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Design of Business

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The Design of Business
Why Design Thinking Is the Next Competitive Advantage by Roger Martin Copyright 2009 Roger Martin Summarized by permission of Harvard Business Press 256 pages

Focus
Leadership & Management Strategy Sales & Marketing Finance Human Resources IT, Production & Logistics Career Development Small Business Economics & Politics Industries Intercultural Management Concepts & Trends

Take-Aways
• Business leaders often believe they must choose between analysis and intuition. “Design thinking” offers a third path. • Design thinkers observe the world, imagine alternatives and bring them into being. • Innovations start as intriguing “mysteries.” To unfold them, first develop workable “heuristics” and then derive predictable “algorithms.” • Think of the learning and discovery process as moving through a “knowledge funnel.” • People need analysis and creative thinking at different points in that funnel. • New firms emphasize “exploration.” As they mature, they shift to exploiting known ideas, but if they stop at that point, other innovators will surpass them. • Your organization must balance predictable or “reliable” production with “validity,” experimentation that leads to new ideas and commercial success. • To protect a company, leaders must protect the exploration that leads to its validity. However, over time, organizations tend to emphasize reliability instead. • To develop your design mind, broaden your “personal knowledge system.” • Cultivate the “stance, tools and experiences” that build enhanced “sensitivities and skills.”

Rating (10 is best)
Overall 9 Applicability 8 Innovation 9 Style 9

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