Tim Brown’s recent article in Harvard Business Review- Design Thinking- might be one of the most important management articles written in a very, very long time…Why do I say this?
Desgin thinking is important because it brings discipline to innovation. Many busy managers rightfully dismiss ‘creativity’ and ‘innovation’ because it is a willy nilly, romperoom type of exercise as delivered by many consultants. Bring your legos, or your Batman costume, and we’ll all pretend to be something fantabulous….What a load of shit!
Design Methodology
When companies employ a design methodology to the innovation process, they generally follow several core steps:
1. Consumer research: Watch, witness, listen, and talk with consumers in the naturally occuring contexts of product/service use.
2. Brainstorming, with customers: Include customers in everything!
3. Rapidly build prototypes that customers can put their hands on and provide feedback on
4. Iterate again and again.
5. Launch quick and early and get the (inevitable) failures out of the way.
6. Implement (knowing that the work of design is never really done).
What separates a design-driven approach from pure ideation is the research at the front in, and the constant user feedback on prototypes, along the way. Simply getting a handful of middle-age, golf-shirt wearing middle managers and having them dress up like super heroes will more likely provide some useful material for The Office than it will anything useful for customers or the company’s top or bottom lines.
The Butcher
Leave a Reply