BUSINESS: EXTERNAL MATTERS

Business Ed for Designers:MANY OPTIONS, ONE KILLER PROGRAM

BY ROBIN TOOMS

THERE'S MORE TO BEING A DESIGNER THAN JUST KNOWING ABOUT DESIGN.THERE ARE OPTIONS TO SUIT EVERYONE. AND FOR THE SERIOUS STUDENT,

AN AIGA/HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PROGRAM OFFERS AN INTENSIVE EXPERIENCE.

How do you stay competitive and a step ahead of your peers?How do you add perceived value to your clients? How do youbecome a better problem-solver? You can accomplish all of thisby gaining a better understanding of your clients' businesses andthen using that knowledge to improve your services and landmore high-value work.

In our traditional design role, we used our creative problem-solving skills to address design issues and created pieces that communicated well. But in today's marketplace, design is increasinglyseen by business as a competitive advantage and a way to differentiate. Design is now thought of as a resource on the strategic level.That's good news for design and great news for designers who areinterested in expanding their role. The industry has changed, sowe need to change as well.

Unfortunately, a traditional design education does not providestudents the skills necessary to be "strategic business designers."Granted, I've met many designers who are also great business people and have picked up these skills over the course of their careers.And there are young, smart designers who have potential to do thesame, given enough time and real-world experience. Yes, their traditional design education has taught them to be problem solvers—but on a creative level, not a strategic one. As designers we mustlook beyond our traditional training to better understand theissues our clients face, and thus be able to better apply design anddesign thinking to those issues. So how do we do this?

BOOKS & CLASSESThere are many options available to pursue some business education, and the right choice for you depends on your career path andtime commitment. Minimally, there's self-taught. There are lotsof business books out there if you're willing to venture beyond thedesign section of the bookstore. Additionally, you could subscribeto business publications such as The WallStreet Journal. The pointis to familiarize yourself with current business issues and see whatyour clients are reading.

Ready for a class? Most colleges offer continuing-educationcourses. You could take a marketing class or, better yet, take afinance class. If you desire a more structured learning environment, thrive on classroom discussions and are willing to foregosome sleep, then perhaps you should consider seeking a graduatedegree in business. These two-year programs are not for the faintof heart, but they can be scheduled around your full-time workschedule and can give a boost to your career.

AIGA & HARVARDYou might also look into the intensive one-week program "Business Perspectives for Creative Leaders" hosted by AIGA and theHarvard Business School. The goal here is to learn some of thesame basic business principles your clients learn, and experienceit in much of the same way they do. Think of it as walking in yourclient's shoes for a week: What metrics and information concernthem? How do they make decisions? Or more to the point: Whatkeeps them up at night?

Business Perspectives is a unique experience. It's an intenseweek of learning through the Harvard case-study method but,unlike a conventional Harvard classroom, you experience the program with other creative individuals from the design community.The personal connections you make by experiencing this program with peers can strengthen both your personal and professional networks. Having attended the program myself in 2003,I observed that the conversations both in and outside the classrooms were some of the most insightful and engaging discussionsI've participated in. These conversations enriched the learningexperience and were a refreshing change from the usual shoptalkconversations you might normally get in such a group.

THINKING LIKE A CEODo you remember the first time you heard someone utter theword Pantone and wondered what it meant? Now, you can pictureeach PMS color exactly just by hearing the numbers. That type of

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"Were at a stage where designers need to learn a lot more about business. Its notenough to say, We educate our clients about design.' They don't want to be educated about design, not very much. They want you to understand what they redoing so that you can help them do it. When you can do that, the value of designIncreases dramatically. "—Marty Neumeier, Neutron

THE IVY-GARLANDED DEAN'S HOUSE EVOKES MUCH OF THE ARCHITECTURE AND ATMOSPHERE ON THE CAMPUS WHERE THE BUSINESS PERSPECTIVES FOR CREATIVE LEADERS PROGRAMIS CONDUCTED BY THE HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL AND AIGA.

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"We are now better communicators of how we are creative problem solvers-not just problem solvers for creative issues. Our goal is for our clientsto mre us because they agree with the way our thought process works,

andgood design will follow!1— Craig Welsh, Go Welsh!

knowledge gives you the confidence to specify colors and knowexactly what you're going to get. Learning about business issuesfollows much the same process. Seminars such as the AIGA/Harvard program give you greater confidence because, armed withnew knowledge, you'll feel better equipped to solve your clients'challenges. It's the difference between knowing just enough to bedangerous and truly being a force to be reckoned with.

