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Create a problem-solving environment by thinking outside the box
W hen you think of design-focused organizations, your mind probably wanders to an office full of Millennials fresh out of college whose workplace consists of an open floor plan, a pingpong table in the lounge, and common terminology your teen would be more apt to understand than you. But, in today's consumer-experience-focused marketplace, many design organizations are anything but that.
"Design-centric" is a new way of leadership and customer engagement that developed about 10 years ago and was popularized by the book, Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation by Tim Brown. He authored the book in response to the question: "How can I make my company more innovative?" and challenges business leaders to determine: "How can we incorporate the designer's creative problemsolving skills into our larger strategic initiatives?"
Subsequently, more and more cutting-edge organizations in multiple industries have begun to understand the importance of great design in all aspects of their products and offerings. The late Steve Jobs once stated, "Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it's really how it works."
Becoming a design-centric organization means there is a dedicated team in place to focus on how each touch-point, from inception to sale, impacts both internal and external stakeholders. A designcentric organization is committed to generating a user experience that leaves all parties satisfied either mentally, materialistically, or some combination of the two. Impactful designs from top organizations may not even be recognized by the end user, but the results will be apparent in the organization's bottom line.
The Design Management Institute (DMI) states that "design is a method of problem solving." DMI's 2014 Design Value Index shows that design-led organizations have maintained significant stock market advantage, "outperforming the S&P by an extraordinary 219%." Their research shows that the functional areas in which design adds value are:
* Revenue
* Customer experience
* Organizational learning
* Process
Today, the majority of the Fortune 500 community views design-centricity as a key to achieving superior market value, securing competitive advantages, and attaining significant market growth.
As a firm, it's important to begin thinking about the design aspects...