market launch dates, budget goals, and performance targets. - Stay ahead of projects instead of reacting to crises. Drawing on decades of cross-industry experience, Paul Streit shares insights, strategies, and tools you can apply immediately. "Blind Spots manages a triple play: It’s a master’s class in product development, a reference book to keep close when you run into market challenges or overruns, and a transparent, entertaining sharing of the frustrations, triumphs, and lessons learned from over 30 years of personal experience. I challenge you to read the introduction and be able to put the book down. It’s that good.” –Scott Tibbitts, Founder/CEO Starsys Research Corporation “Blind Spots: Why Product Development Projects Miss Their Targets captures what most new products books miss—why brilliant teams still miss their targets. Paul Streit gives a framework to deliver what matters, on time and on budget.” —Armen Askijian, CTO, Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc. “Management problems during new product development can result in missing the mark with customers and overrunning cost and schedule. Paul Streit shares his over 30 years of product development experience in this easy-to-follow, practical book to give you the knowledge and tools you need to avoid typical problems and run a successful project.” —Jim Voss, Colonel, U.S. Army Ret., NASA Astronaut Paul M. Streit brings deep expertise in managing product development across four major high-tech industries. He has led organizations from startups to over 1,000 employees and worked with custom and volume products. He helps clients uncover hidden causes of market failures and overruns—and how to avoid them—so they can succeed the first time. Paul holds a degree in biomedical and electronics engineering from Duke University and an MBA from the University of Miami.