iGNITIATE: November 2012

What's "Design", What's "Innovation"? How may times have clients, partners, investors asked this? We've compiled a list of the top 50 TED lectures by some of our friends and worlds top luminaries to help our clients, partners, and investors better understand these two crucial topics and now we share this here.
WHAT IS DESIGN: -------------------------------------------------- http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/43 Paul Bennett: Design is in the details Showing a series of inspiring, unusual and playful products, British branding and design guru Paul Bennett explains that design doesn't have to be about grand gestures, but can solve small, universal and overlooked problems. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/5 Chris Bangle - Head of BMW Design: Great cars are Art American designer Chris Bangle explains his philosophy that car design is an art form in its own right, with an entertaining -- and ultimately moving -- account of the BMW Group's Deep Blue project, intended to create the SUV of the future. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/50 Stefan Sagmeister: Yes, design can make you happy Graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister takes the audience on a whimsical journey through moments of his life that made him happy -- and notes how many of these moments have to do with good design. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/122 David Kelley: The future of design is human-centered IDEO's David Kelley says that product design has become much less about the hardware and more about the user experience. He shows video of this new, broader approach, including footage from the Prada store in New York. TED2002 http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/197 Philippe Starck: Design and destiny - Why design? Designer Philippe Starck -- with no pretty slides to show -- spends 18 minutes reaching for the very roots of the question "Why design?" Listen carefully for one perfect mantra for all of us, genius or not. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/207 Paola Antonelli: Treating design as art Paola Antonelli, design curator at New York's Museum of Modern Art, wants to spread her appreciation of design -- in all shapes and forms -- around the world. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/266 Yves Behar: Creating objects that tell stories Designer Yves Behar digs up his creative roots to discuss some of the iconic objects he's created (the Leaf lamp, the Jawbone headset). Then he turns to the witty, surprising, elegant objects he's working on now -- including the "$100 laptop." http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/356 Stefan Sagmeister: Things I have learned in my life so far Rockstar designer Stefan Sagmeister delivers a short, witty talk on life lessons, expressed through surprising modes of design (including ... inflatable monkeys?). http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/396 Isaac Mizrahi: Fashion, passion, and about a million other things Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi spins through a dizzying array of inspirations -- from '50s pinups to a fleeting glimpse of a hole in a shirt that makes him shout "Stop the cab!" Inside this rambling talk are real clues to living a happy, creative life. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/414 Eva Zeisel: The playful search for beauty The ceramics designer Eva Zeisel looks back on a 75-year career. What keeps her work as fresh today (her latest line debuted in 2008) as in 1926? Her sense of play and beauty, and her drive for adventure. Listen for stories from a rich, colorful life. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/427 John Maeda: My journey in design, from tofu to RISD Designer John Maeda talks about his path from a Seattle tofu factory to the Rhode Island School of Design, where he became president in 2008. Maeda, a tireless experimenter and a witty observer, explores the crucial moment when design met computers. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/431 Rob Forbes: Ways of seeing Rob Forbes, the founder of Design Within Reach, shows a gallery of snapshots that inform his way of seeing the world. Charming juxtapositions, found art, urban patterns -- this slideshow will open your eyes to the world around you. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/436 David Carson: Design, discovery and humor Great design is a never-ending journey of discovery -- for which it helps to pack a healthy sense of humor. Sociologist and surfer-turned-designer David Carson walks through a gorgeous (and often quite funny) slide deck of his work and found images. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/455 Milton Glaser: How great design makes ideas new From the TED archives: The legendary graphic designer Milton Glaser dives deep into a new painting inspired by Piero della Francesca. From here, he muses on what makes a convincing poster, by breaking down an idea and making it new. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/480 Don Norman: The three ways that good design makes you happy In this talk from 2003, design critic Don Norman turns his incisive eye toward beauty, fun, pleasure and emotion, as he looks at design that makes people happy. He names the three emotional cues that a well-designed product must hit to succeed. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/501 Jacek Utko: Can design save the newspaper? Jacek Utko is an extraordinary Polish newspaper designer whose redesigns for papers in Eastern Europe not only win awards, but increase circulation by up to 100%. Can good design save the newspaper? It just might. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/520 Niels Diffrient: Rethinking the way we sit down Design legend Niels Diffrient talks about his life in industrial design (and the reason he became a designer instead of a jet pilot). He details his quest to completely rethink the office chair starting from one fundamental data set: the human body. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/590 Eames Demetrios: The design genius of Charles + Ray Eames The legendary design team Charles and Ray Eames made films, houses and classic midcentury modern furniture. Eames Demetrios, their grandson, shows rarely seen films and archival footage in a lively, loving tribute to their creative process. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/646 Tim Brown: Designers, think big! Tim Brown says the design profession is preoccupied with creating nifty, fashionable objects -- even as pressing questions like clean water access show it has a bigger role to play. He calls for a shift to local, collaborative, participatory "design thinking." http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/649 Stefan Sagmeister: The power of time off Every seven years, designer Stefan Sagmeister closes his New York studio for a yearlong sabbatical to rejuvenate and refresh their creative outlook. He explains the often overlooked value of time off and shows the innovative projects inspired by his time in Bali. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/691 Mathieu Lehanneur: Science-inspired design Naming science as his chief inspiration, Mathieu Lehanneur shows a selection of his ingenious designs -- an interactive noise-neutralizing ball, an antibiotic course in one layered pill, asthma treatment that reminds kids to take it, a living air filter, a living-room fish farm and more. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/891 Marian Bantjes: Intricate beauty by design In graphic design, Marian Bantjes says, throwing your individuality into a project is heresy. She explains how she built her career doing just that, bringing her signature delicate illustrations to storefronts, valentines and even genetic diagrams. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/937 David McCandless: The beauty of data visualization David McCandless turns complex data sets (like worldwide military spending, media buzz, Facebook status updates) into beautiful, simple diagrams that tease out unseen patterns and connections. Good design, he suggests, is the best way to navigate information glut -- and it may just change the way we see the world. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/953 Seth Godin: This is broken Why are so many things broken? In a hilarious talk from the 2006 Gel conference, Seth Godin gives a tour of things poorly designed, the 7 reasons why they are that way, and how to fix them. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/971 Eben Bayer: Are mushrooms the new plastic? Product designer Eben Bayer reveals his recipe for a new, fungus-based packaging material that protects fragile stuff like furniture, plasma screens -- and the environment. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/991 R.A. Mashelkar: Breakthrough designs for ultra-low-cost products Engineer RA Mashelkar shares three stories of ultra-low-cost design from India that use bottom-up rethinking, and some clever engineering, to bring expensive products (cars, prosthetics) into the realm of the possible for everyone. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1002 Emily Pilloton: Teaching design for change Designer Emily Pilloton moved to rural Bertie County, in North Carolina, to engage in a bold experiment of design-led community transformation. She's teaching a design-build class called Studio H that engages high schoolers' minds and bodies while bringing smart design and new opportunities to the poorest county in the state. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1051 Thomas Thwaites: How I built a toaster -- from scratch It takes an entire civilization to build a toaster. Designer Thomas Thwaites found out the hard way, by attempting to build one from scratch: mining ore for steel, deriving plastic from oil ... it's frankly amazing he got as far as he got. A parable of our interconnected society, for designers and consumers alike. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1101 Hans Rosling: The magic washing machine What was the greatest invention of the industrial revolution? Hans Rosling makes the case for the washing machine. With newly designed graphics from Gapminder, Rosling shows us the magic that pops up when economic growth and electricity turn a boring wash day into an intellectual day of reading. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1147 Thomas Heatherwick: Building the Seed Cathedral A future more beautiful? Architect Thomas Heatherwick shows five recent projects featuring ingenious bio-inspired designs. Some are remakes of the ordinary: a bus, a bridge, a power station ... And one is an extraordinary pavilion, the Seed Cathedral, a celebration of growth and light. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1243 Richard Seymour: How beauty feels A story, a work of art, a face, a designed object -- how do we tell that something is beautiful? And why does it matter so much to us? Designer Richard Seymour explores our response to beauty and the surprising power of objects that exhibit it. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1340 Bjarke Ingels: Designing Hedonistic sustainability Bjarke Ingels' architecture is luxurious, sustainable and community-driven. At TEDxEast he shows us his playful designs, from a factory chimney that blows smoke rings to a ski slope built atop a waste processing plant. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1383 Kelli Anderson: Design to challenge reality Kelli Anderson shatters our expectations about reality by injecting humor and surprise into everyday objects. At TEDxPhoenix she shares her disruptive and clever designs. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1410 Chip Kidd: Designing books is no laughing matter. OK, it is. Chip Kidd doesn't judge books by their cover, he creates covers that embody the book -- and he does it with a wicked sense of humor. In one of the funniest talks from TED2012, he shows the art and deep thought of his cover designs. <i>(From The Design Studio session at TED2012, guest curated by Chee Pearlman and David Rockwell.)</i> http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1419 Tal Golesworthy: How I designed & repaired my own heart Tal Golesworthy is a boiler engineer -- he knows piping and plumbing. When he needed surgery to repair a life-threatening problem with his aorta, he mixed his engineering skills with his doctors' medical knowledge to design a better repair job. