Thursday, October 4, 2007

Where do I find "The Talent Hunt?"

Here's another article by BusinessWeek. (This one may be behind a password, so I'll quote the salient points.) "The Talent Hunt: Design programs are shaping a new generation of creative managers" begins with a promising observation. Proctor and Gamble are working with student designers at the University of Cincinnati to brainstorm new products for sustainable living. That's fine, as far as it goes. From the title, I expected to read more about the companies who are "hunting" design thinkers. Instead, the article focuses on the universities that are combining design programs with management programs. An interesting article about a useful practice, to be sure, but not what I'm trying to find out right now. I'm already in a program with interdisciplinary classes between design and management graduate students and I'm enjoying it immensely.

I need to know more about all the enlightened companies that value design thinking. It's fine that so many schools (60, by BusinessWeek's count elsewhere on their web site) see the importance of developing people who can cross disciplines. So the supply will be there. I just wonder if the demand is there, or whether this is a issue that BusinessWeek thought was important and is taking upon itself the task of educating corporate America. Good for them, but I'm still waiting for the article that talks about companies' desperate search for those hard-to-find manager-designers.

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