DBS 2 (1) pp.

3–7 Intellect Limited 2016

Journal of Design, Business & Society

Volume 2 Number 1
© 2016 Intellect Ltd Editorial. English language. doi: 10.1386/dbs.2.1.3_2

EDITORIAL

BRANDEN THORNHILL-MILLER
Associate Editor

GJOKO MURATOVSKI
Editor-in-Chief

Design Leadership and

Leadership by Design

The world has experienced many innovations that, in retrospect, seem some-
how so obvious or inevitable that they are soon no longer recognized as new.
Like Shakespearean contributions to language, some even become the unrec-
ognized preconditions of our further thoughts and experience. Perhaps it is a
taste of this same hindsight bias that makes the emergence of ‘design leader-
ship’ (cf. Turner, 2013) seem as obvious to some as it is surprising to others.
Anytime one unites two such ‘fuzzy’, multifaceted topics as ‘design’
and ‘leadership’ we should expect some confusion about the myriad possi-
ble meanings that may result. In any event, however, a few further obser-
vations on such topics – possibly even some thought experiments searching
for common ground at the intersection between them – can be helpful and
clarifying.
Considered from the perspectives of leadership and creativity research,
design leadership is far less of a griffin than it might first appear: the two beasts
which it combines often have several key elements in common. Whether solv-
ing the human problems of “how to live” in the social world or in the physi-
cal world, core processes of problem-solving, meaning-making and vision can
often be seen at the heart of both leadership and design. Moreover, we might

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Branden Thornhill-Miller | Gjoko Muratovski

suggest that they both tend to succeed when carried out with creativity and
empathy – two other often shared characteristics also worthy of discussion.
Creativity tends to be discussed as a naturally differing capacity (some-
what like intelligence) that is received as a ‘gift’ by some more than others.
Indeed, in each age there are a few exceptional individuals who effuse an
inspired genius, bridging the gap between the known and the imagined
unknown to advance, change and create ‘the new’. But creativity is also a
universal, fundamentally human characteristic of discovering solutions and
finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, everyday world (Thornhill-Miller,
2016). From both research and ‘lived’ perspectives, we can even argue that
being creative – i.e. deciding to think or look at the world differently – is, in
several very important respects, actually a choice (Sternberg, 2003).
In many ways, leadership, like creativity, is also a choice. Both involve
putting oneself forward and taking the risk and responsibility of making
something happen in our socially shared space. While some may feel that
leadership or creativity is ‘thrust upon them’, creativity, leadership, even
empathy, can be taught, and many of us involved in their training see them
more and more vigorously and self-consciously pursued. Moreover, new tech-
nologies promise to take them to even higher levels of development in the
future (cf. Thornhill-Miller and Dupont, 2015). It is this sort of strategy-based
and increasingly constructed and coached leadership that we might justly
label ‘leadership by design’.
Of course, design leadership is taught, coached and strategically planned
as well. But it can also be seen as a positive shift in emphasis – somewhat like
‘servant leadership’ (Greenleaf and Spears, 2002) – in that we can describe it
as an ‘empathy-first’ approach to leadership. As such, it might also counter-
balance some of the more self-absorbed or self-serving tendencies that often
prevail in the leadership and executive coaching context, much to the detri-
ment of organizations, their members and their innovative capacities. In this
sense, design leadership and ‘leadership by design’ might be portrayed as
representing two countervailing trends in leadership development, as distin-
guished by their use (or abuse) of empathy.
In fact, in view of their common ground as creative problem-solving exer-
cises involving empathy, one can also take the free association of ‘design’ and
‘leadership’ one step in another direction, suggesting two parallel continuums
for the types of each that can be found in the wild. On the leadership side, for
example, there are populist leaders following the polls or short-term economic
opportunities wherever they lead to power and profit, abrogating ideals and
often feigning vision, although perhaps doing so in the name of democratiza-
tion. A more statesman-like leader (or somewhat forward-looking manager),
on the other hand, might deal with pragmatic realities, albeit with some
increased vision for the long-term or greater good. And lastly, the visionary
leader might try to remain above the fray, imaging and shaping a new collec-
tive future. To pursue this analogy, one can succeed to some extent in the
world of design in three parallel ways: (1) by giving people exactly the designs
and products they say they want; (2) by giving people something that serves
the higher, broadened understanding of their own needs; or (3) by deliver-
ing services and products that change, enlarge or revolutionize – perhaps in
some culture-changing way – the people’s sense of what they want or how
they live.
There are many other potentially helpful or interesting connections
that one could make concerning the various topics and approaches briefly