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1449 David Kelley: How to build your creative confidence Is your school or workplace divided into "creatives" versus practical people? Yet surely, David Kelley suggests, creativity is not the domain of only a chosen few. Telling stories from his legendary design career and his own life, he offers ways to build the confidence to create... guest-curated by Chee Pearlman and David Rockwell http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1463 Sebastian Deterding: What your designs say about you "What does your chair say about what you value? Designer Sebastian Deterding shows how our visions of morality and what the good life is are reflected in the design of objects around us. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1471 John Hodgman: Design, explained. John Hodgman, comedian and resident expert, "explains" the design of three iconic modern objects. From The Design Studio session at TED2012, guest-curated by Chee Pearlman and David Rockwell http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1474 John Hockenberry: We are all designers Journalist John Hockenberry tells a personal story inspired by a pair of flashy wheels in a wheelchair-parts catalogue -- and how they showed him the value of designing a life of intent. From The Design Studio session at TED2012, guest-curated by Chee Pearlman and David Rockwell. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1519 Michael Hansmeyer: Building unimaginable shapes Inspired by cell division, Michael Hansmeyer writes algorithms that design outrageously fascinating shapes and forms with millions of facets. No person could draft them by hand, but they're buildable -- and they could revolutionize the way we think of architectural form. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1549 Timothy Prestero: Design for people, not awards Timothy Prestero thought he'd designed the perfect incubator for newborns in the developing world -- but his team learned a hard lesson when it failed to go into production. A manifesto on the importance of designing for real-world use, rather than accolades. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1559 Kent Larson: Brilliant designs fiting more people in cities How can we fit more people into cities without overcrowding? Kent Larson shows off folding cars, quick-change apartments and other innovations that could make the city of the future work a lot like a small village of the past. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1591 Tim Leberecht: 3 ways to (usefully) lose control of your brand The days are past (if they ever existed) when a person, company or brand could tightly control their reputation -- online chatter and spin mean that if you're relevant, there's a constant, free-form conversation happening about you that you have no control over. Tim Leberecht offers three big ideas about accepting that loss of control, even designing for it -- and using it as an impetus to recommit to your values. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/48 Saul Griffith: Hardware solutions to everyday problems Inventor and MacArthur fellow Saul Griffith shares some innovative ideas from his lab -- from "smart rope" to a house-sized kite for towing large loads. WHAT IS INNOVATION ----------------------------------------------- http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/63 Charles Leadbeater : The rise of the amateur professional In this deceptively casual talk, Charles Leadbeater weaves a tight argument that innovation isn't just for professionals anymore. Passionate amateurs, using new tools, are creating products and paradigms that companies can't. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/105 Jeff Bezos: After the gold rush, there's innovation ahead The dot-com boom and bust is often compared to the Gold Rush. But Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos says it's more like the early days of the electric industry. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/641 Evgeny Morozov: How the Net aids dictatorships TED Fellow and journalist Evgeny Morozov punctures what he calls "iPod liberalism" -- the assumption that tech innovation always promotes freedom, democracy -- with chilling examples of ways the Internet helps oppressive regimes stifle dissent. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/866 Johanna Blakley: Lessons from fashion's free culture Copyright law's grip on film, music and software barely touches the fashion industry ... and fashion benefits in both innovation and sales, says Johanna Blakley. At TEDxUSC 2010, she talks about what all creative industries can learn from fashion's free culture. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/892 Charles Leadbeater: Education innovation in the slums Charles Leadbeater went looking for radical new forms of education -- and found them in the slums of Rio and Kibera, where some of the world's poorest kids are finding transformative new ways to learn. And this informal, disruptive new kind of school, he says, is what all schools need to become. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1489 Nirmalya Kumar: India's invisible innovation Can India become a global hub for innovation? Nirmalya Kumar thinks it already has. He details four types of "invisible innovation" currently coming out of India and explains why companies that used to just outsource manufacturing jobs are starting to move top management positions overseas, too. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1168 Daniel Kraft: Medicine's Innovation future? There's an app for that At TEDxMaastricht, Daniel Kraft offers a fast-paced look at the next few years of innovations in medicine, powered by new tools, tests and apps that bring diagnostic information right to the patient's bedside. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1217 Edward Tenner: Unintended consequences Every new invention changes the world -- in ways both intentional and unexpected. Historian Edward Tenner tells stories that illustrate the under-appreciated gap between our ability to innovate and our ability to foresee the consequences.

