Designed Leadership

The intent of  Designed Leadership  is to establish principles, methods, and practices of strategic design to apply them to business, government, and other institutions. Quayle (Univ. of British Columbia) outlines ten principles that make up strategic design, such as making values explicit, valuing diversity of thinking, bridging gaps in knowledge and making connections, evaluating for fit, scale, and context, and attending to patterns in the environment and organization. She mentions some of her experience as director of the Master of Landscape Architecture program and involvement with urban design. Throughout the book, she lists general principles from urban planner Jane Jacobs, several authors, and discussions with colleagues. She shares a variety of accomplishments without going into detail about how she achieved them. One of her principles is using visual aids to promote innovative thinking. In that light, the book features numerous drawings, but some appear unreadable and most are not understandable. A formal research area of “design thinking” is mentioned, but its connection with the book is not explained.