the Designer Pages blog

One doesn’t hear much about “design thinking” in the A & D world. In fact, my take on the term is that it’s de rigueur, part and parcel of what industry innovators do daily. In my capacity as a product reviewer, I see the results of “design thinking” every day in the form of new products that solve pervasive problems. I was somewhat surprised and sufficiently enlightened, then, to discover that the term is at the heart of a burgeoning business philosophy that promises corporations no small degree of competitive advantage. Curious to know more? Then, by all means, make note to self that attendance is mandatory on June 14 in the Sauganash Ballroom at Chicago’s Holiday Inn Mart Plaza at 3 p.m. for the address by Keynote speaker Roger Martin, Dean of the Rottman school of management at the University of Toronto and former director of the Monitor Company, a global consulting firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Martin will present a talk entitled “The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage.” And though it may come as a bit of a shock to semi-starving creatives everywhere hammering out a menial existence while yet fulfilling their life’s dream, their inclination towards innovation is fast becoming the envy of businesses large and small. Martin explains all in his latest book, The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Best Competitive Advantage. Therein, he outlines his theory for corporate success, which, broadly summarized and crudely paraphrased, goes as follows: step 1: Innovate; step 2: Refine; step 3: Refine More. According to Martin, successful businesses are those that follow this fixed formula, which, in Martin’s parlance, first addresses a mystery by posing a solution; then refines the solution by creating an heuristic; and finally systematizes the solution by developing an algorithm.

If all this sounds like so much unintelligible corporate speak, perhaps a brief example will elucidate. McDonalds maven Ray Croc, for instance, initially co-opted the solution created by the McDonald brothers (short order food that was amenable to Americans’ desire to remain in their beloved cars); then pared it down to a discernible formula (two all beef patties, special sauce, etc.); and lastly, systematized it to the tune of “one billion burgers served.”

Martin’s point seems to be that, for businesses to acquire the much-vaunted competitive advantage alluded to above, they must not only consistently innovate, but also–and with the same degree of regularity–hone the innovation into assembly-line reproducibility. Not only that, but they must also institutionalize the propensity for both. Apple is possibly the best current poster child for Martin’s “Design Thinking,” as they not only demonstrate a perpetual yen to solve (or create) the next great mystery, but also to mass produce the solution with an amazing facility and a voracious pr apparatus. But I’m just taking the notion and running with it some, for the real story—and the manifest real world applications—in A & D and beyond, make your presence felt at the world famous Sauganash Ballroom on June 14.