Uncovering the rich substance of insights that speak to attitudes, behaviors and latent needs.

In Bethune's experience, he cautions us to avoid being overly deferential to the question, "what does the data say?"  Quantitative research and the numbers help us strategically frame where we spend our time, but we still have to dig for richer substance to truly understand our customers.  We have an opportunity to better meet customers where they are by understanding their implicit aspirations, motivations and latent unmet needs.

Multidisciplinary leaps, and diversity: lessons from a Black professional's journey through corporate America.

In his first book Reimagining Design, Kevin Bethune shows how design provides a unique angle on problem-solving—how it can be leveraged strategically to cultivate innovation and anchor multidisciplinary teamwork. As he does so, he describes his journey as a Black professional through corporate America, revealing the power of transformative design, multidisciplinary leaps, and diversity. Bethune, who began as an engineer at Westinghouse, moved on to Nike (where he designed Air Jordans), and now works as a sought-after consultant on design and innovation, shows how design can transform both individual lives and organizations.

Multidisciplinary collaboration is the currency that informs future innovation, and a special tact of leadership is required.

Across Bethune's journey, diversity, equity, and inclusion emerge as a recurring theme. He shows how, as we leverage design for innovation, we also need to consider the broader ecological implications of our decisions and acknowledge the threads of systemic injustice in order to realize positive change. His book is for anyone who has felt like the “other”—and also for allies who want to encourage anti-racist, anti-sexist and anti-ageist behaviors in the workplace. Design transformation takes leadership—leaders who do not act as gatekeepers but, with agility and nimbleness, serve and build teams that mirror the marketplace.

From the acclaimed designer and bestselling author of Reimagining Design, a nonlinear approach to navigating design's nuances in pursuit of meaningful innovation.

In Nonlinear, Kevin Bethune shows us that we can reject trodden paths of digital or physical product creation by taking advantage of a nonlinear approach. To unlock meaningful innovation that breeds new and novel outcomes, he writes, teams need to embark on a journey into the proverbial forest of ambiguity, the result of a rapidly converging, dynamic, and exponentially changing landscape. The journey is less about getting it right or wrong, and more about using the information we have at our disposal to understand our choices and take steps to unlock new learning.