BOOM! What a gig. October 22nd and 23rd I was privileged to attend this year’s Better by Design (BBD) CEO Summit at Villa Maria Auckland, themed Disrupt by Design. For those of you that attended I hope you are still buzzing like me. 

 

To Melissa, Nicola, Lisa, and the BBD team that were responsible for the event – take a bow! You know you are in for a pretty good time when things start arriving in the post weeks out from the event. Upon signing up to the event I received ‘Disrupt’, the book by Luke Williams and Frog Design, and then ‘Solving Problems with Design Thinking’ by Jeanne Liedtka, Andrew King and Kevin Bennett, just a few weeks ago. Nothing like a bit of prep, right? These books are certainly worth a read.

 

All of the presentation videos are being uploaded to the Better By Design website over the coming weeks. Don’t miss them. This year’s group of speakers were first-rate and world class. If you didn’t attend the gig here is my highlights reel and some recommendations. We’ll offer a follow-up piece once the video loading is complete; the first two videos are up so here goes....

 

 

You have to start by watching the high impact high growth success story of the rising Warby Parker by founder Dave Gilboa. Dave obviously is someone to watch. We all like a story where a newbie takes on the big goliath and wins – and this is a goodin.

 

Watch Dave here

 

 

Solid right! What a story. I bet you have had a similar moment of frustration like that which lead Dave to act. What was yours? Did you act on it?

 

I really liked the way Warby Parker have taken the glasses shopping experience online and reimagined it. The five glasses kit for home try on is cool and connects the business model for buying such personal fashion orientated items on the web. Their ‘buy a pair give a pair’ programme is a nice touch too. Dave provides a few takeaways for all those in start-up explaining their first moves and spend going towards product stock, their website and PR. Inspirational. 

 

 

Next up, watch Jeanne Liedtka, Professor at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business.  Jeanne was actually the first speaker on Day 1 and set the scene really well for the two days with messages like “change only favours the prepared mind” and the importance of understanding “the physics of growth and the natural laws that govern it”. 

 

Watch Jeanne here

 

Nice construct isn’t it. I really liked Jeanne’s comments that innovation is about seeing opportunities to go after unarticulated needs, things people need before they know they need them because by then they have asked our competitors for it.  We all know Jeanne is right; those who are successful tend to operate in constant presence of uncertainty and thrive there. Would you classify yourself as a George? Give some thought as to how you can further enhance yours. I recently read Imagine which might be of interest helping you understand how your mind works.

 

It was also great to hear about the co-creation process and inviting others in, which in our world is pretty normal but still unconventional for some. The concept of the ‘learning launch’ is interesting and probably has value for a lot of New Zealand companies when approaching launch and commercialisation.

 

That’s a wrap for now. Take a break and when the next videos are up we shall let you know.  Aura Oslapas, departing chief design officer at Best Buy, provided an amazing glimpse into the future of retail which is a must see, and if you are moving into China, the talk by Rainer Wessler, executive creative director of Frog Design based in Shanghai, will provide some fascinating insights.

 

More soon.