How does creativity play a role in "design strategy"?
I think the popular notion of creativity as being about thinking "outside of the box" is misguided. It’s limiting to think about creativity as being about coming up with wild and wacky ideas. Rather, creativity in this context is about making connections across boxes. It's about recognizing patterns across fields of data and synthesizing those insights into a unique thread of choices whose topographic profile describes a unique, viable strategic position.These days I'm especially interested in all the ways in which design thinking can be used to formulate business plans for new ventures. As it happens, the signature elements of design thinking — seeking insights from the marketplace, treating everything as a prototype, and proceeding with a sense of optimism — are a perfect fit to the demands of entrepreneurial endeavors.
And that's where creativity comes in. Any business school finance class will teach you that cash is the lifeblood of organizations, big or small. Run out of it, and your time is done. But if it were just about having piles of cash, it would be easy to pick innovation winners — just look at what's in their money tank. No, creativity is even more important than cash when it comes to bringing strategies to life. I believe that, with the right attitude and training, creativity can be endless, which is a good thing, because getting things done demands a lot of it.
— Diego Rodriguez, Stanford d.school Professor & Business Factors Consultant, IDEO
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