Innovation secrets of the masters of consumer product design
4/2/2001
According to Michael Schrage, research associate at MIT's Media Lab and author of Serious Play: How the World's Best Companies Simulate to Innovate, the resounding message of The Art of Innovation is not "how to make your company more innovative" but rather how "to understand what makes an innovative culture." (Harvard Business Review, March 2001). Author Tom Kelley, general manager of IDEO and brother of IDEO CEO David Kelley, reveals IDEO's recipe for success in this book with an assist from technology journalist Jonathan Littman. IDEO has delivered outstanding technological designs to consumers through innovations ranging from the original Apple mouse to portable defibrillators. As Tom Kelley suggests, the IDEO approach is not a "secret formula," but rather "a blend of methodologies, work practices, culture and infrastructure." Executives, managers, product developers, and designers will surely be enlightened by Kelley's and Littman's insights and perceptions.