Purpose Economy and Design
Frans Joziasse, 3 April 2017
Due to my long term occupation in the design industry it was time to think more holistic and look at the bigger picture. Why am I doing this? What is the purpose of it all?
During last Christmas I had some time to reflect and get some long wished for reading done, all in the area of PURPOSE ECONOMY. Starting to read some literature and articles I found that there is a clear development from EXPERIENCE ECONONOMY towards PURPOSE ECONOMY. A trend already foreseen a longer time ago by e.g. Gilmore in 1998 in his book ‘the Experience Economy’. He proclaimed the next level of competition is for companies that ‘guide transformation’.
I want to share three books with you that will definitely feed (and already did) the discussion in our industry on the purpose economy and the future role of design in it.
1. The Purpose Economy by Aaron Hurst
At the moment the standard on purpose economy on the US CEO book shelf. The book is very text heavy but very well documented/sourced. It is very American, so you get still the impression of the triple bottom line where ‘profit & business’ becomes before ‘people’ and ‘planet’. Look at the overview of definitions first to see where Hurst thinks the notion of Purpose Economy comes from. A lot of spaces that Design is already trying to occupy!
The book is looking more at a macro-level at what the Purpose Economy in the USA is and how it will evolve over the next years. Interesting numbers that always make an impression in such a big market as the US are 12BLN turn-over in the Purpose Economy in 2020.
2. Handboek Betekenisvol Ondernemen by Kees Klomp (in Dutch)
An easy to read book (not only because I am Dutch), but light and therefore unfortunately also a little bit superficial. The author does take many examples from practice, which are nice to read but not so well sourced and in some case only half the story (e.g. Unilever’s USLP). My main critique is that the book is a big collection of other books and models from other authors put together in a somewhat chaotic way. Very positively written though.
Interesting is Klomp's "the happy startup canvas" that in contrast to the new business model canvas of Osterwalder starts with a purpose and vision and ends with a value proposition. The other part that I liked the most is that he clearly states that you as a human being have to start to ask yourself what kind of person you want to be for the company/society/environment.
3. Let my people go surfing by Yvon Chouinard
My favorite book of the three as it tells the real/authentic story of the founder of Patagonia, the high performance outdoor company. This man is really living in the purpose economy and the triple bottom line value with his company, his employees, his suppliers and design.
A deliberate choice by the founder that not a lot of companies would dear to live, but rewarding as the company is very successful (at least after 25 years of rocky roads!). Most inspirational for me are their Values and their Design Philosophy and Design Quality (written in 1991!). So obvious! But how many Design departments have defined design guidelines in the context of (their) purpose? It is so timeless! Also the company with the best scores of employer, child care etc. I would love to work for them, it would be super cool to be in design there, I think. I would feel being a purposeful human being.
All books have recently been published, so it will be easy to get them fast. I think purpose economy is definitely an area of great opportunity for Design. One where we have to get our act together as designers.
From an internal motivational point, I am getting there! From a business perspective I expect CEO’s of traditional companies starting to push it rather sooner that late so we should be prepared. More than 35 CEOs and civil society leaders founded in 2016 at the Davos Conference the Business & Sustainable Development Commission (the Commission) today reveal that sustainable business models could open economic opportunities worth up to US$12 trillion and increase employment by up to 380 million jobs by 2030.
At the heart of the Commission’s argument are the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (or Global Goals)— 17 objectives to eliminate poverty, improve education and health outcomes, create better jobs and tackle our key environmental challenges by 2030.
Finally: is this new? No!
In the 70ties we saw the “Limits of Growth” Report of the Club of Rome, we saw things like the 10 principles of Good Design at Braun, which Rams defined in the 1970s. The 1980s showed in the Dutch Design Scene the movement of Eco-Design, which was founded with help of the Government, leading into the renowned study ‘Sustainable Design Engineering’within the Faculty of Industrial Engineering at Delft University. In the 1990s Circular Economy and Design for ‘Cradle to Cradle’ started to enter organisations and governments.
Today the urgency for it has changed as companies, politics and also design have not really, truly reacted to the early warning systems of nature, the facts about how wealth is distributed around the world and the changes in how the new generations are shifting their beliefs (e.g. about ownership vs. sharing).
Designers let’s get started, use your imagination, your competencies and leadership!
Books from this article
The Experience Economy
The Purpose Economy
Handboek Betekenisvol Ondernemen
Let my people go surfing
More to read
Better Business, Better World
Cradle to Cradle
Products that Last
Emotionally Durable Design
Co-founder & Director College of Extraordinary Experiences, Co-Founder Order of the Wild, Co-author Gamification in Tourism, Forbes 30 under 30, TedX Speaker
7 年Great to see all the overlapping design thinking philosophies in one picture. Thank you for sharing your insights!
Upcycle specialist ánd passionate industrial designer | DenimX? - MMD - Brighten our future!
7 年Thanks for sharing your thoughts and efforts on this important topic!
Dynamic Growth Leader with Proven Track Record in Product, Marketing and Sales | 10+ Years Experience in C-Level Positions |
7 年Great Article, Frans! I absolutly agree, and I definetly like the positivity in your article. I wonder if there is any research available that investigates on Business sucess and Purpose Driven Enterprises... Let my People Go Surfing. My Favorite!