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The Rise of the Creative Class
The relationship between design and innovation is an interesting one. Design does not have to be innovative to be successful. It just has to be appropriately matched to the problem. Innovation, however, does require design in one form or another.
Claudia Kotchka, Design Evangelist at Proctor & Gamble, explains that designers were historically called upon at the end of the project for superficial enhancement. Her dedication to “design thinking” puts designers and other critical personas together at the inception of the project. This is the stage where innovation and design merge.
While attending the ISDA conference this week in Austin, Texas, Bruce Nussbaum commented: “Companies are committing to building up their own in-house design departments…Companies are moving design upstream--using design to shape the corporate strategic vision and brand vision. Many CEOs are demanding that design have a straight connection to their office.”
This trend supports a philosophical shift for some organizations. After a decade of endless cost cutting programs, continuous optimization of resources and a religious fanaticism for ROI, the momentum is finally shifting back to a balance between managing the present and envisioning alternate future scenarios. It is an organization’s ability to project a vision and to develop innovative alternatives that has suffered most when the quarterly returns were the only measure of success. Design as a core element in organizational strategy forces leadership to push its thinking back out toward the horizon, where it should be.
I believe that Nussbaum’s observation of the increasing role of design is correct. It is also proof that Richard Florida’s view of The Rise of the Creative Class is accurate.
Chas Martin
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