Something deep inside me – call it the ghost of the slacker English Major arrogance – wants to recoil at writing and thought geared toward business. I have always felt that the deep truths, genuine epiphany, and intellectual stimulation, just could not be found in writings on management. And to some extent this remains true.

Still, each day I find new and exciting material that gets closer to the type of reading experience I used to have in college – the feeling of discovery – the feeling of your mind opening. The most recent piece to do that for me is this piece by Marty Neumeier, President of the consultancy Neutron. The article – The Designful Company – is a manifesto of design thinking. It seeks big answers to big problems.

For me the essence of the piece boils down to this quote Neumeier used from Sir Francis Bacon:

“He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils,” warned Sir Francis Bacon 500 years ago, “for time is the greatest innovator.”

I found the apt urgency in this quote so profound I actually stopped reading the article, got up out of my chair, went over to my white board and, transcribed it in large black letters.

I won’t go any deeper into this now – I wouldn’t want to deprive you of the surprise of a great read. I’ll just leave you with this: if you are involved in any kind of company, any kind of brand, any kind of product, you will need to read this.