Thomas Lockwood, PhD, IDSA
Founding Partner
Lockwood Resource
Thomas Lockwood, PhD, IDSA, is the co-author/editor of four books: Design Thinking, The Handbook of Design Management, Corporate Creativity and Building Design Strategy. He is one of the few people in the world with a PhD in Design Management, and is recognized as a thought leader in integrating design and innovation practice into business, and building great design and UX organizations.
Lockwood is founding partner of Lockwood Resource, an international recruiting firm. He is a design advisor to countries and to companies; a frequent design award judge; Fast Company blogger; keynote speaker; and workshop leader in more than 20 countries. Previously he served as president of Design Management Institute (DMI). Lockwood also was a corporate design director and a consultancy creative director.
Design: Do, Lead, Do, Lead
Most industrial designers focus on mastering the art and science of design doing. That’s great, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Thomas Lockwood, PhD, IDSA, finds good design takes more to get through the system than just being there. It takes insight, empathy, collaboration and leadership. Yesterday, the competition was between companies with good design—against companies with not so good design. Tomorrow, the competition will be between companies with good design against companies with good design.
So, the future requires mastering the art and science of design leadership as well. Lockwood says it’s time to up your game. To quote Will Rogers, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just stand there.”
