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HBR's 10 Must Reads on Design Thinking
Use design thinking for competitive advantage.
If you read nothing else on design thinking, read these 10 articles. We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help you use design thinking to produce breakthrough innovations and transform your organization.
This book will inspire you to:
Understand the transformative potential of design thinking Proceed from idea to product at lightning speed Iterate with rapid customer feedback Fail small and win big Create new products people love Lead design thinking teams more effectively Open new paths to innovation at your companyHBR's 10 Must Reads paperback series is the definitive collection of books for new and experienced leaders alike. Leaders looking for the inspiration that big ideas provide, both to accelerate their own growth and that of their companies, should look no further. HBR's 10 Must Reads series focuses on the core topics that every ambitious manager needs to know: leadership, strategy, change, managing people, and managing yourself. Harvard Business Review has sorted through hundreds of articles and selected only the most essential reading on each topic. Each title includes timeless advice that will be relevant regardless of an ever‐changing business environment.
208 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 28, 2020
210 people are currently reading
776 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 7, 2024
good for some, not for me rn,
February 1, 2021
An excellent collection of articles on how Design, as an approach to problem-solving by exploring the problem collaboratively alongside the people who face it (and not their bosses’ bosses boss), can yield more and better solutions.
Examples abound from healthcare to automotive, airlines to city planning. If you want to understand what kinds of problems design may help solve for businesses, or as an executive, why you might need a Chief Design Officer and a team of strategic designers, this is a good book to start with.
Examples abound from healthcare to automotive, airlines to city planning. If you want to understand what kinds of problems design may help solve for businesses, or as an executive, why you might need a Chief Design Officer and a team of strategic designers, this is a good book to start with.
January 31, 2024
First of all, this is the second book I've read from HBR's 10 Must-Reads series, and I must say, I wish the publisher were more of a design thinker, lol. The "Idea in Brief" sections and the scattered notes throughout the book make me anxious about going back to the notes so I do not miss anything, and it's not a smooth reading experience at all so I'll give it a 4 out of 5.
Second I must say, that this is the first book I read about design thinking and I find the whole concept to be extremely interesting. I found mentioning people's names and companies' names that are working in the design thinking area to be particularly interesting in this book as it let me do some research in the area and learn more about them. In particular, I learned about openIDEO which what they do is truly impressive for me.
Third, I would like to mention that I did not find a solid definition of design and design thinking in the book however I believe I know it as the iterative process to come up with an innovative way of how a particular product or service can create value for users.
Lastly, here are some of my insights/learnings about the book or just some things I was thinking about while reading the book:
1-Try early and often, you do not necessarily need a real product in prototyping you can do it with a simple video or anything showcasing your product.
2-Measure progress in metrics such as average time to the first prototype or number of people exposed to the prototype.
3-Encourage the team to create a prototype in the first week of a project; delaying this process can lead to excess anxiety about the idea not working later on.
4-Conduct in-person surveys, record videos, gather ideas and identify pain points, and keep direct contact with customers during the lifetime of the company. Also, search for info in online forums!
4.1-Walk through the experience as if you were a customer, seek out unexpected experts' opinions, and act like a spy when you can!
5-Design thinking may involve defensiveness in employees, solution: empathy, and encouraging divergence meaning that the team has enough time and space for diverse new ideas to emerge and be tested.
6-Design thinking might overwhelm individuals who are goal-oriented, as they perceive it to introduce unnecessary ambiguity regarding the project's direction. Leaders should assist these individuals in overcoming their insecurities, reframing the process as stretching for a solution rather than a lack of direction
7-Having a design team goes a long way and only training in your org to be more of a design thinker might not work as they lack proper experience and skills.
8-Trystorming is like brainstorming but it goes beyond ideation to actually implementing to some extent.
9-Identifying the job to be done for your customer (or circumstances) is more important than the customer's profile characteristics, or tech trends.
10-Jobs are not simply about functions they have a social and emotional dimension and you can make a catalyst difference by reading stress. This means things might seem to be a minor stress but have a big impact on the customer's experience of using the product (Example: the condos and the table for the living room)
11-Not copiable products are the ones that are selling experience (Might not be the sole source of competitive advantages)
12-Focusing on the constraints will make you be less creative with the ideas, instead focus on possibilities!
13-When running an experiment you should watch for real-world representative data, and be careful not to interview ideal people, etc. (ask yourself if the people you are talking to or testing with a true representative of our customers?) Ideally, make the condition the worst when experimenting.
14-Experiencing failure is the by-product of experimenting!
15-Not all failures are the same, there is a spectrum of failure and you should treat each differently.
16-Sustainable competitive advantage is dead! you need to reinvent competitive advantages constantly.
17-Two valuable questions to ask: what is the lowest cost experiment and what's the quickest, cheapest way to make progress toward the larger goal?
Second I must say, that this is the first book I read about design thinking and I find the whole concept to be extremely interesting. I found mentioning people's names and companies' names that are working in the design thinking area to be particularly interesting in this book as it let me do some research in the area and learn more about them. In particular, I learned about openIDEO which what they do is truly impressive for me.
Third, I would like to mention that I did not find a solid definition of design and design thinking in the book however I believe I know it as the iterative process to come up with an innovative way of how a particular product or service can create value for users.
Lastly, here are some of my insights/learnings about the book or just some things I was thinking about while reading the book:
1-Try early and often, you do not necessarily need a real product in prototyping you can do it with a simple video or anything showcasing your product.
2-Measure progress in metrics such as average time to the first prototype or number of people exposed to the prototype.
3-Encourage the team to create a prototype in the first week of a project; delaying this process can lead to excess anxiety about the idea not working later on.
