Newly published research describes two innovative methods to inspire creativity: Compare and contrast different cultures, or think of yourself as a 7-year-old.

Beyond Design Thinking
It’s Called Design Management

Emotional Branding: the new paradigm for connecting brands to people by Marc Gobé begins with a very interesting Foreword by Sergio Zyman.

It’s only three pages long, but definitely worth reading to see why design thinking is the incorrect way to frame a very important and valid call for interdisciplinary collaboration between executives and creatives — which I believe ought to be the desired end game outcome of the current confused yet well-meaning narrative in design management (which — actually — is a much better and more holistic phrase than design thinking because it insinuates interdisciplinary collaboration — design and management coming together, as they should).

The challenge in design management is to train existing & future managers on the value of design, its strategic role in business decisions from the boardroom to the showroom and the role design / designers play in shaping and translating visionary strategy into desirable, meaningful, relevant, satisfying and memorable results.

This is the challenge facing design management, and it has less to do with thinking and more to do with learning, exposure and interdisciplinary collaboration between managers and designers on the road to transdisciplinary collaboration beyond management and design, inclusive of those in the sciences, arts and humanities — ultimately positioning business practice as a holistic representative of society at large.

Jane McGonigal, Director of Game Research and Development at Institute for the Future, talks about the differences in the increased level of engagement and optimism students have with games over the classroom.

Design the classroom experience to remove fear of failure. Promote collaboration & experimentation to stimulate learning.

Design Thinking our Way into the Heart of Business

By Steve Sato, Principal, Sato+Partners, LLC

Question: What do the following trends have in common?

• Design thinking

• Experience design

• Customer-centered design

They are all trends at the intersection of design and business. They have more hype than bite. They each require a multi-disciplinary team to work together in new ways to integrate approaches designers use, in order to deliver better results than before.

The first barrier for design to live at the heart of business is a lack of critical mass of designers with skills to “influence without authority.”

The fault lies w/design schools, who focus 99.999% of their energies on aesthetics & the promise of ‘design stardom’ 2 drooling audience.

There is a reason “Design Strategist” is not a major in design school — you have to ‘evolve’ into one….they don’t make them in factories.

Link to Viewpoints article at DMI via @rotkapchen

Penguin CEO Highlights Upcoming
iPad Children’s Books

via barkingrobot

Design Thinking is the value added Intellectual Property (IP) of Design Doing.

Want Design Thinking? Start by Design Learning, then Design Failing, Design Doing, Design Experiencing, Design Reflecting & Design Evolving.

Further Reading:

Design Thinking is Dead. Long Live Design Orientation

Design Orientation is Not a Buzzword

Redefining Design
From occupation to driver of innovation

Holistic Thinking

Nexus One Design Videos

Episode 1: Concept & Design

via Form Loves Function — more here.

What is Green Technology?

Reporter Lee Goldberg asked participants at the Greener Gadgets conference in New York City.

Pediatricians Propose Hot Dog Redesign

Many regard the hot dog as a ballpark mainstay, a perfect partner to the hamburger or, for a hot-dog eating champ, a little snack. But according to a new policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the hot dog is a hazard for kids, associated with more choking deaths among children than any other food.

“If you were to find the best engineers in the world and ask them to design the perfect plug for a child’s airway, you couldn’t do much better than the hot dog,” Dr. Gary Smith, lead author of the AAP policy statement, told AOL News. “It is the right shape and the right size to wedge itself in and completely block a child’s airway. It’s only a matter of minutes before permanent brain damage and death occur.”

We can solve this design challenge without having to redefine what it means to enjoy a sausage, or what it means to have a hot dog.

The solution calls for an additional step during manufacturing, at which time each sausage is sliced through along its length, but not all the way through so that it can be split open like a book (with its uncut back side acting as the spine), or closed back up into a traditional looking sausage.

With this simple design change, there is no need for new packaging and no need to redesign hot dog buns. Adults can enjoy pre-sliced sausages that they can pour ketchup, mustard and/or relish into. Parents who are responsible enough to care about what their children play with during lunch or dinner can be sure to split each sausage all the way open or literally separate the two halves, feeding their children 1/2 a sausage up to a certain age where is is deemed safe to enjoy a full sausage, eliminating (or greatly reducing) the possibility of airway blockage.

Thanks to @sherrymain for calling my attention to the story.

Toyoda: Our rush to grow led to safety issues

Translation: Our rush to grow [due to finance orientation for maximization of shareholder value] led to safety issues [in turn sacrificing customer value].

Holistic thinking brings about a sustainable balance between shareholder value & customer value.

News Sources: CTV.ca & CNNMoney.com