Suited up at the CEO Summit
By Simon Young,
I didn’t see that many personalised t-shirts at day two of the Better by Design CEO summit, despite MC Sean Plunket’s exhortations yesterday. But there are lots of suits. Hard to pick how many are management, and how many are designer (suits with sneakers). My guess is about 60/40 in favour of management—which is probably good news for New Zealand!
Some of yesterday’s strongest themes continue: working with global teams, organisational design and, perhaps most importantly, making money out of this stuff.
Some things don’t sound like design issues at all—customer service, IT infrastructure and PR. But that’s the beauty of true design thinking. It goes beyond the controlled environment of the design studio into the real world of employees, business partners, distributors, retailers and customers.
Ikea’s former design director, Lars Engman, talked about his chief aim upon joining Ikea: to irritate the company and show them they could do things better. How? By hiring freelance designers to compete with the in-house design team.
Interbrand’s global CEO, Jez Frampton, spoke of the birth of UK online grocer Ocado. Instead of trying to beat giants like Tesco and Sainsbury’s at their own game, they created a high-touch, service-oriented, well-designed grocery experience. How’d they do it? Observation, experimentation and lots of trips back to the drawing board. Easy? No. Expensive? Oh yes. Worth it? You bet.
Bendon CEO Stefan Preston admitted at the outset that his is not (yet) a design-led company, “but we do have some pervy pictures for you”. And he did, along with a tale of business transformation from a brand that was dead in the water to an efficient marketing machine—but it’s not enough. Bendon is bumping up against the limits of FMCG-style marketing, and discovering the need to know what its brand stands for and sharing that throughout the whole organisation.
One clear message comes through from the case studies and presentations here: design is not about avoiding risk. These are entrepreneurial companies led by people who see great opportunity, and are learning to co-operate with their markets to create the best solution. Maybe that’s the heart of design.
Comments
Ben Kepes
Hopefully the BBD summit will achieve some degree of cross party, governmental, business and societal buy in. Hopefully too they will find a case study that doesn't include a move to offshore manufacturing as soon as the design audit is done. BBD is not in fact about moving production offshore but you'd be excused for thinking that it, in fact, is - given the incidence of companies moving offshore 2 weeks after doing the audit. How about celebrating (along with the succesfully exporting offshore manufacturers) the sucessfully exporting domestic manufacturers - Tri Max mowers, Methven, Iscea etc etc maybe maybe?
Nathan Baird
[b]Where The Bloody Hell Are You NZ Innovation Agencies? [/b]
Jeremy Moon asked Darrel Rhea, CEO of Cheskin, why there weren't any NZ innovation agencies and would he expect NZ design agencies to move into this field in the same way Cheskin and IDEO did some years back? Well I'd like to say [b]here the bloody hell we are[/b], and Jeremy no I'm not offended because we only just opened up shop in April. After 10yrs of combined innovation experience overseas, we're bloody proud to be back in NZ offering NZ companies global innovation expertise from NZers!
P.S. Idealog, I'd love to join your WHOZOO, but you don't have a category INNOVATION.
Nathan Baird
Innovator
The Hive
Ben Kepes
Talking about innovation….
Is like fighting for peace……
Is like f^%#(^ing for viriginity
In the words of some dodgy not at all design led business…. JUST DO IT!
Ben Gibb
Good point Nathan - innovation seems an obvious category in a directory all about innovative business but back to your point nobody's asked for one until now. If you go in and create your listing you'll see innovation as a category option and obviously you'll have it to yourselves! Good luck with the new venture
Ben
Idealog
Nathan Baird
[b]Where's your insight?[/b]
That's actually one of the biggest reasons for innovations failing. Just doing it, without first identifying an insight. All too often, companies waste their time creating and launching new ideas to non-existent problems. There is no substitute for doing that up front thinking first to crack the big idea. And then, by all means, make it happen!
Ben Gibb - Crazy isn't it. We've got to start adding some innovation discipline to our entrepreneurial flair to really grow as a country. I'm off to create our listing now. Thanks for the well wishes. I love what Idealog is doing. Innovation needs a voice.
Nathan
Simon Young
Congratulations Nathan on setting up shop! I was quietly wondering whether NZ has any companies that do innovation. I know there are consultants like Jake Pearce who do a great job, but as far as actual companies set up to do this stuff - welcome to your world of opportunity!
Grant Wells
ERODING OUR IP… a simplistic mantra of Design here, make there will inevitably erode the national capability to innovate .
When mfg goes, so does production expertise and the supporting infrastructure (e.g. research capability or tool making). This can only lead to the production of commodity/ generic products..
While some assembly or production based manufacturing can, and will, go to low wage economies this does not mean, and cannot mean, all New Zealand manufacturing should be lost. The companies that are succeeding now are leveraging the expertise developed in part through the unique challenges they have faced when operating and producing goods in New Zealand. It is a strategic and national imperative that the country has a vibrant and technologically advanced manufacturing industry.
