Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Most companies today have innovation envy. They yearn to come up with a game--changing innovation like Apple's iPod, or create an entirely new category like Facebook. Many make genuine efforts to be innovative--they spend on R&D, bring in creative designers, hire innovation consultants. But they get disappointing results.

Why? In The Design of Business , Roger Martin offers a compelling and provocative answer: we rely far too exclusively on analytical thinking, which merely refines current knowledge, producing small improvements to the status quo.

To innovate and win, companies need design thinking. This form of thinking is rooted in how knowledge advances from one stage to another--from mystery (something we can't explain) to heuristic (a rule of thumb that guides us toward solution) to algorithm (a predictable formula for producing an answer) to code (when the formula becomes so predictable it can be fully automated). As knowledge advances across the stages, productivity grows and costs drop-creating massive value for companies.

Martin shows how leading companies such as Procter & Gamble, Cirque du Soleil, RIM, and others use design thinking to push knowledge through the stages in ways that produce breakthrough innovations and competitive advantage.

Filled with deep insights and fresh perspectives, The Design of Business reveals the true foundation of successful, profitable innovation.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Acknowledgments (p. ix)
• 1 The Knowledge Funnel (p. 1)
• How Discovery Takes Shape
• 2 The Reliability Bias (p. 33)
• Why Advancing Knowledge Is So Hard
• 3 Design Thinking (p. 57)
• How Thinking Like a Designer Can Create Sustainable Advantage
• 4 Transforming the Corporation (p. 79)
• The Design of Procter & Gamble
• 5 The Balancing Act (p. 105)
• How Design-Thinking Organizations Embrace Reliability and Validity
• 6 World-Class Explorers (p. 133)
• Leading the Design-Thinking Organization
• 7 Getting Personal (p. 151)
• Developing Yourself as a Design Thinker
• Notes (p. 179)
• Index (p. 183)
• About the Author (p. 191)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Booklist Review

As companies grow, they become more comfortable with the administration of business. They like and encourage analytical thinking and all proof emanates from the past. The average manager has been trained and rewarded to look to the past for proof before making the big decisions. Martin continues with, Their goal is not to drive out innovation but rather to protect the organization against the randomness of intuitive thinking. But drive out innovation they do. The author presents his ideas on how to innovate and win by employing design thinking, which is the balancing of analytical mastery and intuitive originality. Design thinking includes complete understanding of the user, creative resolution of staff tensions, fostering a collaborative business culture, and continuously modifying and enhancing ideas and solutions. Although clearly an infomercial for the author's consulting activities and a text for his students, Martin's book nevertheless offers thoughtful and valuable insight for all managers, and concludes with important instructions for individuals who want to become design thinkers. An excellent book--Whaley, Mary Copyright 2009 Booklist