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Culture of Empathy Builder:  David Kelley

Pending - in development

 David Kelley

 "As founder of IDEO, David Kelley built the company that created many icons of the digital generation—the first mouse for Apple, the first Treo, the thumbs up/thumbs down button on your Tivo’s remote control, to name a few. But what matters even more to him is unlocking the creative potential of people and organizations so they can innovate routinely.David’s most enduring contributions to the field of design are a human-centered methodology and culture of innovation. More recently, he led the creation of the groundbreaking d.school at Stanford, the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design."
Sub Conference: Human Centered Design

 
 

 

 

Quotes

“Deep empathy for people makes our observations powerful sources of inspiration.” –David Kelley
 

"Deep empathy for people makes our observations powerful sources of inspiration. We aim to understand why people do what they currently do, with the goal of understanding what they might do in the future." –David Kelley
 

"Our first-person experiences help us form personal connections with the people for whom we’re innovating. We’ve washed other people’s clothes by hand in their sinks, stayed as guests in housing projects, stood beside surgeons in operating rooms, and calmed agitated passengers in airport security lines—all to build empathy." –David Kelley
 

"An empathic approach fuels our process by ensuring we never forget we’re designing for real people. And as a result, we uncover insights and opportunities for truly creative solutions. We’ve collaborated with thousands of clients to leverage the power of empathy, creating everything from easy-to-use lifesaving heart defibrillators to debit cards that help customers save for retirement." –David Kelley
 

"to be successful in the world you need to have a wide perspective." –David Kelley
 

"The main tenet of design thinking is empathy for the people you're trying to design for. Leadership is exactly the same thing--building empathy for the people that you're entrusted to help. Once you understand what they really value, it's easy because you can mostly give it to them. You can give them the freedom or direction that they want. By getting down into the messy part of really getting to know them and having transparent discussions, you can get out of the way and let them go. The way I would measure leadership is this: of the people that are working with me, how many wake up in the morning thinking that the company is theirs?" –David Kelley

"thought you might not know it I think empathy is an engineers greatest strength. And history provides a lot of examples of that."  –David Kelley
 

"Empathy allows us to walk in each others shoes... Many schools have been slow to start teaching this point of view. That makes a lot of peoples education incomplete."  –David Kelley
 

We find that with more empathy, with more of a human-centered approach, people are able to do that more easily. They are more motivated and become more effective in their lives. –David Kelley
 

We believe that more than any technical skill that you can get as an engineer, empathy for others will allow you to gain that creative confidence and be able to innovate more routinely and accomplish what you set out to do." –David Kelley
 

"Don't just have the ambition to be a great engineer, have the ambition to be a great human. Wear your empathy as a badge of honor. It will allow you to do your best work."  –David Kelley
 

"The main tenet of design thinking is empathy for the people you're trying to design for. Leadership is exactly the same thing--building empathy for the people that you're entrusted to help. Once you understand what they really value, it's easy because you can mostly give it to them. You can give them the freedom or direction that they want.  By getting down into the messy part of really getting to know them and having transparent discussions, you can get out of the way and let them go. The way I would measure leadership is this: of the people that are working with me, how many wake up in the morning thinking that the company is theirs?"  –David Kelley


The notion of empathy and human-centeredness is still not widely practiced in many corporations. Business people rarely navigate their own websites or watch how people use their products in a real-world setting. And if you do a word association with “business person,” the word “empathy” doesn’t come up much."  –David Kelley

What do we mean by empathy in terms of creativity and innovation? For us, it’s the ability to see an experience through another person’s eyes, to recognize why people do what they do. It’s when you go into the field and watch people interact with products and services in real time—what we sometimes refer to as “design research.” Gaining empathy can take some time and resourcefulness.  But there is nothing like observing the person you’re creating something for to spark new insights. And when you specifically set out to empathize with your end user, you get your own ego out of the way. We’ve found that figuring out what other people actually need is what leads to the most significant innovations. In other words, empathy is a gateway to the better and sometimes surprising insights that can help distinguish your idea or approach."  –David Kelley

 


============================

Creative Confidence: by IDEOs Tom & David Kelley.
Chapter 1: Deep empathy for people makes our observations powerful sources of inspiration.

 Being human centered is at the core of our innovation process. Deep empathy for people makes our observations powerful sources of inspiration. We aim to understand why people do what they currently do, with the goal of understanding what they might do in the future.

Our first-person experiences help us form personal connections with the people for whom we’re innovating. We’ve washed other people’s clothes by hand in their sinks, stayed as guests in housing projects, stood beside surgeons in operating rooms, and calmed agitated passengers in airport security lines—all to build empathy.