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mentioned here. Many of these, however, would only serve to suggest that 1. This article was based
on De Bont’s keynote
leadership not only needs creativity, but also benefits in particular from address at the 2015
empathy – the human-centred heart of design leadership that aims at solv- Design for Business
ing the problems of human needs across domains. As conscious creatures in Research and Strategy
Conference, which was
environments ever more of our own making, we quite literally live not just part of the ‘Ideas on
by things, but also by the human meaning of things. Hence, design lead- Design’ programme
ership can help lead us as individuals and organizations back towards the at Melbourne
International Design
creativity – and empathy-centred problem-solving that will bring us better Week. The other four
leadership, as well as to more of the meaningful innovation that our world articles in this issue
were also presented at
increasingly requires. the same conference.
By addressing the leading role that design and design thinking are now
playing in different industries around the world, we can broadly relate much
of the material in this edition of the journal to the ongoing expansion of design
leadership. This volume begins with an article by Cees de Bont, chair profes-
sor and dean of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design. For
this issue, we have invited Professor de Bont to reflect on the current state of
design in China. As a country that has more than 2 million designers currently
in training and a constantly evolving giant industry, China is at present the
most important country in the world from a design perspective. In his study,
De Bont examines the extent to which organizations in China have adopted
design to support their strategic development. China is in a transition from
being a country known for cheap manufacturing to a country that offers
value-added products and services. From educational, cultural and historical
perspectives, however, it can be explained that for many years imitation strat-
egies have been more popular in China than innovation strategies. However,
this is about to change. Given the role of strategic design in supporting organ-
izational change and innovation in other countries, De Bont suggests that it
could be expected that design strategists and design leadership will soon be in
high demand in China. This study shows that there is evidence to expect that
utilization of design in China will become more strategic in the near future.
This viewpoint is supported by recent government policies, and by the current
success of companies innovating in the information and communication tech-
nology (ICT) sector. However, as he points out, a lot of effort from experi-
enced strategic designers will still be needed for the transformation of the
existing traditional manufacturing sector.1
Our next article is by Danish innovation experts and research consultants
Stine and Rex Degnegaard, co-founders of the Copenhagen-based advisory
firm INITIATIVES. The Degnegaards have experience in co-designing and
driving strategic co-creation processes for leading clients in financial, phar-
maceutical and shipping industries, as well as when working with large multi-
stakeholder initiatives in relation to safety, health and sustainability. Their
article is a case study on the co-creation of new design-led business models
for Denmark’s energy sector. As the Degnegaards point out, an essential goal
for the energy sector is a complete conversion to sustainable energy. However,
the sector is characterized by sub-optimized business models and fragmented
clusters competing for government subsidies. In order to tackle this issue,
their study is driven by the following question: ‘How can we design a business
model that will enable actors across industries to exploit synergies among
them for a greater good?’ Their experience with this action research project
shows that strategic visualization can be an effective tool in helping stake-
holders find common ground and explore new scenarios. The findings high-
light how designing shared business models through strategic visualization

