Design Prophecy & Occasional Reflections
A Design Genetic Perspective on...everything.
What drives IKEA?
According to Bloomberg IKEA workers in Italy are on strike for being timed on toilet breaks. Makes you wonder what IKEA's mission is and what drives them. Is it design? I wonder. They do many nice things but they do it in a rational way. Besides timing workers, at least in Italy, they tap the market for design ideas much more than being creative themselves. It's a behavior of a linear and thinking personality rather than a artistic and emotional one.
So balanced.
The other day Apple revealed the new iPhone OS 3.0. I'm a Mac user since a long time, but I'm also into Windows XP, tried Windows 7, and Linux Ubuntu. I must say that Apple does things so right. Everything works so smooth. They are able to balance a linear and rigid thinking, like programming can be, with a very emotional smoothness that goes all the way from the machine via the software to me as a user, a human. They are innovative and free, but at the same time very practical. People that doesn't like Apple often claim that they are too design oriented and forget functionality. I don't see that. I see how they put humans in the center. It's all about usability, and that's functionality at its best.
Life can't be controlled
According to a new study at Stanford and Nortwestern University and London Business School people with power can easily believe they have more control over things than what is the case. I don't think this is unique. Leadership have always been the home-ground for rational and linear people and they often think life is predictable, can be calculated, and hence, controlled. That is not the reality. Some things can be controlled while others can't. That's the nature of nature.
Power and the Illusion of Control
Big or small?
Being big means you are likely to focus on the outside world. It doesn’t necessary has to be literally big. It can also be a question of taking your space, marking your territory. You will definitely notice when a “big” person enters a room.
Smallness is the opposite. He or she will be focused on the internal world. It’s a quiet person that doesn’t want to be noticed. In any given situation he or she will likely take as little space as possible.
A focus on the outside or the inside of oneself is a matter of direction. A company who is focused outward will probably want to grow and become bigger. This also has some benefits and problems. They will be more creative and have a speed in their innovation processes that match their desires. On the other hand it might miss out on details and behave by the motto “act first, think later”.
A small company focused inward is likely to keep it’s form for a long time and not be so creative. At least not a creativity that is transformed into action, products, and services. Their strong side is their ability to focus on internal processes and being attentive to details.
USA is a good example for this visual detail in Design Genetics. Big has always been an important factor in certain parts of american politics and business culture. They’ve created big cars, big cities, a big military, big companies, and they are a big themselves as a country.
Design Assessment Tool
At Design Managent Europe you can try their Self Assessment Tool to understand your organization's design awareness. A good tool though rather conventional. It doesn't assess the parallel universe of behavior. Traditional Design Management is too narrow without the bird's view, seeing the whole business and organization as design not only Corporate Design attributes. I would like to see Design Management lifted to this level. However, for a basic understanding of Design Management this tool is good.