Ingenierio

Paradox at toyota…page 96

www.hbr.org

clarity at ideo…page 84

June 2008

60

T
he Secrets to Successful Strategy
Execution
Gary L. Neilson, Karla L. Martin, and Elizabeth Powers

72

The Next Revolution in Productivity
Ric Merrifield, Jack Calhoun, and Dennis Stevens

84

Design Thinking
Tim Brown

96

T
he Contradictions That Drive Toyota’sSuccess
Hirotaka Takeuchi, Emi Osono, and Norihiko Shimizu

106

The Multiunit Enterprise
David A. Garvin and Lynne C. Levesque



22

Forethought



41

hBr Case study

Why Are We Losing All Our Good People?
Edward E. Lawler III

how o
t



53

deLiver
on a great
PLan

123

…page 60

129

First Person

BusinessBasics at the Base of the Pyramid
Vikram Akula
Managing yourseLF

How the Best of the Best Get Better
and Better
Graham Jones
Big PiCture

Patent Sharks
Joachim Henkel and Markus Reitzig
138

exeCutive suMMaries

144

PaneL disCussion

A r t C re d i t

Design

8 4 Harvard Business Review

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June 2008

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hbr.org

Thinking like a designer
can transformthe way
you develop products,
services, processes – and
even strategy.

Thinking
by Tim Brown

P h o t o s c o u r te s y o f I D E O

T

homas EDison created the electric lightbulb and then wrapped an entire industry around it. The lightbulb is most often
thought of as his signature invention, but
Edison understood that the bulb was little more
than a parlor trick without a system ofelectric power
generation and transmission to make it truly useful.
so he created that, too.
Thus Edison’s genius lay in his ability to conceive
of a fully developed marketplace, not simply a discrete device. he was able to envision how people
would want to use what he made, and he engineered
toward that insight. he wasn’t always prescient (he

hbr.org

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June 2008

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HarvardBusiness Review 8 5

Design Thinking

originally believed the phonograph would be used mainly
gies aesthetically attractive and therefore more desirable to
as a business machine for recording and replaying dictation),
consumers or by enhancing brand perception through smart,
but he invariably gave great consideration to users’ needs and
evocative advertising and communication strategies.Durpreferences.
ing the latter half of the twentieth century design became
Edison’s approach was an early example of what is now
an increasingly valuable competitive asset in, for example,
called “design thinking” – a methodology that imbues the
the consumer electronics, automotive, and consumer packfull spectrum of innovation activities with a human-centered
aged goods industries. But inmost others it remained a latedesign ethos. By this I mean that innovation is powered by a
stage add-on.
thorough understanding, through direct observation, of what
Now, however, rather than asking designers to make an
people want and need in their lives and what they like or disalready developed idea more attractive to consumers, compalike about the way particular products are made, packaged,nies are asking them to create ideas that better meet consummarketed, sold, and supported.
ers’ needs and desires. The former role is tactical, and results
Many people believe that Edison’s greatest invention was
in limited value creation; the latter is strategic, and leads to
the modern R&D laboratory and methods of experimental
dramatic new forms of value.
investigation. Edison wasn’t anarrowly specialized scientist
Moreover, as economies in the developed world shift from
but a broad generalist with a shrewd
industrial manufacturing to knowlbusiness sense. In his Menlo Park, New
edge work and service delivery, innoJersey, laboratory he surrounded himself
vation’s terrain is expanding. Its obwith gifted tinkerers, improvisers, and
jectives are no longer just physical...