Design thinking is on the rise among managers. And for good reason: design-driven organisations have higher revenue growth, more loyal customers and a higher competitive advantage than organisations that mainly focus on control. They are promising organisations that are focused on opportunities rather than bottlenecks. But, within organisations, design thinking does not happen all by itself. After all, organisations are like living tissue, they are only partly makeable, and usually have a strong focus on continuity and control. Plus, managers are not designers by nature – but they might be able to learn something from them!

Steven de Groot, PhD is Professor of Innovative Entrepreneurship at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. Steven studied at the Design Academy Eindhoven and obtained a PhD in business administration. In this book he explains to managers what the difference is between designing and developing. He discusses the characteristics of design thinking in the organisational context, the challenges of the manager as a designer and how to embed design thinking into all aspects of the organisation, such as culture and strategy – on the way to becoming a promising organisation!

'In his book Design Thinking for Managers, Dr Steven de Groot describes the importance, the mindset and the method of design thinking, specifically for the organisational context. Design thinking has a strong affinity with skills such as critical thinking, creative thinking and problem solving – oh so important for current and future managers of the 21st century. I am therefore delighted that this book is being used for the masterclasses in Design Thinking for Managers as part of our master's programme.'

Prof. Jol Stoffers, lecturer and professor of employability at the Zuyd University of Applied Sciences and the Open University, and programme manager of the master's programme in personal leadership in innovation & change (PLIC)