Learning to think like a CEO and understanding the "C-level"thought process really does help you to be a better design partner for your clients. At Savage Design Group, we routinely workon brand strategies and identities for large corporations, and thisbusiness knowledge is essential. Our advice and recommendations for these types of assignments go beyond visual communication materials to include strategy statements and messaging. Yes,they hire us for great design, but it's our deeper understandingof the client's business and our ability to better link its businessstrategy to our design strategy that really sets us apart. Programslike AIGA/Harvard, along with other business education avenueswe've pursued, help us help our clients.

ALUMNIDavid Burney, VP Corporate Communications at Red Hat,attended the AIGA/Harvard program in 2005. He sees programslike these as an important step in "a journey I had already begun."Thinking like a business person is nothing new to Burney, as hehad already begun work integrating "design thinking" withinhis organization through a formal program to help other departments "think more like designers" when they're redesigning processes and solving business issues. His approach is to demonstrateto business colleagues that design can be more closely integratedwithin a company to its advantage.

"Investing in the AIGA/Harvard program is a smart, quick,deep dive into understanding the language, culture and priorities of corporate business leaders," Burney says. "If you truly seek a'seat at the table,' do it. For yourself. And for our profession."

After attending the program last year, Craig Welsh, principalat Go Welsh!, says the feeling of being energized and more confident is still with him. Welsh says that finding ways to incorporatespecific Harvard case studies into current projects is appreciatedby his clients. Through this, he is able to better demonstrate wherecreative solutions have solved business issues, and show he's thinking about the issues important to his clients. He was even able toconnect a client to one of the companies featured in a case study,which solidified his relationship with that client. I'm not sure howmany other designers would have taken that extra step.

"We are now better communicators of how we are creativeproblem-solvers—not just problem-solvers for creative issues," headds. "Our goal is for our clients to hire us because they agree withthe way our thought process works, and good design will follow."

Robert Fabricant, executive creative director, and SabahAshraf, business development director, both of frog design in NewYork, attended the program together. Ashraf, who is not the typical attendee because she already has an MBA from the ColumbiaBusiness School, noticed an advantage in attending the programwith a coworker, since now they share a base of understanding.Both she and Fabricant found discussions with other participants,both in and out of the classroom, to be among the most rewardingaspects of the program. Ashraf notes that designers are collaborative by nature, and the program's environment fostered their ability to build on others' ideas to come to new conclusions that mightnot have happened otherwise.

"The program was like 'camp' for designers," Fabricant says."It was truly fun to be in an environment where you are workingtogether with other designers on the case studies and learning fromthe shared experiences of your team. Using the case-study methodis like brainstorming around a scenario, which is a practical way fordesigners to imagine an issue. With us, the combination of businesspeople and designers tackling issues together is very powerful, andsomething we've used effectively after the program."

While working at Sterling Brands as chief creative officer, Marcus Hewitt was looking for ways to match his business knowledgeto his brand knowledge, so he turned to the AIGA/Harvard program. Having never experienced Harvard's case-study methodbefore, he found this experience to be an amazing way to learn.For him, the program was a real "injection of inspiration" and,again, not unlike a summer camp for designers. While it may seemsurprising to say that you can get energized and inspired from abusiness program, Hewitt found that the learning methods andthought-provoking discussions did just that. A useful outcomeof the program was the ability to shift focus and look at the bigger picture, which was reinforced by reading a follow-up "letter tohimself six months after the program.

"I was prepared to be challenged by the AIGA/Harvard program. I was also prepared to think about the design business in newways," Hewitt reports. "I wasn't prepared for the stunning level ofteaching, for the beautiful campus, for the camaraderie, for the noncompetitive 'pooling' of experience or for the sheer joy of learning!It was so good, my wife Susan, also a designer, is going this year."

Sam Shelton, principal at KINETIK, always knew that, in general, designers and business people follow different thought pro-

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INSIDE A HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL CLASSROOM WITH SEMINAR STUDENTS, PROFESSOR JAN RIVKIN AND AIGA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RIC GREFE

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"The way we present to clients has completely changed based on this program.Now, were more strategic, we dig a little deeper and we provide information

that improves the clients understanding, thus better influencingtheir decisions."—Sam Shelton, KINET/K

THE 2006 CLASS OF THE BUSINESS PERSPECTIVES FOR CREATIVE LEADERS PROGRAM

cesses, but the program experience turned this knowledge intoaction. It proved to be so important and eye-opening that Shel-ton's business partner, Jeff Fabian, attended the following year.From that experience, Fabian incorporated the communicationtechniques taught in the program and restructured the way thefirm does proposals and pitches.

"The way we present to clients has completely changed basedon this program," Shelton says. "Now, we're more strategic, we diga little deeper and we provide information that improves the clients' understanding, thus better influencing their decisions."

