Design and the Diversity of Thought

Systems thinking. Integrative thinking. Design thinking. Left brained. Right brained. Whole brained. The character of our thinking seems to be the new competitive currency. A quick search of books with ‘thinking’ in the title revealed 44,797 results on Amazon.com, while ‘how to think’ tracked 451,009! Intellectual discourse is flourishing between neuroscientists, cognitive psychologists, artists, philosophers, and business leaders alike sharing what they think, about thinking.. But why has the subject captured our imagination? Why now? What’s going on?

Beyond the Numbers Game

The practice of good accountancy is grounded in the technical aspects of financial control strategies and balance sheet mechanics.  This baseline expertise, however, only provides you a ticket to the game.  How does an individual accountant, let alone an entire professional firm, stand out from the crowd of competitors?  The spark that differentiates one service provider from another is rarely defined by technical competencies.  Rather, it lies in the quality-imbued character of the experience the professional provides the client.  

Designs on Innnovation

For decades, corporate Australia has been over-reliant on data and analytics to guide decision making, often at the expense of innovation.

The old adage “numbers don’t lie” is something many business leaders have readily adopted as their modus operandi.  The issue with these numbers is that while they can help you understand the present, they can’t help you imagine the future.

This is why many management teams are now mastering a new set of techniques captured under the umbrella of design thinking.  What these techniques do is stretch the art of management and strategy development to help people envision new futures – things we cannot ‘control’ through data, spreadsheets or analysis. 

Design Leverage: Capturing the Aggregate Value of Design

The protagonist of this essay is design, or rather, a way of thinking of it as a strategic initiative leveraged throughout an organization. The antagonist is the myopic mindset that design is only a linear, tactical exercise restricted to the development of a product, package, or promotion. Best-in-class quality, production prowess, and persuasive marketing no longer guarantee success or profit. As products and services become more commoditized, leveraging design as an organizational, cross-functional goal has become critically important to sustaining competitive advantage. 

Leadership Strategies in Design Management

Design managers are uniquely positioned to advance the strategic and tactical agendas of today’s businesses. Maureen Thurston-Chartraw outlines the qualities of this leadership role and highlights the work of two designers at Walt Disney who exemplify the ability to respond innovatively to their company’s mission and content, the complexities of contemporary culture and technology, and consumer desires. 

What in the World is Design?

Los Angeles International Airport is deserted except for a few blurry-eyed travelers and those hapless employees celebrating their holiday by working.  I’m part of this scene, awaiting my boarding call; the first step of a three month trek around the world.

Those of use who chose industrial design as a career did so mostly out of a passion for the creative process and the production of ideas.  (Not necessarily for wealth, fame and glory).  I left the United States intent on learning what differentiates us as a breed, the influences of culture and history on product design styling and to discover where lies our present status and future.