The Sunday New
York Times had a rave review for Tim Brown’s new book on design thinking,
Change By Design. I best start by saying
that I am not an objective critic of Tim or the company where he is CEO,
IDEO. I did an 18 month ethnography of
IDEO in 1990s, I have been an IDEO Fellow for about 15 years (which is
something they sometimes pay me for but usually not, it is sort of like being
an honorary first cousin), and I am friend and admirer of Tim’s along with
IDEO’s founder and now Chairman, the rather magical David Kelley (a word I
would apply to no one else I know personally).
I also wrote a blurb for the book because, as the Times review indicates, it shows so many of the best qualities of
IDEO’s culture and Tim’s modesty, skill, and courage – and his deep and
sensible understanding of what it means to be a “design thinker. “
The review, called “Redefining a Profession,”
concludes that Tim has successfully avoided one of the biggest risks in a book
like this one – coming across as too much of a commercial for the firm he leads. Tim accomplishes this by simply being
himself, and indeed, when I read the galleys, that was my comment…”This is 100%
Tim Brow.,” In any conversation you have
with Tim, he will do things that many CEOs do not, he will give others lots of
credit, he will tell wonderful stories, talk honestly about what works and what
doesn’t, and about the limits of the methods used by his company, not just the
strengths. Indeed, for me, as much as I
am a big believer in the power of design thinking, after hanging around the
Stanford d school for five years or so, although I believe we teach our
students well, I am often disturbed because “design thinking” is treated as the
answer to every problem and also as more like a religion than a set of
practices for sparking creativity. Tim and
his many colleagues at IDEO have had the courage to apply design thinking to
almost any problem – from designing better websites, to changing how
programmers work together, designing a couple thousand products, revamping
operations, and changing customers experiences.
In doing so they have
simultaneously pushed the limits of design thinking beyond what others thought
possible (hence the title “Redefining a Profession”) while always acknowledging the
limits of the approach.
I also want to make sure to mention that Tom Kelley
– who has played may key roles in the firm and is perhaps the best speaker I
have ever seen on any topic – has also written two early books that are about
and inspired by IDEO: The Art of
Innovation and The Ten Faces of
Innovation, both are also wonderful books, but they are much different than
Tim’s as they reflect Tom’s personality and experiences. So if you have read these two books, there is
still plenty to glean from Change By
Design. Although Tim Brown, Tom
Kelley, and David Kelley all are similar in that (reflecting the IDEO culture) all
are people who can actually listen, have the courage to try weird stuff and
learn no matter the outcome, treat others with respect and dignity, are deeply
curious about everything, and believe that work isn’t just about making as much
money as possible. All three talk and
act like if you aren’t having fun and
doing work that matters to you and others, something is wrong, no matter how much
money you are making.
In short, I can’t be unbiased about Change By Design, but The New York Times has a reputation for
pulling no punches, so I am glad to see that they loved the book. I have had the privilege of hanging out with
a lot of people from IDEO over the past 15 years or so, and it has made my life
much richer. So I am pleased to see that
more objective observers than me see the value of their work and wisdom as
well.
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