Great leaders aspire to manage "by design"—with a sense of purpose and foresight. But too few leaders incorporate the proven practices and principles of the design disciplines. Lessons learned from the world of design, when applied to management, can turn leaders into collaborative, creative, deliberate, and accountable visionaries. Design thinking loosens the mind and activates innovation. It creates the conditions for employees to thrive and for all kinds of businesses to succeed.
In Designed Leadership, the strategic-design scholar and urban-systems designer Moura Quayle shares her plan for integrating design and leadership, translating processes, principles, and practices from years of experience into tools of change for professional leaders. Quayle describes the key concepts of designed leadership, such as "make values explicit" and "learn from natural systems," showing how strategic design can spur individual creativity and harness collective energy. For managers at any level, Designed Leadership uses original visuals and field-tested examples to teach the kind of thinking, theorizing, and practicing that result in long-lasting high performance in the workplace and beyond.
Industry Reviews
This is a well-written, accessible account of what managers can learn from design to improve their practices and provide greater leadership for their organizations. Quayle's book builds on sound theoretical insights, but brings those insights to ground in practical applications that managers of all levels can appreciate. The book emphasizes opportunities rather than problems, and in this the author offers a positive perspective. Designed Leadership means more effective leadership, and this is something that we need more than ever in a complex and changing world.
