Interestingly, the Australian Design Institute is listing in career profiles “Design Management” amongst graphic, industrial, interior, etc.

It states: “With the integration of design into the business planning process of many large national and international companies and the identification of design as a major factor in competitive advantage the management of design has become a specialisation in its own right.”(DIA)

With this in mind, I researched who offered jobs with the title of “Design Manager”, or “Manager, Design” in Australia or who included ‘design management’ as skills/experience/qualification. You may have guessed it, the “Design Manager” demand, I found, is for a property and construction industry profile. Alternatively, it is also a production manager’s job. So who and where are these professionals in Australia that work in ‘design management’ as defined by DIA? Would be good to hear from the companies who employ them or the recruiters who place them.

Picasso (1907) Source: Wikipedia

Richard Ogle described how Picasso came to paint ‘the first real masterpiece of the 20th Centrury’, the Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. In his book ‘Smart World‘ Ogle argues that there is no such thing than the lonesome Genius who came up with the idea overnight.

Regardless of profession or calling, Ogle argues, that humankind has a collective consciousness in which trailblazers like Picasso delve to retrieve their ground breaking ideas. Picasso is quoted in referring to African art for the inspiration of this painting.

By thinking outside the brain and tapping into the extended History and wealth of experience of the extended Mind (Ogle 2007, 10) we see how all great inventions actually came to be. Think of the internet itself- Wikipedia is just one example of such an extended external brain in action.

It is interesting to look at intangible assets in firms that way. Perhaps intangible assets (Intellectual Property, Trademarks and Patents) and their nature of ’suddenly leaping onto stage’, thus ‘disrupting the status quo’ are just an expression of where we are going as a human society. Look closely and we can see how the collective conscious is opening up individual creativity, for example with the ‘Open Source’ concept.

Not one company can claim to ‘own the ideas’ since everything is connected through history, material, memory. This is a scary thought for economists and accountants alike. Yet, this disruptive idea space (Ogle) was first named by Schumpeter as prerequisite to entrepreneurship.

The intangible is quickly becoming a new stage of consciousness, a way forward to the next new thing. It is true that our current Western business models  can’t put a price tag on it- which I assume means ‘making the intangible tangible’ in current economic thinking. If the summary of collective social networks are actually creating the new value in our economies than it is time to investigate the consistency of this mix instead of denying its contribution to firm assets as not quantifiable.

The most prevalent areas in which the small businesses have problems
are Sales/Marketing (40.2 per cent),
Human Resource Management (15.3 per
cent), and General Management (14.3 per
cent). Specifically, Promotion, Market Research, and Training are the most frequently encountered problems, all of which are knowledge or skill related, reflecting the general shortage of expertise in small business sector.

It is not that these smaller businesses are not doing any marketing – they would not be in business if they were not – but that the effort in marketing lacks professional input and expertise. And, when businesses turn to the published literature for help, they find that writing on marketing focuses on larger organisations. Managing marketing activity is a different beast within a department of 10 people compared to the owner/manager developing their own marketing.

Regardless of the view among smaller businesses that marketing is a weakness many smaller businesses are very good at marketing. SMEs may even be more responsive to the market and far more flexible than their larger competitors. But these businesses still look enviously at the big consumer brands and wonder how they too can achieve such awareness and provenance. Marketing in smaller businesses tends to concentrate on sales and promotional tactics rather than on the big strategic issues.

And herein lies the problem. Despite the perception, that such wide awareness requires lots of Marketing expenditure, it is actually the lack of strategic competence and knowledge amongst SME owners/managers that prohibits effective Marketing and market awareness of the SME offering. Sales and Marketing are often either lumped together wit Sales taking a precedent over Marketing. As Paul Fifield writes:

Remember:
Sales is about ensuring the customer buys what the company makes. Marketing is about ensuring that the company makes what the customer wants to buy.

Both areas require a different professional skill set and mindset. Companies, regardless of size, should not be lead by either mindset or preference. They should be market-led, not inside-driven. But that is another aspect of the problem altogether.

There are however, fundamentals that can make all the difference. These are Consensio’s SME brand observations based on market experience and marketing literature:

• cultivate brand emotions
• build corporate and product/service brands and understand how to use them
• integrate marketing and brand development
• develop matching brand affiliations
• create a consistent brand logic
• link the brand to the people and personalise it
• Document your logic and keep experimenting with the right media mix

Ten Years later, and without quantifying the number of businesses in WA, I am assuming the same Marketing issues still apply to our SME’s.

