Three types of corporate culture

Have you ever wondered if corporate culture can be organized onto types? I have. In a tiny nutshell, here are what is generally accepted in the HR world as the three types of corporate culture. Expertise cultures. In an expertise culture, the key motivation of employees is for the employee to become an expert, building […]

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A kick start to designing cultures of innovation

To transform a corporate culture requires the changing of individual and collective behavior. One of the greatest values of design thinking is how it does both. The power of the collective imagination of employees, coupled with the Pull Factor and design thinking at scale is simply amazing. It can have a great impact on an […]

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The Fifth Order of Design

The evolution of design that has unfolded over the past century is likely best explained by Richard Buchanan’s Four Orders of Design. Buchanan, a professor of design, management, and information sys­tems, suggests that as an organization matures in its use of design, it tends to move from visual design and graphic communication, to industrial design […]

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How to multiply creativity

This post is based on an analysis of some of the most extensive and advanced use design thinking on the planet. My research partner Edgar Papke and I reached out to a select group of organizations and looked under their hoods – to understand to what level they were using design thinking, how they were […]

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What do UX leaders lead?

Given the right context and corporate culture, User Experience leaders can do amazing things for any company. Much like Design Leaders, here is a snapshot of what the best UX leaders lead, and it goes far beyond usability. Process UX is about making new experiences, services and products, and this requires process discipline and methods […]

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What do design thinkers think?

Have you ever wondered which problem is the most important to solve? Do you focus on the smaller problem at hand, or the bigger problem that lies beneath? The answer is yes, to both. That’s what design thinkers do. They solve the issues before them, while taking a bite out of the bigger issues too, […]

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How a 185 year old insurance company re-framed innovation

Leadership psychologist Edgar Papke and I just dove deep into the intersection of innovation, design thinking and corporate culture, and published our analysis in a new book Innovation by Design. We found that one of the aspects of leveraging design thinking at scale is the idea of open spaces – physically and mentally. This includes […]

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Design Leadership: What’s Next?

I just wrote an interesting post for FastCo Design about the future of design leadership. Read the full article here – Design Leadership: What’s Next? It’s based on interviews I conducted with the heads of design from 3M, Intuit, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Pepsico, Philips and REI. There are seven areas of focus: Remain driven […]

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McKinsey on Building a Design-Driven Culture

At last, the folks at McKinsey & Company are learning about and promoting the benefits of building a Design-Driven Culture. After acquiring Lunar Design it seems they are now among the converted, well, better late than never. And McKinsey just published a very basic article endorsing four elements of design-driven cultures, including:1. Really understanding the […]

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