Look at this picture – proof that the US is the mother of innovation culture. In Denmark we also have a tradition for caramel apples. Tradition with a big T, that is. It’s never changed and it is still only possible to get the red classic version that is superimposed bottom right. Randomly browsing I stumbled over this: http://www.amyscandykitchen.com, where the main picture is from.

It’s a perfect illustration of how important it is to look at something you like (the red caramel apple) and think: “that is really nice – how can I make it even better” (look at the that striped monster in the bottom corner of the tray). Thinking “We can do better…” is the heart of progress (a possible path to wealth). Thinking “…and then we can do better again, immediately!” is the heart of innovation (the safest path to survival)- always moving, changing, improving things. Look at this picture and learn a bit about what it means when innovation is a cultural business drive – not just a contemporary management book theme. In the States this drive to innovate somehow repeats itself in just about every business area you look at. Try to impose the feeling from these two pictures on your own field of business, and consider if you do as well as Amy. We can all learn from her:-)

If companies really want to innovate, it’s time they invited designers to join their boards of directors.

Denmark should almost design its BNP, according to the government. Growth and welfare should largely be borne by design and ideas in our ‘creative nation’, where innovation is on all businesses’ strategic agenda.

But how many businesses have innovation experts on their board of directors today?

I mean really idea-centric people who live from seeing possibilities everywhere? Design types with a Richard Branson gene who dare use their intuition to drive growth?

Few, in reality. Most boards of directors at Danish companies are ‘cast’ on a self-affirming and not necessarily idea-generating principle: too many people who think in the same way, even though they seemingly often disagree. Too little contrast and too much ‘group think’.

The idea person is missing

Funnily enough, one profile always seems to be missing – the idea person. Him or her whose natural instinct is to think off-the-wall from a business perspective. A professional who gives decision-makers the courage and ideas to grasp new opportunities, even when this requires a change in strategy. Someone whose job is to innovate – to generate ‘the next big thing’ by creating tension between opposing fields of expertise.

Look at the new generation of big Danish design companies who are growing rapidly in terms of business and competencies right now. Here are some of the most strategic-creative talents Denmark has to offer.

On board already

Many of them already work strategically at management level in businesses in Denmark and abroad. This is a huge potential that’s merely waiting to be harnessed as a catalyst on boards of directors. If this happens, the design mindset will be well and truly anchored in the mindset of boards of directors – and contribute strategically at a far higher level than is the case today.

Look also at the Danish Design Association, recently founded at the Danish Chamber of Commerce’s offices at Børsen in Copenhagen. This trade association will put the new, more international and more business-orientated design concept on the nation’s business map. At the same time it will move much of the design sector out of the ‘drawing office’ and in a more professional, strategic and market-orientated direction – namely, by joining boards of directors.

In other words: let the designers in – it’s time for business as unusual.

Innovation is painful, or so people keep telling us. Don’t you believe it.

I’ve lost count of the number of articles I’ve read recently expressing the Woe-Is-Me-I’m-An-Designer-and-It’s-Difficult Attitude.

According to these design ’gurus’, innovation is painful. Arduous. And downright difficult. Only REAL experts should be allowed to tamper with this precious process. Well, I don’t buy it.

So when I read yet another article selling this theory – published last week in a leading Danish newspaper – you can imagine my reaction. Enough is enough. This debate is careering off-track at breakneck speed. Now’s the time to set the record straight.

Innovation is not rocket science. Nor is it painful. It’s about delivering solutions for us all – consumers, politicians, the environment, businesses. Solutions that help us meet the challenges we face as nations, individuals and organisations at a global and local level.

Transforming a good idea into reality can be painful. But searching for that idea isn’t. Nope. It’s fun. And everyone can play the game.

So stop the guff, so-called inno-gurus. Your mantra that innovation is difficult is a load of ego-driven rubbish. And it’s alienating the very people design should speak to. No wonder businesses shudder with fear in response.

We need to a more down-to-earth approach. Let’s stop focusing on the rights and wrongs of the innovation process and get down to the nitty-gritty: ideas. Innovation is about transforming ideas into a product or service that the world needs – and having fun while we’re at it. It’s that simple.

So when this innovation hype finally stops, people will realise that innovation isn’t rocket science. It’s about solutions.

And in Denmark we have the world’s best and most unique innovation think-tank. So let’s move the debate on. Now. Want to talk about REAL innovation? Start discussing solutions.