Justin Lokitz, Lisa Kay Solomon, Patrick Van Der Pijl

Design a Better Business

New Tools, Skills, and Mindset for Strategy and Innovation

I got mad when I saw this book, then immediately bought it.  This is exactly the kind of book I want to write someday.  They clearly took a page from the success and format of Business Model Generation, with great illustrations and a variety of new frameworks to apply in the process of designing a better business.

This book stitches together a complete design journey from beginning to end in a way that you’ve likely never seen before, guiding readers (you) step-by-step in a practical way from the initial spark of an idea all the way to scaling it into a better business. Design a Better Business includes a comprehensive set of tools (over 20 total!) and skills that will help you harness opportunity from uncertainty by building the right team(s) and balancing your point of view against new findings from the outside world.

This book also features over 50 case studies and real life examples from large corporations such as ING Bank, Audi, Autodesk, and Toyota Financial Services, to small startups, incubators, and social impact organizations, providing a behind the scenes look at the best practices and pitfalls to avoid. Also included are personal insights from thought leaders such as Steve Blank on innovation, Alex Osterwalder on business models, Nancy Duarte on storytelling, and Rob Fitzpatrick on questioning, among others.