THREE MORE REASONSIf these examples are not enough, just consider these three compelling reasons why you should think about adding some businesseducation to your own background:

i. If you have greater confidence in your business skills,you'll feel better equipped to solve your clients' challenges.

Additionally, you will become a stronger designer when you're better able to view, digest and make meaningful connections with theinformation around you. Learn about business, and not just yourown, in order to create the best possible solutions that fit bothvisually and strategically.

2. Stand out and speak up. Why say the same things as yourcompetition? When you learn to speak to your clients in a way thatshows you understand their issues, you're more apt to win them overand get your ideas across. Otherwise you're stuck trying to educatethem on design-speak, and isn't that what everyone else does?

3. Businesses are starting to understand the competitive advantages of good design and, now that design is moreclosely linked with innovation, designers have a great opportunity. "Design thinking" is important to your clients. If you canprogress from being a traditional "designer" to a "design thinker,"then you're opening the door to higher-value work, both for yourself and the profession as a whole. £

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BUSINESS PERSPECTIVESFOR CREATIVE LEADERS

Presented by AIGA & Harvard Business SchoolJuly 29-August 3,2007

Developed by Harvard Business School and AIGA, Business Perspectives for Creative Leaders uses case studies, lectures, guestspeakers and study groups to give creative leaders a more completeunderstanding of business and design through the eyes of businessexecutives (i.e., clients).

Business Perspectives for Creative Leaders examines cutting-edge topics, addresses critical issues and engages top minds indynamic discussion. This program helps participants to understand the senior business executive's perspective: the approach tocost-based decisions, marketing, new product development, strategy, brand management, customer relationship and knowledgemanagement. Participants acquire useful tools for communicatingwith clients, running a business, understanding individual thinking styles and structuring conversations with CEOs and othersenior executives. Participants also explore important and relevant ideas for real-world solutions to take to their clients.

Read more on the AIGA website, and view a list of current and pastparticipants, at www.aiga.org/content.cfm/business-perspectives.

THE AIGA/HARVARDFOLLOW-UP PLAN

If you attend the AIGA/Harvard program, what you do afterwardis just as important as class time. Below is a one-year plan to helpyou stay on track, based on suggestions from past attendees.

Immediately: Reach out and contact everyone you want tokeep in touch with so you can continue the momentum of thoserelationships. Write a note to yourself (if you haven't already doneso) of the key takeaways that felt most relevant to you, and thechanges you'd like to make in your own business.

One week later: Review all of the materials and notes fromyour binder. Highlight relevant points, order books and visit thewebsites you've noted.

Two weeks later: Start your follow-up reading. Set goals anddeadlines for how you'll incorporate the program information.

Six months later: Read the letter you wrote to yourself and getback on track.

One year later: Renew your Harvard Business Review subscription. Take stock of what you've accomplished the past year andreview your next steps.

BUSINESS ESSENTIALS FOR DESIGNERS:ROBIN TOOMS' READING LIST

www.NextD.orgAt the core of NextD is the belief that the traditional model of design leadership

needs to be radically reinvented to better adapt to a radically changed marketplace.The ultimate goal of NextD is to help expand design's reach.

www.aiga.orgAs the oldest and largest membership association for professionals engaged in the

discipline, practice and culture of designing, the AIGA website is a trove of information, including business-related essays in the Gain journal section.

Harvard Business ReviewEach issue of this publication presents different perspectives on business issues and

touches on many of the core areas taught in business schools.

How Would You Move Mount Fuji? Microsoft's Cult of the Puzzle,

by William Poundstone (Little, Brown and Company)Don't let the inclusion of Microsoft in the title scare you away from this book. It's

full of interesting logic puzzles and is a great way to engage your brain when you're

feeling sluggish. I picked up my copy when I saw it in the Harvard bookstore andcouldn't resist.

Marketing Management,by Philip Kotler (Prentice Hall)

This textbook—yes, textbook—is one that most MBA programs use. Want to knowabout some of the marketing principles your clients have been taught? Then pick

this one up.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,by Patrick Lencioni (Jossey-Bass)

A 'leadership fable," this book is also taught to business leaders and is useful to anyone who needs to work in teams. It also incorporates some of the same communica

tion skills touched on in the AIGA/Harvard program.

Harvard Business Essentials: Finance for Managers(Harvard Business School Press)

Since finance is a topic that usually strikes fear among designers, this easy-to-digestpaperback is a good primer for finance basics.

Michael E Porter on Competition,

by Michael Porter (Harvard Business School Press)A classic, this book is a compilation of articles that have come to define the core con

cepts behind corporate strategy.

Also: read some business biographies.For example, both the Jack Welch and Sam Walton books are good reads.

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