Vol. 2: design-management.de

in an online article called “guru nation” published in ‘Workforce Management’ samuel greengard examines the value these ‘gurus’ add to the business community. well, he’s very critical about it as he says the following:

“‘There are only about 25, maybe 50 management gurus in the world. They are the heavyweight thinkers that mold the business ideas of the day,’ says James Hoopes… [of] Babson College. ‘Today, senior executives are confused and looking for answers, and business gurus promise, though they don’t always deliver, a recipe for success’…Crainer, who ranks top management gurus at a Web site called Thinkers 50, believes that their popularity is unlikely to fade anytime soon. ‘Practical application of most business ideas is a rarity,’ he says. ‘Management is a magpie science, picking up pieces of wisdom from all over the place, and managers are natural magpies, picking up pearls of wisdom where they find them.’ Perhaps The Economist magazine best summed up [when]…it noted: ‘The only thing worse than slavishly following management theory is ignoring it completely.’”

this is why I usually refer to a careful selected choice of this ‘guru wisdom’ in my design management courses at various academic institutions. the recent workshop at INHOLLAND graduate school has proved exactly what Samuel Greengard cites in his article:

“Sprint has surveyed employees over time and benchmarked itself, says Phil Bowman, vice president of integrated solutions for Sprint Business Solutions. “We’re able to measure the positive effect of the sessions. People feel more connected to their goals.” ”

and this is exactly what the discipline of strategic management is able to contribute to a designers range of skills: connect design and management in order to identify new paths and achieve new goals!