During the New Product Development process, build a system of metrics to monitor progress. Include input metrics, such as average time in each stage, as well as output metrics that measure the value of launched products, percentage of new product sales and other figures that provide valuable feedback.
Work done by a system decreases the internal energy of the system, as indicated in the First Law of Thermodynamics. System work is a major focus in the discussion of heat engines.
The first law of thermodynamics is essentially that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but only transferred into or out of a system. The increase in the internal energy of a thermodynamic system is equal to the amount of heat energy added to the system, less any energy expended or transferred (as through work).