Solving Problems with Design Thinking - Ten Stories of What Works

In a clear and simple style, this book shows how design thinking has been applied successfully to address complex and different problems in a variety of organizations, both for- and not-for-profit. The ten case studies provide creative and innovative applications of design principles and supply sufficient detail of use to aid readers in their own planning processes. Solving Problems with Design Thinking provides depth of value to the graduate professional classroom while being simple and clear for immediate use by managers.

Jeanne Liedtka is dedicated to bringing design concepts and theory down from the stratosphere into the hands of managers tackling everyday problems. She and her coauthors achieve just this in Solving Problems with Design Thinking. Read it once for inspiration and encouragement. Then go back to its pages time and time again for models, tools, lessons, and stories that will transform design thinking into a powerful asset for you.

This book offers a solid, in-depth look at the power of design thinking to solve organizational problems. Better yet, through real-life examples, it demonstrates a far more important skill: how to uncover the more urgent problems lurking beneath the surface. The authors brilliantly reveal how the design mindset can permeate -- and then transform -- an organization.

Jeanne Liedtka has been involved in the corporate strategy field for more than thirty years. She has served as associate dean of the MBA program at the Darden School of Business, executive director of the Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and chief learning officer at United Technologies Corporation.
Andrew King has a faculty appointment to the Darden School of Business as a research associate for the Batten Institute.

Kevin Bennett has worked for organizations ranging from technology start-ups to government institutions and is currently manager for marketing and partnership development at Personal, a technology start-up in Washington, D.C.