D M I D E S I G N M A N A G E M E N T I N S T I T U T E A R T I C L E R E P R I N T Design Management Review Unleashing the Power of Design Thinking Kevin Clark, Program Director, IBM Corporate Marketing and Communications Ron Smith, Experience Strategist, IBM Corporate Marketing and Communications Reprint ##08193CLA08 This article was first published in Design Management Review Vol. 19 No. 3 The Future of Design Leadership Copyright © Summer 2008 by the Design Management InstituteSM. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission. To place an order or receive photocopy permission, contact DMI via phone at (617) 338-6380, Fax (617) 338-6570, or E-mail: [email protected]. The Design Management Institute, DMI, and the design mark are service marks of the Design Management Institute. www.dmi.org KEYNOTE Unleashing the Power of Design Thinking by Kevin Clark and Ron Smith n this call to action, Kevin Clark and Ron Smith Iposit that design professionals can and should take on leadership roles in nontraditional arenas. Their own efforts demonstrate that the ways in which designers address problems—leveraging emo- tional intelligence, integral intelligence, and experi- ential intelligence—offer organizations valuable insights across a diverse range of business activities and decision-making. Design is about making intent real. shape our collective future in the busi- There is plenty of unintentional to go ness world. around. Recognition of the gulf between business and design is well documented. When you design, something new is For decades, there have been calls for brought into the world with purpose. designers to become more conversant in Unleashing the power of design thinking the ideas and language of business. Kevin Clark, Program Director, IBM Corporate is about awaking design instincts and In an age of renewed interest in Marketing and methods in business executives and innovation, we suggest the cultivation Communications organizations all around us—especially of a new generation of design patrons the ones we traditionally don’t work who want to collaborate with designers with. We believe design thinking is a in a new way—business patrons who remarkably under-used tool for achiev- want to move design strategy and ing strategic business initiatives that are design methods into the mainstream of increasingly driven by the need for business thought to accomplish busi- innovation. The more design thinking is ness goals. These patrons would be used to innovate and solve problems going to designers not just to acquire Ron Smith, Designer, Brand across many professions, the more the output of well-integrated design, Experience Strategist, IBM design itself will be brought into signifi- but also to use design methods to make Corporate Marketing and cant conversations and decisions that business itself more intentional. Communications 8 Design Management Review Summer 2008 Unleashing the Power of Design Thinking Guggenheim didn’t have to be an artist to be Emotional intelligence is the ability to under- a patron of the arts. stand and embrace in the context of culture that Design methods are orderly. Design methods which moves us to act and which creates attach- are inclusive. Design methods are innovative. ment, commitment, and conviction. Taking advantage of design thinking can help Integral intelligence is the ability to bring business leaders make their intentions real—by together diverse customer needs and business clearly defining goals, deeply understanding cus- ecosystem capabilities into complete systems tomers, and getting their internal teams aligned that deliver value and reflect the values of the to deliver results. birth organization. Design thinking is an established way to Experiential intelligence is the ability to bring value to some parts of business, yet it understand and activate all five human senses to remains a well-kept secret from many who could make innovation tangible, known, and vibrant. use it most. Designers tend to stay out of the Design is about making intent real. What domains of accounting, human resources, and organization wouldn’t want to have its strategic legal affairs, for instance, and this is a shame. intent made real? Over the past 20 years, we have heard mem- Activating emotional intelligence bers of the design profession talk about learning Connecting the two hemispheres of the brain— the language of business in order to better frame and aligning the head, the heart, and the gut— design issues in business terms—initially so that these are daily exercises for a designer. our ideas would have a better survival rate, and Designers work to understand the culture of then eventually in the hope that we would be their organizations and its connection to the invited into strategic discussions where big ideas have a chance to flourish. And we have seen a change in how design is embraced in many organizations, most famously today in consumer head electronics with Apple, Sony, and Samsung, where design reports to the CEO. It’s time for the design leaders to reframe this conversation in the age of innovation. Design professionals need to redefine their leadership by heart being catalysts to help other parts of the organi- zation use and embrace design thinking. How do you describe design thinking to exec- gut utives? It’s all about innovation intelligence. Design thinking is driven by intelligence that embraces innovation and gives your organiza- tion the freedom to explore multiple ways to solve problems—and discover the option that best delivers competitive advantage. From our perspective, design thinking also encompasses several related types of innovation intelligence. Cultivating these will help increase appreciation for, and a broader use of, design Unlike some business decision-making, design thinking takes into consideration approaches in many professions: the impact of intellect and the values • Emotional intelligence of clients, employees, and users when considering how to “design” a solution. • Integral intelligence Head, heart, gut model we credit to • Experiential intelligence Marc Gobé. Design Management Review Summer 2008 9 The Future of Design Leadership customers and other businesses they serve. The processes rarely enter into the picture. To many design process is well suited to investigate the of these executives, design is a function, not a emotional and cultural realities of doing busi- valuable way of seeing and reframing the world ness. F.G. “Buck” Rogers, one of IBM’s most for competitive advantage. notable salespeople, famously said, “Customers Professionals using design thinking know the buy on emotion and then justify with logic.” details are important for success, yet also have a Understanding the emotional aspect of offering zoom lens to move way back and see how those appeal and transactions is pivotal to business details support a larger idea. Design thinkers success, and design is particularly well equipped constantly zoom in and out to keep the big idea to help in this arena of business strategy. and the details connected and meaningful. The importance to business: Emotion drives The importance to business: Integral intelli- action. gence helps businesses to see a bigger picture— Example: IBM’s corporate experience design and create more and even larger value perspec- team led an unique internal engagement with tives to drive revenue and profit. the company’s human resources and communi- Example: Corporate Experience Design and cations team in India to assess the experiences of Systems and Technology Group Design formed a prospective employees as they apply, are hired, cross-functional team to study the out-of-box and are brought on board as new employees. experience for recipients of newly delivered IBM Using design thinking to uncover underlying systems. Professionals who normally didn’t have needs and issues, a new set of on-boarding an opportunity to work closely together were touch-points was co-designed and is being used trained in observational research and went out today to deliver an improved new-employee in “discovery teams” to see clients receive and set experience. First impressions frame entire up their new large computing systems. They careers—and design thinking helped shape an included professionals from engineering, improved employment journey for new IBM finance, human factors, industrial design mar- India employees. keting, and market intelligence. Not only did they come up with lots of recommendations, but Activating integral intelligence they also continued to collaborate after the proj- Many businesses apply a microscope to dissect ect concluded. Building community and work- all aspects of engagement into smaller and ing across professional borders is an important smaller pieces for improvement and refinement. residue of design thinking. While examination of detail can be valuable, design thinking re-engages the imagination to Activating experiential intelligence see a more complete picture. Designers keep the Experience design is one of the faster-growing big idea in mind. parts of design and strategy practice at IBM This should be very appealing to many c-level today. The human interaction conversation has executives, yet for them, design tools and moved from ease of use for products to ease of The experience design method IBM uses to explore problem solving involves observational research into spoken and unspoken client wants and needs and creating new concepts with validation and iteration phases before a product or service is released into the marketplace. 10 Design Management Review Summer 2008 Unleashing the Power of Design Thinking use for IBM as a whole—and is serving to make In 2006, IBM’s corporate experience strategy our company more compelling and adaptive. and design department led an investigation into This is a direct result of the transformation from what it was like for clients to visit IBM at home.