You are used to hear that digital technology and the global market are changing the world. Consumers are better informed, more demanding and they have the tools to communicate and shop globally. But are smarter consumers, viral ideas and more competition a good or bad news story for your company?
Economists and management experts love to compare the financial resources of companies to try and understand why some businesses thrive, and others fail to survive. But there may be another dynamics at work. This changing world holds huge opportunities and companies need a methodology to turn these opportunities into products and services. I strongly believe that Design is this methodology. Design is not an object, design is an action, a verb. Design is the process of discovering opportunities and turning them into usable solutions.
We’re finally in a stage where most companies understand ‘the added value of creativity’. I feel every day that the stage of recognizing creativity and design is there. Companies we talk with are very clear and confirm that they need to work with people like us. It’s proven that companies, which embrace design and cultivate a culture of creativity, are much more flexible to adapt to an every day more demanding market.
But then there’s the next issue, if creativity is so important to success, why don’t more companies invest time and resources in it? In some cases we’re talking already for months with a clear intention to start working together. The procedure (that’s how they call it) is not clear, and even more, the possible outcome cannot be defined. I believe the real issue, as it is in more situations, is fear. We might come up with controversial ideas, which might bring the existing ECO system, build of processes and management layers, out of balance.
Unfortunately I see a strange evolution in the way companies try to start. We live in a world were the total experience has become crucial. Something ‘consultants’ also understand. They found a new way to sell their hours in the shape of fancy workshops in order to brainstorm and come up with ideas. Different research has proven that the ROI of these workshops is very low. It’s easy to come up with a lot of ideas but what’s the point of finding hundreds random ideas during a workshop if we consider it as a fairground attraction and go back to ‘reality’ the day after. The point is that after organizing a workshop, the objective “innovation” can be checked off the list of things to do this year.
The topic we need to discuss is how to integrate a new way of thinking. It has nothing to do with looking for crazy ideas but it’s about the message and how to sell it to the complete organization. It’s about why, what and how. It’s about creating a vision, added value and a reason for existence.
“Take a moment to consider your organization. How clear is your direction for change? My experience teaches me that in order to succeed there need to be a certain framework in place, in order to create a platform that is dedicated to transform the organization. As soon as your direction is clear automatically a continuous stream of creativity will follow in order to achieve specific well-defined goals. Are you able to translate certain changes into profit?
This mind change isn’t easy and it’s a process of years. It’s impossible to predict the outcome and if customers ask me how to tackle this subject my answer is usually very simple – get started! “It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock n’ roll.” AC⚡DC
Het bericht “Why, What and How’ – Secrets of Design Activation verscheen eerst op Studio Peter Van Riet.