Designers, these entrepreneurs of tomorrow

A new generation of entrepreneurs endowed with a designer culture is beginning to rise, in extremely varied domains: intelligent thermostat (Nest’s Tony Fadell), mail processing programme (Mailbox’s Gentry Underwood), housing booking platform (Airbnb’s Brian Chesky) or washable disposable nappies (Génération Plume’s Florence Hallouin)… And this for one essential reason: the calling, way of thinking and action process of designers concern pragmatic problem solving. Just like entrepreneurs.

However, few designers are really aware of the fact that they are sitting on a goldmine as far as creating economic value is concerned.

As an entrepreneur and a designer myself, I have worked with the CEOs of large companies and SMEs, in Europe, North America and Asia. This was an opportunity for me to realise the degree to which the approaches of designers and traditional entrepreneurs are similar, and to better understand where the specific added values of each one of them can be found.
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Before, I was a designer... Since the 'Design Thinking', apparently I have a brain.

In reality, nothing has changed for us designers, except that we are being increasingly perceived as problem-solving professionals, and that many of us are increasingly at ease with being artisans of innovation.

Designers are the men and women of innovation.

They know how to draw that methodological and collaborative path that will lead the whole company towards tomorrow’s model. Yet, competitiveness depends largely on innovation. So then why, while they are at the centre of the driving force of competitiveness, do companies under-exploit them? The rate of design utilisation by companies at the strategic level is low in Europe, barely 40% for instance in France (See in particular a study conducted by the APCI, Cité du design and the Institut Français de la Mode on behalf of the French Ministry of Economy, Industry and Employment in 2010). This finding is not new, but it is becoming increasingly preoccupying for our competitiveness. Better understanding their inputs and integration into the company is therefore a major issue!

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Welcome!

I am short-sighted.

I remember that for a long time I dreamed, as a child, that I was able to look into the distance. And that I could see clearly into the distance. The very first object for which I religiously saved my money then was a telescope. I could not have foreseen that this telescope would have a crucial effect on my professional life.

It was the first step of my becoming aware of the fundamental importance of the Experience. As a designer, I gradually opened my eyes on the power of observation, and human sciences in general, as a breeding ground for innovation by design.

To observe life is to begin the Experiential Revolution.

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