# 4 - Product Development Process
Nearly every large company today has defined an internal product development process (PDP). This captures the methodology of product development, including the terminology, stages, milestones, schedules and lists of tasks and outputs. The intent of the PDP is to provide a framework that captures the wisdom of previous development efforts and provides standard processes and approaches (lessons learned from past development). One of the principal advantage of a PDP is that it is a tool for reducing ambiguity by defining tasks and responsibilities. It is a good starting point for examining upstream and downstream influences and a good method to drive early ambiguity from the system. Going back to the previous post, flexible projects are emergent, that is, they emerge during the project according to its needs. Guiding this emergence requires skill and experience with development processes to appreciate what is essential and what can be eliminated or modified under the circumstances. One wa...