2011 Tsinghua-DMI International Design Management Symposium, Hong Kong

		Thomas Lockwood

By Thomas Lockwood, PhD, Founding partner, Lockwood Resource

The 2011 Tsinghua-DMI International Design Management Symposium was created to explore "a new era of innovation," and I would say it effectively demonstrated that a new era is truly upon us. The role of design management in innovation is growing worldwide, and there are thought leaders rapidly emerging in mainland China, Hong Kong, South Korea and throughout South Asia. I say this with a note of envy, because the rate of change I see in Asia exceeds that of other regions such as the US or Europe, which makes me very curious to see what the future may hold. In addition to great content and interesting conversations, three points stood out to me at this symposium: the collaboration of educators and practice; the sophistication of content; and the rate of adoption.

Collaboration of educators and practitioners

The Symposium drew over 300 attendees from 18 countries, and published 88 papers and 66 paper sessions, representing 55 universities. It was a powerful three days of stimulating conversations with educators and practitioners alike. In fact, on the second day, the conference ran two hours longer than scheduled because the dialogue with speakers and audience was so interesting that we decided to just let it continue. There was a sense of learning from one another, discussing alternatives, and seeking interesting ways forward.

There may be a cultural influence to be noted, because it seems the connection and respect between academia and practice was extremely close at this conference. Perhaps there are closer collaborations between education and industry in Asia, which always seems to be more difficult in the western regions. It is interesting to note that professor LEE Kun Pyo from KAIST University is now the corporate vice president of design at LG Electronics. It seems that education and industry are working more closely in order to jointly advance success by design. In Asia there seems to be more crossover, which I find fascinating.

Sophistication of the content

I was very impressed by the quality of the content. There were sophisticated research papers presented and the general sessions were excellent. None were "show and tell" cases, rather theory, predictions, points of view and best practice were discussed; all very interesting. This was due in part to the work of our partner, Tsinghua University, an outstanding institution. Over the two days of general sessions we had just 13 sessions, but each was an hour long, followed by lengthy panel discussions with speakers which allowed each speaker time to explore their topic thoroughly and then discuss it with other speakers and audience. In my keynote address, I shared my thoughts about the values of design and design methods in business.

This set the tone by providing evidence of design value, and was followed by 12 leading educators and practitioners from organizations such as LG, Huawei, GE, IDEO, KAIST, Tsinghua, and Case Western University among others; there was no shortage of quality content.

Rate of adoption

The third point that I found interesting is the rapid rate of adoption of design management methods and principles in the region. Just two years ago I served as a judge of a design management competition at Tsinghua University, and the amount of progress made since then is significant. Granted, these few leading universities represent a tiny segment in comparison to the 400 some design schools in China, but those who are researching design management are doing so rapidly and at high levels of professionalism. This is a tremendous source of new information about design management. The important role of design and innovation in business is generally accepted, and more and more leaders in education and practice are determined to learn how to manage it. It is evident that the collaborations that DMI has been pursuing for many years with leading institutions in Asia such as Tsinghua, Hong Kong Design Center, KAIST, and KIDP have been very fruitful. Today design management covers the practice of design and design processes, and extends to business strategy and innovation as well. This involves methods such as design thinking, organization development, and a focus on efficiency and effectiveness.

There is much to share, much to learn, and a whole world of complex problems to help solve. Good design, design management and design methods can make a difference, and I am very pleased to see DMI continue to extend its role as a global catalyst of information, change and connections.