disruptive talent: chief design officer (cdo)

Today I was sitting with a Colleague ( Antwon Davis - http://antwondavis.com ) and we were sharing ideas about a recent role he was offered at a "start-up" company. The role that was offered to him was a "Chief Marketing Officer". After a few minutes of debate about the role, and after some real "truth telling" we or HE discovered the role of CMO is not actually what he is designed to be or do. This is HUGE, because I really feel that there are a LOT of us doing things that we are not authentically designed to do. YES he is a pretty savvy "Marketer", however; he is a MUCH stronger "Design Thinker". SO with that said... I offered to him an idea, the idea of a CDO or Chief Design Officer.

Chris_hacker

Chris Hacker - Chief Design Officer, P&G 2008

This role is a role that I came across about 90 days ago, AFTER having a conversation with Antwon Davis. We discovered that there is a gap between top level executive management and the design initiatives at many of todays companies. Procter and Gamble recognized the same thing and hired Chris Hacker in 2008 as a Chief Design Officer, with the role of leading design and innovation at a top level within the ranks of the innovation giant. Kia hired Peter Schreyer and he came along with an idea ...

"Only through design can we capture our customers hearts..." ~ Peter Schreyer

Peter_schreyer

Pictured Above: Peter Schreyer - Chief Design Officer, KIA

So now, finally, corporations are rethinking how they view design. IN FACT corporations are starting to value "design thinking" as a robust approach to management that sparks creativity and drives innovation. Giving "design" a seat on the board, gives design a voice, design with a voice transforms organizations from simply analytics and numbers to ideas and innovation, from cold and methodical, to soulful and rich.

The Chief Design Officer - 

The Chief Design Officer leads organizations in the pursuit of design excellence at every level while driving innovation and building stronger communication channels between organization Builders and creative assets. The CDO oversees the organizations creative interest while harnessing the power the organizations ideas for the purpose of developing breakthrough new products, services and brands. The CDO champions design thinking, and builds organizational momentum around the ideas and possibilities presented by marketplace challenges.

The above description is surface at best, however; my hopes are that reading it, it will give you some insight to what I feel will be one of the most disruptive roles we will see emerge in the coming days, weeks and months as the creative economy evolves...