QUESTION ONE

What are the pre-requisites (skills/attributes) needed to obtain a career in your specified field (eg. illustrator, brand/identity designer, photographer, etc.) within the Creative Industries? (4 pre-requisites needed + one line explanation OR reason why)

Consensio Brand Developer

1. Attention to detail (quality design requires flawless execution and cooperation with all parties involved)
2. Big Picture awareness (“how does what I do fit in with client business objectives?”)
3. Service Delivery (quality control and communication skills to sell ideas)
4. Research skills (includes keeping up academic and research about industry and competitor trends)

QUESTION TWO

What are some of the typical activities you perform within you current role/position? (4 examples needed)

1. Presentation of ideas to clients and stakeholders
2. Project management
3. Execution of design ideas
4. Quality control of project execution

QUESTION THREE

What project/accomplishment are you most proud of within your career?

When our client says: “I love it, I get it, I want it, it’s better than what I could have imagined, and my customers want it too!”

QUESTION FOUR

What personal advice/tips would you give to someone wanting to enter into your career path?

What I do now I did not imagine 20 years ago. I only got there because I was open to learn more about myself, the industry and where the gaps are. Don’t be defensive about feedback, no matter how it comes across. Maybe you should not follow a defined path. Make your own rules and step out of the picture now and then and evaluate on an ongoing basis your weakness and strength. After all, we are getting paid for thinking and working creatively in return for authentic business results. The only personal brand you should cultivate is your distinctive sense of humour.

Consensio: We both agree that creativity does not need innovation but innovation does not happen without creativity. You are challenging people in organisations to think outside the box, (thus to become more creative). How do you teach them to go beyond creativity?

Kevin Carroll: I define innovation as something that is new and different AND THAT ADDS VALUE. If it doesn’t add value, then I classify it as simply creativity. If the idea can increase someone’s pleasure (make you more productive, gain you more respect, create more revenue, build your awareness in the marketplace) or decrease their pain (lower your stress, help you lose weight, save you time) then it’s adding value which means it’s innovation.

Consensio: What made you realise this is an organisation issue and what are you doing as a consultant to address that?

Kevin Carroll: Everybody is constantly talking innovation, innovation, innovation..or they use the cliché: “Think Outside the Box.” But I realized that no one teaches people how to do it. It’s nice talking about it, but you have to know how to execute the process.  Also, Breakthrough Thinking needs to be fostered throughout the organization and rewarded…I show them how to do that, too.

Consensio: Are you confronted by some organisational members (eg accountants and CFO’s) who don’t think workshops and courses are money effectively spent? How do you counterbalance these barriers?

Kevin Carroll: I show them my case studies to prove the ROI.

Consensio: Do you use your own problem solving techniques? when do you catch yourself not using them effectively?

Kevin Carroll: Yes, I use my own problem solving techniques and I use some that have been around for centuries. The key is that we all need to build the habit so that we use them automatically. I catch myself getting stuck frequently and I have to consciously apply the techniques.

Consensio: If you could wave a wand and creativity would become the natural tool for organisational problem solving, would we automatically build better products and services?

Kevin Carroll: Yes we would, because we would have a clearer understanding of what the underlying problem really is and we’d be able to fix it. The biggest challenge with being more innovative is that people do not define the problem clearly!!! They state it in vague terms and they then they go about trying to solve it. You’ll get nowhere doing it this way.

Consensio: Would more or just different types of consumers and clients buy them?

Kevin Carroll: Both.

Consensio’s foremost differentiator is its attitude to business goals. Whilst many small businesses are run fairly efficiently without the use of strategic plans because the owners are technically good at their jobs (see the E-Myth), there comes a point where technical competence is not enough to grow or sustain the business any further without the knowledge and implementation of more complex business processes.

At this point business owners turn to either University courses or consultants for advice. At Consensio we add value through the experience and knowledge of our consultants who are technically good in their chosen professional fields, but are also guided by current business theoretical knowledge.

We like to be told about our client’s business. We immerse ourselves in the job, no matter how big or small, to connect our clients business objective with the market need. We make market segment background checks, before we visit potential clients and we are open to be taught about the ‘ins and outs’ of the client’s business before we recommend or implement any of our work.

