Design Thinking: The Ultimate Competitive Advantage for Companies, Society, and Individuals
Updated: Aug 14
1. Companies Need Design Thinking to Innovate
“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
- Steve Jobs, Apple CEO
Companies need to innovate or die. Today’s consumers are very aware, are spoiled for choice, and can be very fickle. 3M and Apple were companies on the brink of failure- but they proceed to adopt an innovative culture through design thinking to achieve amazing records of success. Today, 3M generated nearly $30 billion revenue selling over 55,000 innovative products, while Apple captivated the consumer electronics market with stylish products like the iPhone, Macbook and iPad.
In a competitive market, companies, big or small, need to innovate to create an advantage over their competitors. Design thinking will allow companies and startups to innovate and explore opportunities, based on unmet consumer needs and understanding of the situation.
IBM, for example, started a hiring process to hire 1,100 designers across the company by end of 2015. The goal is to have their methods infuse every aspect of how IBM does business. The aged computing giant has discovered “design thinking" that puts customers first on the way to creating goods and services. In fact, they have figured that this is way to go in their future plans.
Ready to turn innovation into new business opportunities? Discover our WSQ AI Innovation course and learn how to identify AI opportunities, generate innovative ideas and apply them to real-world business challenges.
2. Society Need Design Thinking to Solve Human Problems
“Design is directed toward human beings. To design is to solve human
problems by identifying them and executing the best solution.”
- Ivan Chermayeff, Designer & Artist
People need design thinking to solve human problems (difficulties we encounter in daily life). For example, we face issues like overcrowding at train stations, bad online banking experiences and traffic jams, which can lead to frustration and social problems. By applying design thinking principles, we identify the best possible options to streamline and make these experiences go better, faster and smoother.
Government agencies in Singapore have taken the step to apply design thinking to improve customer experience. LTA (Land Transport Authority of Singapore), for example, apply design thinking principles to improve train cabin experience. Khoo Teck Puat Hospital has a design and research team that actively understands patients' needs and creates improvements to service design, processes and infrastructure.
Want to become a stronger problem-solver? Build practical Design Thinking skills with our WSQ Advanced AI Design Thinking course and learn how to understand human needs, define complex problems, generate ideas, prototype and test solutions.
3. Individuals Need Design Thinking to Compete and Excel
“Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws
from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the
possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.”
- Tim Brown, President & CEO of IDEO
Design thinking has already been seen as a competitive advantage for individuals who want to excel in their career or business. Many schools, such as the Rotman School of Design and Stanford University’s d.school, have offered exclusive courses on Design Thinking to executives and professionals. They aim to give students with design backgrounds a stronger business advantage, while offering business-minded people a more creative edge.
According to the Wall Street Journal, prospects are willing to pay up to $40,000 per year for a Design Thinking MBA, while a Stanford’s three-day Design Thinking bootcamp costs $9,500! There are many individuals willing to fork out huge money to gain valuable design thinking tools and knowledge - all in order to compete, and be more effective.
I have been getting many emails from all over the globe from Russia to Malaysia, from India to Singapore with a singular mind to learn and discover what design thinking is about and what it can do to help them solve problems or lead a problem-solving team. The trend will continue to rise indeed.
Last Words
I will be adding more articles on Design Thinking, Strategy and Innovation throughout the year. Articles of these 5 Step Action Plan and Modern Soft Skills will be added periodically to give my readers a broader insights to how to crush complex problems, overcome future challenges and spot AI opportunities.
Check out more articles via my blog: https://www.emerge-creatives.com/blog-1
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About the Author
Daniel Ling is a regional ex-Design Leader turned educator, and business owner of Emerge Creatives, an registered SSG training provider (RTP) to deliver modern soft skills to professionals through Design Thinking, Business Strategy, and AI Innovation.
With over 15 years of experience in the financial and e-commerce tech industries- including key leadership roles at Lazada, NTUC Income, OCBC, and DBS- Daniel has led cross-regional design teams, built design functions from the ground up, and spearheaded large-scale transformation initiatives. But beyond industry success,
Daniel has reinvented himself as a “designer in a business suit”- equally fluent in creative strategy and commercial impact.
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