An empathic approach fuels our process by ensuring we never forget we’re designing for real people. And as a result, we uncover insights and opportunities for truly creative solutions. We’ve collaborated with thousands of clients to leverage the power of empathy, creating everything from easy-to-use lifesaving heart defibrillators to debit cards that help customers save for retirement."
 

 

 

 

Thayer School Investiture 2014: David Kelley's Speech

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5wvWZJ5muF8&t=3m46s

 
"to be successful in the world you need to have a wide perspective."
 

"This allowed me to focus on one thing, one thing I'm really passionate about and that's an important skill for engineers, and that skill is called empathy. To build great stuff today we really have to collaborate with people, especially people that we want to use the things that we come up with.  But it's a team sport. I believe that engineering is a team sport now.  So having empathy for your colleagues, as well is important, especially for non techies. And we do have to learn to create with everyone around us."
 

"thought you might not know it I think empathy is an engineers greatest strength. And history provides a lot of examples of that."
 

"Empathy allows us to walk in each others shoes... Many schools have been slow to start teaching this point of view. That makes a lot of peoples education incomplete."

We find that with more empathy, with more of a human-centered approach, people are able to do that more easily. They are more motivated and become more effective in their lives.

 

We believe that more than any technical skill that you can get as an engineer, empathy for others will allow you to gain that creative confidence and be able to innovate more routinely and accomplish what you set out to do."

 

"Don't just have the ambition to be a great engineer, have the ambition to be a great human. Wear your empathy as a badge of honor. It will allow you to do your best work."

 

 

"The main tenet of design thinking is empathy for the people you're trying to design for. Leadership is exactly the same thing--building empathy for the people that you're entrusted to help. Once you understand what they really value, it's easy because you can mostly give it to them. You can give them the freedom or direction that they want.  By getting down into the messy part of really getting to know them and having transparent discussions, you can get out of the way and let them go. The way I would measure leadership is this: of the people that are working with me, how many wake up in the morning thinking that the company is theirs?"
 

 


 

Empathize With Your Customer
David Kelley and Tom Kelley

"The powerhouse brother team, David Kelley and Tom Kelley, is coming out with a new book this month. Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within us All, is a romp through the wisdom the two have gleaned as founder of the world-renowned design consultancy IDEO and the Stanford D.School (David) and author of the best-selling book, The Art of Innovation (Tom).

 

Their dedication to the book says a great deal about the brothers’ solid, heartland upbringing and family values: “To Mom and Dad who gave us the freedom to express creative ideas, and the confidence to act upon them.” Here we excerpt a chapter from the book that advocates making empathy the cornerstone of consumer research. --S

 

The notion of empathy and human-centeredness is still not widely practiced in many corporations. Business people rarely navigate their own websites or watch how people use their products in a real-world setting. And if you do a word association with “business person,” the word “empathy” doesn’t come up much.

What do we mean by empathy in terms of creativity and innovation? For us, it’s the ability to see an experience through another person’s eyes, to recognize why people do what they do. It’s when you go into the field and watch people interact with products and services in real time—what we sometimes refer to as “design research.” Gaining empathy can take some time and resourcefulness. But there is nothing like observing the person you’re creating something for to spark new insights. And when you specifically set out to empathize with your end user, you get your own ego out of the way. We’ve found that figuring out what other people actually need is what leads to the most significant innovations. In other words, empathy is a gateway to the better and sometimes surprising insights that can help distinguish your idea or approach."

 


 

David Kelley on Designing Curious Employees
"Kermit Pattison: How has the design thinking model influenced your approach to leading people?

David Kelley: The main tenet of design thinking is empathy for the people you're trying to design for. Leadership is exactly the same thing--building empathy for the people that you're entrusted to help. Once you understand what they really value, it's easy because you can mostly give it to them. You can give them the freedom or direction that they want. By getting down into the messy part of really getting to know them and having transparent discussions, you can get out of the way and let them go. The way I would measure leadership is this: of the people that are working with me, how many wake up in the morning thinking that the company is theirs?""

 

January 6, 2013 - David Kelley of IDEO talks “design thinking” on 60 Minutes
"What makes a great designer? According to IDEO founder David Kelley, who gave the TED Talks “Human-centered design” and “How to build your creative confidence,” being an incredible designer isn’t necessarily about having a great aesthetic sensibility or coming up with out-of-the-box ideas. No,  Kelley says that the key characteristic is empathy. “Be empathetic,” Kelley tells Charlie Rose in an episode of 60 Minutes to air this Sunday. “Try to understand what people really value.”"