Page 6
Manufacturing : A vision for world leading New Zealand manufacturers
Publication date: November 2006
http://www.nzte.govt.nz/section/14454/16182.aspx
Vincent Heeringa
Interesting point here, Grant. You seem to suggest that R&D and manufacturing are intractly related - lose one, lose the other. But any idea about how to stem the flow of off-shoring? They seem powerless to reverse the trend in the US, and since deregulation in the 80s we've seen a steady exodus from here. Manufacturers used to moan about import controls and thankfully they have given that one up (we used to call them the moaning mannies at the Independent Business Weekly). But I agree that the sectors are too easily branded 'sunset' by those who experience no impact from their closure. How do we respond the runaway factory syndrome?
Ben Kepes
Build their capability such that they can actually make a world competitive product from a domestic manufacturing base - we do it (www.cactusclimbing.co.nz) as do others. There's sunset and there's sunset…….
Nigel Sharplin
Jeremy Moon comments about the need for large design consultancies in NZ to support design in business. Great Stuff. In 9 years InFact has grown to 30 people, offers full commercialistion of technology product as a service and has developed lots of tech products for NZ's best hi tech firms. We want NZ to herald its design community who are not often seen but work diligently behind the scenes making it happen. To really get traction however we need Government to step up and support design services in a tangible way - perhaps FRST grants being paid out to those who know how to do it rather than just those with the idea!
Jason Kemp
Nathan & others -
Have a look at http://www.ideasaccelerator.com/ which was lanched in January 2003 by Andy Blackburn and Louise Webster. An innovation agency working behind the scenes with some largish NZ companies. There are 4 public case studies at http://www.ideasaccelerator.com/where_cas.jsp
Nathan Baird
Thanks Jason. Happy to concede first place to Andy and his team. I did meet Andy a while back, but thought he'd left Ideas Accelerator? In terms of The Hive, I think you'll still find our offer is very fresh and highly beneficial to NZ companies wanting to innovate. I don't know of any other agencies or consultancies offering what we do in NZ. If there are then good. If we truly want 'to go somewhere' we need a community of innovators who want to collaborate.
All the best,
Nathan
Jason Kemp
Hi Nathan,
Is the hive a reference to the "hive mind" concept referenced in Kevin Kelly's books.
Went to look at your site - looking forward to your next content update.
Andy Blackburn
"…news of my demise is greatly exagerated!" Thanks Nathan for the opportuniity to use that line. Yes Ideas Accelerator Ltd is very much still here and I am very much part of it. It is involved in many large scale innovation projects accross the telco, local government and energy sectors to name a few. Louise Webster is heading the company and I am actively involved as a Director. Welcome to the business Nathan and the Hive. If NZ companies are serious about driving growth through innovation I hope they will enlist the services of an innovation agency. Just like Nathan we would like to join Whozoo and keenly anticipate the creation of the Innovation category. Bugger - Hive will be alphabetically higher than Ideas Accelerator Ltd! cheers Andy B
Ben Gibb
Andy,
Glad to hear you're still with us. The innovation category in WhoZoo is awaiting your listing. Go to whozoo.co.nz to create your profile. cheers Ben
Andy Blackburn
Great end to the day! I asked the Yellow Pages four years ago for an innovation listing so thanks!
Grant Wells
Vincent, offshoring is the name of the game for some industries and some offerings and we need to embrace that, but stemming the flow is critical. The good thing about offshoring is that the companies are at least taking a global view on their markets and supply chains. How to stem that, well..its a systemic issue and I suspect capital gains on residential property may be the key along with better educational imperatives for owner/mangers. The lack of capital gains drives almost all the spare capital in our economy into the (vacuous) property market. Stem that process and the capital has a chance to flow into industry, which in turn will create demand/opportunity for investments in R&D, technology, production capacity and capability.
The other element is creating world leading organisations based in NZ, unfortunately our managers and leaders are rarely exposed to world leading practice, cf internships, MBA's, M&A of corporates in the larger communities. Its almost the 100 monkeys problem, until we have enough talent with international business exposure embedded in local business we cannot reach a tipping point to stem the outwards tide. But damn we need to soon.
Just to acknowledge the elephant in the room, I am only aware of one company in NZ that operates in the innovation space and has more than a handful of staff. The rest of us have great ideas and intentions but eventually take the easy option and get day jobs… :o)
Ben Kepes
Grant is correct. It may seem simplistic to blame the lack of innovation and excellence in NZ manufacturing businesses on a lack of capability of the management team. However a good deal of the blame for lack of excellence does in fact rest in this area. Build the capability of the managers and governors and we will create entities with a clarity and creativity of vision that enables them to become world class - both here and abroad. Targeted education at a high level for SME personel - advisory boards and my other pet projects will build this capability.
Michael Smythe
I have requested that Design Management, or maybe Design Direction, be added to the species in the Zoo. Design Directors are like movie directors - they align and direct the creative activity of an orgnisation in a way that achieves resolution (not compromise) and synergy while anticipating customer needs/wants. Innovation managers, if we use the correct meaning of the word, are like movie producers - they manage the process of getting new designs into the market place. Directors and producers need each other.
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