At last year’s Design Managment Institute’s Annual European Design Conference in Copenhagen, frog design founder Hartmut Esslinger gave a talk that beautifully articulates the role that design thinking can (and from our perspective should) play in business and society. The abstract from his talk (entitled ‘The Dirty Battle’) says it all:
“Design and Business still are way too much about ‘right brain’ vs. ‘left brain,’ but in today’s world, ‘one strategic-creative brain’ is needed. Contrary to what many business strategists might say, the world is not flat. It is a dynamic maze of complex cultures separated by canyons of alternate needs and mountains of differing expectations. It is a world in which the complex depths of history, family, politics and religion inform our lives from who we marry to what we buy. In a flat world, one size fits all. In the real world, the job of business is a far more complex prospect. The fact is we all are working and living in a historic context and we can only have a fulfilling, successful future when we understand and respect the lasting lessons of logic vs. emotion in history. Ultimately, business must rely on cultural context to last. Business is an eternal cultural adventure and chaos and creativity afforded history’s greatest achievements.” (Hartumt Esslinger, DMI Conference-Copenhagen, March 2007),
The Butcher
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