Vol. 2: design-management.de

We’ve assembled the chart on “What is a Design Strategy” you see on the left hand side some weeks ago.
For some reason I did only push it via twitter so far maybe for the reason that it still needs some ‘iterations’ to reflect all the constructive feedback I’ve received in the meantime. Sure in these […]

So in case some of you might have been wondering about the relatively low posting frequency over the last couple of weeks I can assure you that I’m not suffering from idea drain. … In the meantime you might want to read some sources I’d recommend for some more general updates on things that interest me: Needless to say that I’m a fan of Erik ;-) and he’s got some new stuff posted recently on ‘ Design As a Strategic Ressource ‘ In case you’re studying Design Management and feel as if there is no place for you in these recessive times go and read his ‘ Open Letter to Design Management Students Across the World ‘ A real gem when it comes to the foundation of ‘ Wicked Problem Solvin g’ comes from Rotman’s latest issue of Rotman Magazine.

As some of you might know I’m very much into visualisation and the likes these days. In my role as a Professor for Design Management I’m currently doing a seminar on Business Model Visualisation (closed Ning; sorry) with Design students in collaboration with the expert in the field, fellow blogger and blog friend Alex Osterwalder.
While […]

The purpose of giving ‘Design Thinking’ a prominent place in the 5 day course has been to make students aware of two things: a) Understand that human beings have different perceptions and understandings of the character of a ‘problem’ and b) That human beings (in this case managers and designers) are being educated with different approaches to solving problems. … While Erik might decribe the process far better than I (sometimes having a memory like a sieve ;-) for me such an approach also gives the ‘Brand’ as a carrier of cultural values (and not only as a means for creating an ‘Image’) a quite different (yet ‘abductive’) twist.

I’ve always been favouring the view that Strategy and Strategic Thinking mainly starts with identifying patterns on a general scale. Such patterns can be observed anywhere and they range from behaviour, opinions, speech, words. etc.
The ‘Strategist’s’ part (yet the most tricky and difficult) is to give these patterns a meaning and place them in a […]

I somehow have a hard time recently to catch up with all the stuff that happens around me on and off-line.
Beside the reasonable business travelling I’ve done recently to NL, CH, then back to NL and CH next month again (after all not too many complaints here since I also always meet good friends and […]

If you’ve ever wondered what it means to work at the intersection of Managers and Designers than you should watch this great video clip! … after all I was wondering the other day which Muppet character would best characterise a Design Manager!? Any ideas?

found via Dan Roam

Again one of these posts I would have wished to have written myself ;-) Anyway I’ve skim read Kevin McCullagh’s posting on the Core77 Design Blog just before leaving to The Hague last week. Fortunately Kathryn Best reminded me on Kevin’s posting after my return last weekend!

I should share some snippets from last Friday when I’ve joined several of my peers in The Hague, NL. However please allow for some digesting of my impressions and thoughts! I will write a follow up for sure ;-)
After all what we’ve touched in our panel discussion as well as during the ‘after show’ talks […]

For those of you (like myself) who have not been able to attend the latest European Design Management Institute’s conference I thought it might be interesting to read some stuff that other attendees have summarised or commented.
First place to visit is Erik’s blog on Brand Driven Innovation. Erik and I are currently working on a […]

I get regularly asked by people from outside the design (management) community what can design actually do for them and their business. My spontaneous answer for sure is: A lot! - However the tricky part begins right after when it comes to explaining why and how ;-)
Therefore as part of my design management lecturing activities […]

As an addendum to my recent posting on the “Overlap7 conference” may I point you to the very informative comments left by Steve Portigal (co-organizer of Overlap06) and Michael Anton Dila (Key organizer of Overlap07). Thanks, folks!
I find it highly interesting (relevant) to see how social interactions and iterative learning shape the creation of a […]

On Monday I’ve written about the recent Overlap07 (un)conference organized by Victor Lombardi et al. in Toronto last week.
Moving to Toronto this year has clearly been a smart idea since some lead thinkers (from the business side) in the field of “Design Thinking” are located in the neighbourhood say Heather Frazer Fraser, Jeanne Liedtka (edited: […]

I’m definitively the last one to join the choir that “Business is Evil” and that the creativity tools for the future should rest in the hands of ‘Design’ only.
On the contrary I’m a firm believer that if Design and Designers want to join and remain at the tables where the discussion about money going to be spent […]

Those of you who know me a little bit closer know that a part of my annual revenues come from lecturing activities in the areas of design management and post-graduate MBA (namely Strategy) education.
Ever since I’ve finished my MBA eleven years ago a lot has changed in the landscape of (under) graduate and post graduate education […]