In addition to coworking, we are also really into innovation. Particularly, we love design-led innovation. For us, design thinking is both a world view and a methodology for cranking up business innovation. Design thinking is the simple belief that for any given problem or situation there are usually multiple ways of creating new things and solutions. This is opposite the corporate/MBA framework which assumes that ‘once we have all relevant data, we can land on the just-right, perfect decision.’ The ‘decision attitude’ is for MBAs, design thinking is for NotanMBAs.
Design thinking and design methododogy is not willy-nilly creativity. It is research-grounded and disciplined. It follows 5 basic steps: research/understanding of use in-context, brainstorming (with customers) across disciplines, rapid prototyping, iteration/feedback, implementation. We are constantly experimenting here at this site, so we are trying to practice what we preach.
Thus far, we have written quite a bit under the categories of design and innovation, and linked below are some of the pieces that represent those streams.
Design 4 Innovation
Management 2.0: Management as Design Early piece about applying ‘design thinking’ to the fundamentals of management thinking. What if managers thought like designers?
Jump Like a Frog Reporting on the incorporation of a team from frog design into the innovation course at NYU’s Stern School of Management. Where and by whom should design-led innovation be taught.
Building the Unknown vs. Managing the Known Reflection on Roger Martin’s brilliant exposition on what it takes for a traditional firm to become more like a design shop.
The Design Dividend Bandit writing about the recent study (by Peer Insight) which shows that firms that focus on customer-experience design usually outperform their peers.
Playing in the Brand Salvo about authenticity and companies connecting meaningfully with customer experience.
Space + Trust= Innovation An effort at updating Peter Drucker’s famous maxim that Innovation + Marketing = Value (I+M=V), and that everything else is a cost.