4-Conduct in-person surveys, record videos, gather ideas and identify pain points, and keep direct contact with customers during the lifetime of the company. Also, search for info in online forums!
4.1-Walk through the experience as if you were a customer, seek out unexpected experts' opinions, and act like a spy when you can!
5-Design thinking may involve defensiveness in employees, solution: empathy, and encouraging divergence meaning that the team has enough time and space for diverse new ideas to emerge and be tested.
6-Design thinking might overwhelm individuals who are goal-oriented, as they perceive it to introduce unnecessary ambiguity regarding the project's direction. Leaders should assist these individuals in overcoming their insecurities, reframing the process as stretching for a solution rather than a lack of direction
7-Having a design team goes a long way and only training in your org to be more of a design thinker might not work as they lack proper experience and skills.
8-Trystorming is like brainstorming but it goes beyond ideation to actually implementing to some extent.
9-Identifying the job to be done for your customer (or circumstances) is more important than the customer's profile characteristics, or tech trends.
10-Jobs are not simply about functions they have a social and emotional dimension and you can make a catalyst difference by reading stress. This means things might seem to be a minor stress but have a big impact on the customer's experience of using the product (Example: the condos and the table for the living room)
11-Not copiable products are the ones that are selling experience (Might not be the sole source of competitive advantages)
12-Focusing on the constraints will make you be less creative with the ideas, instead focus on possibilities!
13-When running an experiment you should watch for real-world representative data, and be careful not to interview ideal people, etc. (ask yourself if the people you are talking to or testing with a true representative of our customers?) Ideally, make the condition the worst when experimenting.
14-Experiencing failure is the by-product of experimenting!
15-Not all failures are the same, there is a spectrum of failure and you should treat each differently.
16-Sustainable competitive advantage is dead! you need to reinvent competitive advantages constantly.
17-Two valuable questions to ask: what is the lowest cost experiment and what's the quickest, cheapest way to make progress toward the larger goal?
May 8, 2020
4.5/5
A few personal notes for me:
I loved all the examples - Keep the Change by bank of America, Aravant eye care and the Nurse shift system
The fact that design thinking is not limited to products. Because even as products, their effects create a ripple in the rest of the business ecosystem. Design thinking can be extrapolated to typical consulting/strategy designing- iterative interaction and solution presenting must be done treating your client as end user.
Job to done theory was very interesting - the condo buyers and reese's minis examples were great. Absolutely adored the section on emerging markets.
Failures and culture of detecting failures in an organisation as well as requirements to start a design team was a nice note for managers / leaders.
Overall thought this was a nice collection :)
A few personal notes for me:
I loved all the examples - Keep the Change by bank of America, Aravant eye care and the Nurse shift system
The fact that design thinking is not limited to products. Because even as products, their effects create a ripple in the rest of the business ecosystem. Design thinking can be extrapolated to typical consulting/strategy designing- iterative interaction and solution presenting must be done treating your client as end user.
Job to done theory was very interesting - the condo buyers and reese's minis examples were great. Absolutely adored the section on emerging markets.
Failures and culture of detecting failures in an organisation as well as requirements to start a design team was a nice note for managers / leaders.
Overall thought this was a nice collection :)
May 24, 2024
Harvard Business Review's Design Thinking resources are exceptional. They provide insightful, practical strategies for implementing design thinking in various industries. The content is well-researched, easy to understand, and highly applicable, making it an invaluable tool for anyone looking to foster innovation and creative problem-solving in their organization.
February 18, 2021
Parhaat poiminnat, todellakin. Jos haluaa ymmärtää, mistä muotoiluajattelussa on kyse ja mitä hyötyä siitä on liiketoiminnalle, tässä tiivis ja tehokas paketti. Osa artikkeleista oli jo ennalta tuttuja, mutta pari uuttakin löytyi. Paras businesskirja tarjoaa heti hyödynnettäviä oivalluksia. Kuten tämä!
June 14, 2020
Quick read and great content. HBR never disappoints.
October 21, 2020
The actual articles are sound, very recent and relevant to corporate ecosystem of the present. The HBR's style is reflected clearly in every way, but the stories itself are not very impressive or sticky as you would hope 'must read reads on design thinking' to be (more remarkable). But, for what it is, it's more genuine and grounded and that alone makes it a four star worthy book along with very clearly articulated principles that were outlined in each case.
As a reader, you need to put in a bit of effort to understand these principles and use them in your own way, I probably recommend reading again and spending time contemplating what you read in your own context to really take advantage of this book though.
As a reader, you need to put in a bit of effort to understand these principles and use them in your own way, I probably recommend reading again and spending time contemplating what you read in your own context to really take advantage of this book though.
December 21, 2020
Good thought provoking pieces.
Brings clarity to thinking. Create hypotheses to test. Encourages you to think and explore further. Enjoyable book in many ways.
Brings clarity to thinking. Create hypotheses to test. Encourages you to think and explore further. Enjoyable book in many ways.
September 15, 2021
This is a book of articles- on the nature of innovation and design. The current perpectives, are simply explained, and thoughtful. The methods used, are perhaps more for organizations, than individuals, like myself. Recommended.
November 8, 2021
It gives a lot of smart insights and highlights practical issues around the topic. Very nice read overall, but could have been more interesting, with more examples and cases.
September 5, 2022
Very important education.
April 12, 2023
Very generic content. No net new knowledge added. Even the definition of design principle is not clear
November 13, 2023
Not really an interesting read.
July 18, 2022
Nice write up on Design Thinking now I know more about it in general and all the business case studies on how it could be implemented successfully and how it could fail.
November 20, 2021
Very useful insights !! Still for HBR they could have given more !!
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February 20, 2025What is design thinking? And how can you use design to elevate your product offering?
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews