Third Thursdays by Ben Knight
There are some books that I own which I constantly refer to and this offering from Sissel A. Waage is no exception. While the poetic and symbolic title might instantly lead to being written off by some in the business, design strategy and management fields, I find this book to be a huge inspiration for its philosophical ideas and practical case studies. This book is a bit dated (2003) and hypotheses of the flawed paradigm of 20th century organizations have been widely proven, yet many of its teachings are still very relevant to our design strategy and management practice. Big picture and systemic thinking, the core attributes of the text, are described in understandable terms.
This, like Bob Willard’s books on sustainability, The Next Sustainability Wave: Building Boardroom Buy-In and The Sustainability Advantage: Seven Business Case Benefits of a Triple Bottom Line, gives a great introduction to those who are interested in equipping themselves with an understanding of the strategic design conversation in their given organization and beyond.
I obviously recommend reading this whole book, but for the busy design strategy and management related individual, I would highly recommend the following chapters: 3 Reconsidering Business from a Systems Perspective, 4 Integrating Sustainability into Business Strategy and Operations, 5 Sustainability and Dematerialization at Hewlett Packard, and, of course, 13 Catalyzing Action and Organizational Change. With its in-depth analysis, this book is an essential read for all creative leaders of the 21st century.
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