 

New Designs for Learning: A Conversation with IDEO Founder David Kelley
"Design thinking is kind of like my religion, so I am not to be trusted with describing its importance. But the basic premise of design thinking revolves around empathy, being understanding of what other people want, and how the world is put together from a social and emotional point of view. I personally think that design thinking is as important as math and science. I couldn't defend that with statistically significant research right now, but we find that when we go to a school pretty soon kids are saying stuff like “I got to use my imagination today” and that feels really good....And our experience so far, though we've only been doing this for a few years, is that once you get in, people really resonate with the social, emotional, empathy-based, project-based, storytelling-based skills that we think are important."

 

Benjamin McNutt: Empathy leads to creativity (David Kelley)
I wish I could design stuff like David Kelley. It’s not hard to see why.
He’s the founder of IDEO and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford. Smart doesn’t begin to describe this guy. As a designer and innovator, he’s on par with the likes of a Steve Jobs, with one crucial difference -- he’s not a raving jerk to his employees. Empathetic is actually the term he uses in an interview with Fast Company:
“The main tenet of design thinking is empathy for the people you're trying to design for...
Empathy, Kelley insists, is also the key to cultivating what he calls “curious employees”:



 19 DECEMBER 2011 - David Kelley Of IDEO Speaks About Brand Leadership
"How has the design thinking model influenced your approach to leading people?

The main tenet of design thinking is empathy for the people you’re trying to design for. Leadership is exactly the same thing, building empathy for the people that you’re entrusted to help. Once you understand what they really value, it’s easy because you can mostly give it to them. You can give them the freedom or direction that they want. By getting down into the messy part of really getting to know them and having transparent discussions, you can get out of the way and let them go. The way I would measure leadership is this – of the people that are working with me, how many wake up in the morning thinking that the company is theirs?

Empathy is not always talked about as a leadership quality. Why is it so important?"
 


David Kelley Of IDEO Speaks About Brand Leadership
"David Kelley is the founder of IDEO, a design focused company that aims to aid organisations with innovation and growth. He is also the founder of Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford. David believes that the key to a successful relationship between employees and employers is empathy. In an interview with Fast Company, David discusses the importance of understanding and being a good coach when leading.
How has the design thinking model influenced your approach to leading people? The main tenet of design thinking is empathy for the people you’re trying to design for. Leadership is exactly the same thing, building empathy for the people that you’re entrusted to help... Empathy is not always talked about as a leadership quality. Why is it so important?'
by Wendy Tayler"
 


01/09/2013 - THE POWER OF EMPATHY IN DESIGN THINKING AND CREATIVITY

"Empathy also builds an emotional connection, which acts as a stimulant for passion, and passion provides a big boost of energy to those who are creative. So how does one teach empathy? I believe schools need to have an educational “toolkit” at their disposal, which they can dip into when appropriate, and design thinking should be one of the tools because it provides an infrastructure for creativity to flourish, in a logical step-by-step manner. Kelley refers to having “buckets” of strategies lined up that students can access to help them come up with new ideas. These strategies usually guarantee success – in other words, something innovative is created – and people gain creative confidence, as a result. "

 

David Kelley on Designing Curious Employees | Fast Company
"Design thinking is a process of empathizing with the end user. Its principal guru is David Kelley, founder of IDEO and the Stanford design school, who takes a similar approach to managing people. He believes leadership is a matter of empathizing with employees. In this interview, he explains why leaders should seek understanding rather than blind obedience, why it's better to be a coach and a taskmaster and why you can't teach leadership with a PowerPoint presentation"
 

60 Minutes: How to design breakthrough inventions 
"Global firm IDEO incorporates human behavior into product design -- an innovative approach being taught at Stanford. Charlie Rose profiles the company's founder, David Kelley."



Aspen ideas Festival: CREATIVE CONFIDENCE: CULTIVATING THE MINDSET OF TODAY’S INNOVATORS


 

Tom Kelley, David Kelley: "Creative Confidence" | Talks at Google
Tom and David Kelley stop by the Googleplex for a talk on creativity. 
 

 

d.school founder taps into humankind's innate creativity 
"And we don’t mean like in a machine shop, we mean by doing something in the real place, with the real people and it really works for us because then you start to have real empathy, you start to have real understanding of the situation–what’s really going on on that platform when people are waiting for the train and what’s really going on when they find their way out of the station or how they book their seat in the first place."

 

David Kelley: On 'Design Thinking'
 


 

David Kelley: How to build your creative confidence
 

 



David Kelley: Hire Great People

 

 

Video: David Kelley Ideo - Building a Company is to work with friends


Media Lab Conversations Series: IDEO's David and Tom Kelley