When Harvard Business Review speaks, people tend to listen. Especially when phrases like double digit growth are bantered about. In a recent HBS Article entitled "The Idea that led to Double Digit Growth" past Chair and CEO of Medtronic, Bill Bill George describes how his firm consistently was a leader in their field and simplistically, it's a +2 rule, two extra percentage points above the industry standard 10% invested in R&D each year.

iGNITIATE blog entry for Double Digit Design Growth Gregory Polletta

Medtronic is a leader in specific technological tools and devices. They can be, for the most part, not considered a "Design Disruption" firm even though, yes, their devices are designed, engineered, and launched as products. Medtronic is a healthcare technology firm. But, they clearly adopt a strong R&D window, a specific design and innovation launch process and have embedded in the organization a DNA of breakthroughs. How? Three simple rules:

1) increasing R&D budget from 9% to almost 12% of revenue.

2) separate venture group from existing business units - no fiefdom politics

3) selected acquisitions of new technologies to expand into related product categories.

4) top executives supported the ventures group spending time in the labs with them, understanding their work, and championing the adoption of venture labs investments

So how does this translate into firms not steeped in technological advancement or the development of game changing business models? How does this work within the areas of "design" specific products? Surprisingly Tom Ford has a very specific approach as detailed in "Design and Business Insights from Tom Ford" and enumerated as:

1) Once your on top, you're on the bottom

2) Design is an architecture exercise.

3) Design disruption comes from doubt and questioning

4) Success = work and obsession: relentless drive, focus, passion and toughness

5) Business = a "survival mechanism”

6) There is no retire

7) THE difficulty is creating and disrupting on demand

8) creating a specific design team identity & which is different or individual

R&D and Design are a mix that when carefully applied produce results beyond what only 1 can specifically achieve on it's own.

Friday, 30 November 2012

Spotting Disruption, Designing for Disruption

Monday, 19 November 2012

What's "Design", What's "Innovation"? - TED's Top 50 Luminaries

Friday, 2 November 2012

Want double digit growth? Design Disruption is the way.