Most companies today have innovation envy. They yearn to come up with a game-changing innovation like Apple's iPod, or create an entirely new categ...
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Jul 24, 2011
Steve
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Like many business books that caught the crest of a wave, you are sometimes reading this book thinking how obvious this all is. This may be true when an author has distilled a big, fluffy concept into black and white text, but this is no mean feat. Articulating business concepts can be like putting a cloud in a box. You are grabbing big handfuls of nothing.
Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management, does a great job in describing the battle between current knowledge (eff More...
Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management, does a great job in describing the battle between current knowledge (eff More...
Apr 19, 2010
getAbstract
rated it: 
Applying design principles to business management
Roger Martin’s book on business design is subtle yet profound. He guides you to rethink the way you conceptualize business decisions so you can shift to “design thinking.” Using an approach rooted in both practice and theory, Martin cites examples ranging from Cirque du Soleil to McDonald’s. He urges you to reconsider your leadership model and organizational structures, and to exercise “abductive logic,” thinking that moves through “lo More...
Roger Martin’s book on business design is subtle yet profound. He guides you to rethink the way you conceptualize business decisions so you can shift to “design thinking.” Using an approach rooted in both practice and theory, Martin cites examples ranging from Cirque du Soleil to McDonald’s. He urges you to reconsider your leadership model and organizational structures, and to exercise “abductive logic,” thinking that moves through “lo More...
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Aug 01, 2011
Liam
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"As understanding moves from mystery to heuristic to algorithm, extraneous information is pared away; the complexities of the world are mastered through simplification." (12-3).
"[N]o new idea could be proved deductively or inductively using past data. Moreover, if new ideas were not the product of the two accepted forms of logic, he reasoned, there must be a third fundamental logical mode. New ideas came into being, Peirce posited, by way of 'logical leaps of the min More...
"[N]o new idea could be proved deductively or inductively using past data. Moreover, if new ideas were not the product of the two accepted forms of logic, he reasoned, there must be a third fundamental logical mode. New ideas came into being, Peirce posited, by way of 'logical leaps of the min More...
Jul 29, 2011
irfan
rated it:
Well i originally thought that this book would be just about design or/and business as separate entities. On the one hand, some aspects of the book does bring out the successes enjoyed by companies who adopt a design-centric approach in their business. But on the other, I do suspect that these are only more directly applicable to product-centric businesses. Nonetheless examples from Herman Miller's revolutionary Aeron chair and the ever popular Southwest Airlines evolutionary approach to strateg
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Jan 30, 2011
Aditya
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This was a tough book to read mainly because the intellectual models developed in the first two chapters are quite close to crap. There are many many businesses that do not look like what author proposes and there are other solutions that work. The book get interesting as it gets into stories of RIM and P&G. I loved those stories. After that comes the part where the theory developed in the earlier chapter gets applied. This does yield dividends and useful ones at that. I still think that the fra
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Jan 31, 2010
Fred
rated it:
I like books that can be read in a weekend. And that can be consumed while sipping a nice Talenti Brunello 2000
The content of the book was that interesting that i forgot to watch part of the CC 2010 (although I did see the professional stage)
In the book Roger Martin explains why an over reliance on analytical thinking leaves us vulnerable in times of change and blind to emerging opportunities.
For me it was great to see how the author described this also on the More...
The content of the book was that interesting that i forgot to watch part of the CC 2010 (although I did see the professional stage)
In the book Roger Martin explains why an over reliance on analytical thinking leaves us vulnerable in times of change and blind to emerging opportunities.
For me it was great to see how the author described this also on the More...
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Dec 28, 2010
Michael
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This is a book with many good lessons for those looking to apply "design thinking" to the business world. However, it's hard to recommend it as written. Ultimately, it feels like it would have made an excellent college lecture, but in the same way, the prose feels like it was adapted from PowerPoint. I'd say "pass" unless you're already familiar with the author's style.
Jan 04, 2011
Matt
rated it:
A very grounded approach to design thinking in practice, heavily supported with Martin's personal experience in helping massive corporate beasts to embrace this more intuitive way of approaching innovation. A very easy read laden with entertaining anecdotes and case studies. One of the better business books out there and more progressive in its approach than most.
Jan 12, 2012
Andrew
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This book is, like most business books, bloated. It only really contains two useful concepts: Abductive logic, and the Mystery-Heuristic-Algorithm funnel. There's a light smattering of anecdotes about the Aeron chair, the Blackberry, Steelcase, and a few other businesses. Can be read in an afternoon by a good scanner.
Jan 19, 2012
G
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Some interesting ideas, though not very innovative from a design standpoint. Points seemed to be repetitive throughout the book, three main points of how to integrate design thinking to traditional business behavior.
Jan 12, 2010
Added this to my to-read list after seeing it on the Harvard Business Review, "Why Good Spreadsheets Make Bad Strategies."
Aug 25, 2010
Scott
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An excellent summary of the problems with innovation in large companies. His chief recommendation is also the chief problem: the CEO has to care. Depending on where you work, this may make you sad.
Dec 12, 2010
Sarah
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A fascinating reflection on past, present and the inevitable future of business practices... recommend highly to anyone remotely interested in the business world.
Apr 03, 2011
Michael
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Good primer on the integration of design thinking into an organization. Mostly keeps it at a conceptual, theoretical level and uses fairly general case studies to tell the story.
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Jul 28, 2011
Malcolm
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Like his first book, pretty repetitive. I give it a bit better review than The Opposable Mind thanks to a bit more focus of what design thinking looks like for CEO and other employees in organizations.
Nov 12, 2010
Stephen
rated it:
Just not gripping enough to finish. Nothing wrong with it, but many more interesting priorities.
I may go back and finish it at some point, it's neither long nor challenging.
I may go back and finish it at some point, it's neither long nor challenging.
Sep 24, 2010
Jono
rated it:
The Knowledge Funnel of: Mystery - Heuristic - Algorithm = handy to keep in mind.
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