Last (well, for me, I left a bit early) but definitely not least was Adam Lowry, one of the two co-founders of Method, which could be described as a cleaning products company, but one that is turning the category upside down. Adam's talk was the most dear to my heart because he talked about a topic which I've been thinking about lots lately: the design of business.
He thinks business is an opportunity to change the world for the better, and that you can make 'change by design'.
He said they love it when their business model gets copied, because that will create a new (and hopefully better) state of equilibrium. If Method brings out a product that is better for the environment, and P&G copies that, it's good for everyone.
'Don't make the consumer sacrifice, make the product better!'
About change: 'Start small, to prove the business case, and then scale it up.'
The most important skill a business needs is DESIGN. The definition of design is changing: it's going from being mostly concerned with aesthetics to design entire processes. Currently design is about the present tense, in the future we will need to think about yesterday, today and the future (something he calls 'design karma').
Who is a designer and what needs designing is changing: everyone = a designer and everything needs to be designed.
Little do: think like a designer, even if you're not formally trained as one, you'll be able to make change better that way.
Big do: 'help me redefine design'!
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