Design leadership at scale requires leaders who design the design function establish a
thriving environment for the creative team and shape the design organization to drive progress
advance innovation and enhance meaningful customer experiences. To examine the foundations of
successful design leadership the authors performed extensive in-depth interviews with design
leaders working for Fortune 500 organizations across industries. Based on these insights
Design Leadership Ignited delineates a pathway to design excellence which includes
establishing a forward-looking strategy and an adequate organizational structure for the design
function empowering the design team and scaling the impact of design across the entire
organization. This book takes the position that a core challenge in the journey towards design
excellence is the need to recognize and balance the often-contradictory objectives and
activities that design leaders encounter. Combining their practitioner experience and research
the authors provide a framework to embrace the complexity of design leadership that will
elevate design at scale.
