Tim Brown is the CEO of the "innovation and design" firm IDEO -- taking an approach to design that digs deeper than the surface.
Why you should listen
Tim Brown is the CEO of innovation and design firm IDEO, taking an approach to design that digs deeper than the surface. Having taken over from founder David E. Kelley, Tim Brown carries forward the firm's mission of fusing design, business and social studies to come up with deeply researched, deeply understood designs and ideas -- they call it "design thinking."
IDEO is the kind of firm that companies turn to when they want a top-down rethink of a business or product -- from fast food conglomerates to high-tech startups, hospitals to universities.
IDEO has designed and prototyped everything from a life-saving portable defibrillator to the defining details at the groundbreaking Prada shop in Manhattan to corporate processes. And check out the Global Chain Reaction for a sample of how seriously this firm takes play.
Curious about design thinking? Sign up for an IDEO U design thinking course or check out this free toolkit: Design Thinking for Educators.
What others say
We need more executives like Brown who understand how creativity works.
Tim Brown’s TED Talks
More news and ideas from Tim Brown
Ideas
Nature knows best: A biologist and a designer take creative direction from the Earth’s operating system
February 7, 2014
“Borrowing” as a concept is de rigeur in the creative industries and beyond. What’s that too-often quoted aphorism? “Good artists copy; great artists steal”? Plenty of people have trotted that out as justification for acts they want us to believe are far superior to and way different from plagiarism. In this nuanced conversation, biologist and […]
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The world’s best creative director: Nature
February 7, 2014
What's that too-often quoted aphorism? "Good artists copy; great artists steal"? In this nuanced conversation, biologist Janine Benyus speaks with Tim Brown, chief executive of IDEO, to discuss what's really interesting about borrowing.
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The London Olympics opening ceremony … in TED Talks
July 28, 2012
Last night’s Opening Ceremony for the 2012 Olympics was filled with symbolism and storytelling over centuries of UK history. Intrigued by the stories and players? Dive into these related TEDTalks! The Olympic pageant begins with an idyllic vision of green fields — coolly surveyed by a top-hatted engineer with grand plans to build the UK […]
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