Design Leadership and Innovation

Improving innovation performance through effective design leadership

Innovation is key for companies to prosper, but challenging at the same time. Companies need to cope with rapid technological evolution, complex innovation dynamics, and urgent societal challenges. Research has shown that strategic design practices can play a leading role in tackling these challenges, steering innovation towards successful outcomes.

Date
November the 22nd and 23rd, 2023

Group size
10-16 participants

Location
Industrial Design Engineering,
TU Delft

Deadline
10th of November 2023

Curriculum

This IDE Master Class is aimed at professionals who would like to take a more strategic role in the innovative efforts of companies, and who want to go beyond executing new product/service design briefs. With a fully renewed content, the Master Class will focus on a practice-based and research-validated process for growing design into a strategic partner for companies wanting to innovate meaningfully and successfully. Covered topics will include aspects like setting up a design strategy, organizing the design function in the right way, interacting with stakeholders, running strategic design projects and nurturing the design team. During the course participants will set up a long-term plan for scaling the impact of design and identify a set of tactics to get started with it. Furthermore, the course will make participants reflect on the most appropriate mindset and leadership style to operate in strategic contexts.

Learning Objectives

During this master class you will learn:

a design driven process and hands-on tactics for leading innovation projects and scale design impact;
key strategic design practices and some related tools;
a way of thinking that combines design principles and business relevance.

Content

A process for scaling the impact of design in companies
Cases of strategic design practices and design leadership in use
Tactics for stakeholder engagement with strategic design projects

Speaker

Giulia Calabretta

Giulia Calabretta is Associate Professor of Strategic Value of Design at IDE, TU Delft. She is researching design leadership and how design capabilities and methods can be effectively integrated in the strategy and processes of companies. She is a co-author of the recent book Design Leadership Ignited, where 59 design leaders from different industries and geographies share their experience in growing design into a strategic partner within their organization.

Programme

Day 1

9:00	Registration and welcome coffee
9:30	Introduction and overview Overview of the master class, key concepts, getting to know each other
10:00	Interactive session Design leadership and the role of strategic design in innovation: Introduction and discussion of the design leadership matrix. The discussion will be based, among the rest, on participants own projects/cases.
11:00	Break
11:30	Case study Scaling design: Discussion of a real case and introduction of a process for effectively scaling and using design at a strategic level.
13:00	Lunch at the Porseleyne Fles
14:00	Guest speaker: Becoming a design leader Learn and discuss with an expert what are the main skills, tactics and mindset that you should develop to become a succesful design leader.
15:30	Break
16:00	Workshop Develop your own process: the participants will work in small groups on their own scaling process, on the basis of their case/project.
17:15	Self-assessment and wrap-up of the day
17:30	End of the first day

Day 2

9:30	Interactive session Gaining stakeholder engagement: presentation and discussion of different approaches.
11:00	Break
11:30	Interactive session Design narratives: based on the previous mini-lecture, the participants will discuss and develop effective narratives for communicating design outcomes at a strategic level and how to pursue stakeholder engagement.
13:00	Lunch at the IDE faculty
14:00	Guest speaker: Building strategic design capability An experienced strategic designer will share insights into how organizations can establish a strategic design practice and how managers, as well as designers, can play a role in facilitating this transition.
15:00	Break
15:30	Interactive session Core strategic design practices: based on the results of a self-assessment tool, participants will be engaged in small group exercises to discover and discuss core strategic design practices for leading design and implementing the scaling process successfully.
17:20	Closing remarks and certificates
17:30	Drinks and closing till 19:00

Practical Information

How to prepare?
Preparation for this master class includes reading and reflecting on the case studies that will be discussed in class, and the selection of a relevant case from participants’ own practice to bring to the course. The preparation will require approximately four hours.

To read
The preparation material (including case studies, reflection questions, and relevant articles) will be sent as a PDF by email. Participants will receive the reader at the beginning of the course. Hand-outs of all lectures will be provided with space for personal notes. All materials provided are included in the course fee.