Change by Design

Many authors presenting new programs for enhanced productivity or for new methods of problem solving write with evangelical fervor. They’ve found a new way to change your life, and they work to achieve your buy-in. Often the level of their fervor can be a measure of the uselessness of their ideas. Not Tim Brown’s. His approach to innovative thinking proves quietly exciting and, at times, revelatory. His useful and applicable take on innovation draws its inspiration from design; his name for this process is “design thinking.”

Brown is CEO and president of IDEO, an influential design firm whose work sets an industry standard. Brown makes a convincing case that innovation is the norm at IDEO. The company expects employees not just to come up with new ideas – which, as Brown points out, are cheap and easy to generate in isolation – but also to create new, workable solutions to real world problems. Brown’s and IDEO’s expectations that they can change the world are realistic because they’ve done it more than once. Brown’s tone, writing style and content expresses a passion for creation that never seems giddy or off-balance. getAbstract recommends his manual to designers, those who manage designers, and anyone interested in innovation and creativity will savor Brown’s worthwhile, eye-opening methods.