We grow with the complexity of the project at hand. We are no large consultancy behemoth! Our clients don’t pay for large agency overheads or commissions. Consensio is small and agile and operates only with the required number of consultants on every project. Work rates are either hourly or by fixed negotiated contract.

What we offer for SME’s and Departments of larger organisations :

Strategic Planning – whether your company grows, consolidates or is at start up – we facilitate workshops, write strategic documentation and offer to implement Marketing and HR strategies.

Marketing Development – your brand and products need to stand out from the market crowd. With Consensio, you go from idea to market, using every step in between to your advantage.

Human Resource Services – when you prepare for growth and establish structures with HR policies and implementations. Consensio HR advises on talent and recruitment & retention strategies. We offer performance management documentation, remuneration and benefits structuring, position classifications, position description documentation.

Drop us a line, if you would like to know more or have a specific question about how we can help your business.

However, sometimes this book wanders the gaps between ‘how to’ and ‘theory’ too close to the edge. As a theorist, I don’t believe in SWAT analysis and certainly don’t need a template of it in the back of the book. As a practitioner, I am looking at the Boston Matrix and shrug my shoulders. But this is far as my critique goes on the detail of providing the reader with enough background. In detail, the book is thoughtfully written.

In service marketing, the actual experience is created by customer/client word-of-mouth (WOM). According to Young, the client is ‘able to feel a sense of relief’ (pg.26) through the service experience that fixed his/her needs and wants. Young argues that the professional firms are increasingly in need of in-house marketing staff, however, the classically trained ‘goods marketers’ skills belong to a different set of marketers. In short the author identifies that service firm marketers should have the stamina to cut through office politics by

• in-depth knowledge of service marketing
• partner level support from stakeholders in the firm to achieve process integration

Young goes on to identify strategies based on the size of the firm from sole traders to boutique and large organisations.
The chapter on segmentation focuses on what the differences really are between service and product marketing. It really means- honing in on the customer as individual. No more old school ‘industry’ and the ‘age, sex’ segmentation categories. It seems to me, the arrival of Generation ‘C’ is written all over professional service marketing.

Whilst the Western Australian quality of health care debate continues to rage, his small business is making him enough money to cater for his personal need. Apart from his ethos, I admire his dedication to find out whether there was something wrong with his business practice. The niggling feeling can be examined by him without attending a ‘free business mentoring’ seminar.

No matter how small the practice and how busy you are, ask yourself:

• What is your vision about this business? Why does it exist?
• Do you want to stay this business size for the foreseeable future or do you maybe consider expanding in 2 or 3 years time?
• Do you have a one-page-business plan?
• Can you compare yourself to at least 3 other direct competitors and do you know their strength and weaknesses?
• Are there appropriate international industry examples you can learn from?
• What is your succession plan?
• How long is your cash flow holding up and when do you need to increase your marketing?
• What kind of clients do you want and what do you want them to tell others about you?
• What are your passive streams of income?
• How do you market yourself and what is your expenditure allocation per year?
• How do you know your marketing works for you?
• Who are your allies?

If there is one ‘I don’t know’ you reply to any of these questions, drop me an email or leave a comment so we can discuss further.

>>…is the process of converting knowledge and ideas into better ways of doing business or into new or improved products and services that are valued by the community. The innovation process incorporates research and development, commercialisation and technology diffusion. www.smartstate.qld.gov.au/strategy/strategy05_15/glossary.shtm

…a newly introduced practice or method intended to improve the current practice
www.mywhatever.com/cifwriter/library/66/4620.html

…introducing an object as if it were new.
oregonstate.edu/instruct/anth370/gloss.html

…Innovation is the process that translates knowledge into economic growth and social well-being. It encompasses a series of scientific, technological, organisational, financial and commercial activities. Research is only one of these activities and may be carried out at different phases of the innovative process.
www.arc.gov.au/general/glossary.htm

…All innovation begins with creative ideas . . . We define innovation as the successful implementation of creative ideas within an organization. …<<
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innovation

…Innovation in Organisations – assisting our Clients in identifying and managing innovation opportunities within their organisation.<<http://www.business.curtin.edu.au

Ambler & Neely (2007) pointed out that Marketing already has a robust platform as market connector and that therefore, cashflow forecasting and brand equity are indeed viable ‘measurable intangibles’ for ‘narrative accounting’ practices.

I think you agree, that the ‘innovation’ buzzword is another example of the ‘intangible asset’ murkiness which is lurking underneath the accounting and business process surface. What’s your ‘innovation’?