CHANGE BY DESIGN

CHANGE BY DESIGN introduces the idea of 'design thinking', the collaborative process in which the designer's sensibility and methods are used to match people's needs with what is feasible and what a viable business strategy can convert into opportunity and innovation; in other words design thinking converts need into demand. It's a human centered approach to problem solving that helps people and organizations become more innovative and more productive.

The myth of innovation is that brilliant ideas leap fully formed from the minds of geniuses. The reality is that most innovations come from a process of rigorous examination through which great ideas are identified and developed before being revealed. The three phases- inspiration, ideation, and implementation- are repeated time and again until the goal has been achieved. This process is not just applicable to so-called creative industries or people who work in the design field, it's a methodology that has been used by companies like Kaiser Permanente increase the quality of patient care by re-examining the ways that their nurses manage shift change, to give but one example. By using Empathy, "And" Thinking, Optimism, Experimentation, and Collaboration- you can convert the process of design thinking into a business process that can be replicated in virtually every aspect of an organization.

Tim Brown is one of the most prominent leaders in the field of design and innovation as a business strategy. He is Chairman of IDEO the design firm that worked with Apple to create the iPod and iPhone and speaks regularly at Davos. With IDEO's vast network of influence and enterprise, this promises to be the book on the subject of design thinking. He recently wrote on the subject for the Harvard Business Review (attached here) and received an immediate and very strong response, leading to him to decide to finally put his thoughts into book form to be shared with the larger working community.