The Design of Things to Come: How Ordinary People Create Extraordinary Products [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

In the Preface, the authors explain that their book "deconstructs innovation into understandable chunks that form a compelling argument of what innovation is, why it is important, and how [their reader] can begin to transform [herself or himself as well as her or his] company to meet the needs of the current marketplace." They focus their attention on those who are "at the heart of the innovation process." Throughout eleven chapters, they answer questions such as these:

1. What are the defining qualities and characteristics of "the new breed of innovator"?

2. Why is innovation `the only approach to differentiation"?

3. What does the process of innovation involve, indeed require?

4. How best to identify relevant and significant trends?

5. Then, how to respond to these trends as especially important opportunities?

6. How can (and should) innovation respond to human needs, interests, and even fantasies?

7. What is a "Powers of 10" analysis and why can its revelations be so valuable?

8. Why is B2B innovation the "new frontier of fantasy"?

9. How to plan and then implement a successful product development process?

10. How to establish and then nourish an innovation culture?

In the Epilogue, the authors review various "powers of innovation," reaffirming that those who comprise the "new breed" embrace the principles and ideas of pragmatic innovation: "an interdisciplinary collaboration, a structured process of exploration, a balance between art and science, [and] a focus on experience and fantasy." These are the otherwise ordinary people who will, together, "design the extraordinary things to come."

As I read this informative and thought-provoking book, I was again reminded of the fact that the same principles which Vogel, Cagan, and Boatwright cite and then explain have -- for decades -- guided and informed the "pragmatic innovation" of countless teams and even communities. For example, those which Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman examine in their book, Creating Genius: the Disney studios which produced so many animation classics; Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) which developed the first personal computer; Apple Computer which then took it to market; those in the so-called "War Room" who helped to elect Bill Clinton President in 1992; the so-called "Skunk Works" where so many of Lockheed's greatest designs were formulated; Black Mountain College which "wasn't simply a place where creative collaboration took place" for the artists in residence from 1933 to 1956, "it was about creative collaboration"; and Los Alamos (NM) and the University of Chicago where the Manhattan Project eventually produced a new weapon called "the Gadget."

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out the aforementioned Organizing Genius as well as Evan I. Schwartz's Juice: The Creative Fuel That Drives World-Class Inventors; three volumes in the Harvard Business Review Paperback Series on Breakthrough Thinking, Innovation, and The Innovative Enterprise; Tom Kelley's The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm; and Seeing What's Next: Using Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change co-authored by Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony, and Erik A. Roth.

Every company, whether large of small, faces greater competition than ever before. The huge increase in design schools, engineering schools, and business schools around the world promise that competition will become ever more fierce. Cost cutting alone will not get the job done because only one company in each segment can be the low cost producer. It is innovation that allows for many competitors and increased profits. That is why so many books and schools talk about innovation. However, it is very difficult to teach someone to be creative.

Many try to take a riskless and incremental approach to innovation and while that is better than the status quo it leaves one vulnerable to the competitions better efforts. However, the risk in wandering into more ambiguous areas of your business for innovation make management uncomfortable and if done wrong can lead to a swift demise. Hence, it is often avoided by successful companies. We have seen the automotive companies remove billions upon billions from their cost structure and they are still in trouble. It is finding innovation that customers will not only buy, but also pay MORE for that is the Holy Grail of modern business.

This book proposes what the authors call Pragmatic Innovation as a way to choose wisely which Grail you drink from. For them this is a form of innovation that includes interdisciplinary collaboration, a structured process of exploration, a balance between art and science, a focus on experimentation and fantasy, and to this I will add good luck. It is always that feel for how much line to let out and how much tension to use to reign in without things either breaking or getting away from you that make the difference. How can that be communicated? It certainly can't be put into a checklist.

The broad range of case studies offered in this book help. We look at diesel fuel additives, vegetable peelers, pickup-truck seating, computerized running shoes, and a lot more. In laying out the ground rules for the innovator their point three is my favorite: Don't Stop At Success. And that is an important imperative in the contemporary environment.

This is a solid book and offers a lot of food for thought. Of course you are unlikely to agree with or use everything here. However, if you can pick up a few ideas that spark your creativity and give you a new path it will have been well worth the read.

If you're wondering what that object is on this book's cover, wonder no more. It's a walking toaster of course! Surely you want one.

That robot is a walking irony for this book's theme: Apply pragmatism to innovation. The alternative is innovation that amuses but doesn't sell.

I first heard the mantra of multidisciplinary teams for new product development in 1976 from Perdue's Mike Pessemier based on his pioneering research. I was surprised to see these authors argue so strenuously for the same thing. It seems like some lessons have to be relearned before they stick.

Of more novel significance are other aspects of this book:

1. The assertion that the next arena for intense competition that makes a difference will be in design rather than quality, production and delivery;

2. Seeing fantasy desires as being worthwhile needs to satisfy for even the most mundane, non-consumer goods;

3. Recognizing that multidisciplinary teams will work best if led by people who have multidisciplinary backgrounds, experiences and interests; and

4. Factor of 10 perspectives to help those involved see the bigger . . . and small pictures of who else is involved with a new product or service.

All the best books about new product development emphasize process, communication, understanding and adding new perspectives. The Design of Things to Come is a winner, too, in those departments.

Like all good books about product development, this one has lots of entertaining stories about interesting new offerings and how they were developed. Most of the examples were new to me or contained details I hadn't heard or read about before.

Many books that argue for more of a design perspective in new products tend to be somewhat unconvincing. They frequently sound like a pitch from those who sell such services. The Design of Things to Come follows that theme, but the book's arguments and examples are more credible than other pro-design product development books I've read.