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Branden Thornhill-Miller | Gjoko Muratovski

can play an active role in building the foundation for transforming traditional
business models into co-created multi-stakeholder business models.
The Australian business design consultant Tim Stevenson, from the
Brisbane-based firm 3rdView Consulting, has also explored a design approach
to innovation in the energy sector. According to Stevenson, electricity distri-
bution businesses across Australia face many market disruptions, such as the
increasing demand from the rapid uptake of domestic air conditioners and the
contrasting problematic generation from solar power connections to the grid.
In this context, the opportunity to proactively leverage forthcoming techno-
logical advances in battery storage and electric vehicles to address the steeply
rising cost of electricity supply has emerged. This article explores a design
approach to support energy businesses to navigate such disruptions in the
current market. In his study, Stevenson examines a design-led approach to
innovation conducted over a ten-month action research project within a large,
risk-averse firm in the Australian energy sector. The study describes the current
foresight gap within the business model; the response of the organization to
using design-led innovation to address this issue; and the tools, approaches
and processes used during this engagement. The client’s responses indicate
their perception of the value of qualitative customer engagement as a path to
addressing, and possibly benefiting from, disruptive innovation. In return, it is
anticipated that these results will further business model development within
the company, and assist in leveraging disruptive innovations that limit future
increases in the cost of electricity for customers in Australia. This study has
been developed in collaboration with Cara Wrigley and Judy Matthews from
the Queensland University of Technology.
Following this, we have an article by Jochen Schweitzer from the Business
School at the University of Technology Sydney, Lars Groeger from the
Macquarie Graduate School of Management at Macquarie University, and
Leanne Sobel, a design strategist at Deloitte. In this article, the authors provide
a comprehensive assessment of the design thinking mindset that is currently
found in practice. For the purpose of this study, they have first conducted a
design and management literature review in order to identify and define the
key cognitive and behavioural components of this mindset. They have then
conducted fifteen in-depth interviews with innovation managers in Australia
and Germany, asking them to reflect on their practices whilst implementing
design thinking within their organizations. While their study has confirmed
a set of commonly understood and applied mindsets, the findings have also
revealed the impact of organizational constraints on translating cognition into
this behaviour. This ongoing study reveals that more research is needed in
this area if we are to map the different design thinking mindsets in practice.
According to the authors, a suitable point of departure for further study of the
design thinking mindset and its role for innovation at the next stage should
include linking design thinking projects to extant leadership theory.
The final article in this issue is by Sara Gancho and Rachel Cooper from
Lancaster University, and Martyn Evans from Manchester Metropolitan
University. This article presents an investigation into the role of design and
designers when managing creative brand strategies for social media. In partic-
ular, they examine the necessary design skills for working in this industry,
and discuss how design and marketing strategy are related to social media
strategy. They also look at the roles designers may play in the future of social
media. In their study, which covers three different domains (marketing, design
and social media), they try to clarify the importance and impact of these areas

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 Design Leadership and Leadership by Design

for social media strategy, branding and business. They do so by presenting a

series of empirical studies based on surveys and expert interviews, tailored to
capture both quantitative and qualitative data.
We hope that, whatever your interest in design, business, leadership or
innovation, you will find these five articles as interesting and insightful as we
have.
Enjoy reading.

REFERENCES
Greenleaf, R. K. and Spears, L. C., 2002. Servant leadership: a journey into the
nature of legitimate power and greatness. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.
Sternberg, R., 2003. President’s column – creativity is a decision. American
Psychological Association, 34(10). [online] Available at: <http://www.apa.
org/monitor/nov03/pc.aspx> [Accessed 13 April 2015].
Thornhill-Miller, B. J., 2016. Creativity, religion, and spiritual experience: exis-
ting theoretical models and contributions of a new ‘extraordinary-ordinary-
novelty sensitivity’ theory of culture-shaping individual differences. In: D.
M. Wulff, ed. The handbook of the psychology of religion. New York: Oxford
University Press (forthcoming).
Thornhill-Miller, B. J. and Dupont, J., 2015. Virtual reality and the enhan-
cement of creativity and innovation: underrecognized potential among
converging technologies? Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology,
14(3) (forthcoming).
Turner, R., 2013. Design leadership: securing the strategic value of design.
Burlington: Gower Publishing Company.

Branden Thornhill-Miller and Gjoko Muratovski have asserted their right

under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998 to be identified as authors
of this work in the format that was submitted to Intellect Ltd.

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