I have a great deal of respect for Raymond Turner. He has held posts as the Design Director for Heathrow’s Terminal 5, the Heathrow Express high speed rail, the Principal Design Manager consultant to Eurotunnel, Managing Director of Wolff Olins in London and Design Director of London Transport. He’d been a pioneer in defining the differences between design leadership and design management.
So when Raymond asked me to write the forward for his new book, “Design Leadership: Securing the strategic value of design”, I was honored to say the least. It’s a great book, full of relevant insights learned by doing. One of the many things that stands out to me are his seven design drivers for business. The include:
– Design provides a clear, practical link between the strategic discussions in the board room and the daily activities of business.
– Design leadership helps define the future, design management provides the tools for getting there.
– Putting design into the DNA of business maximizes shareholder value from the investment.
– Corporate reputation is built on customer experience, design helps create it.
– Design is a business tool that makes strategy visible.
– Design leadership is a commercial imperative.
– Design investment increases brand value and reduces development costs.
– Design spend is the largest sum of money the board knows the least about.
Great works of wisdom I think.