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of a product but leaving the product utility aside it acts as a logical precursor to its economic success.

3.4 The Meaning of Design and its Correlation with Other Disciplines
How highly do companies value this success factor, and how do they integrate it into the corporate structure? Ideally, companies have an integrative approach to design, thus creating a holistic value-added chain. This approach requires interdisciplinary and interactive cooperation in crucial areas of the company: design, development, production and sales (Fig. 3.4). At present, however, there seem to be only two of these four disciplines engaged in the process of adding value, leaving vast potential untapped. These examples may serve to illustrate the point: if a company exclusively focuses on development and opts out of design, it does not create added value for the economy. The company only sells the product on paper; there is no marketing or production; it is exporting a blueprint. While this may be an intellectual achievement, it is not necessarily lucrative. A company focusing on design and marketing only will most likely locate its development and production facilities

in low-wage countries. This is the typical approach of fashion companies, for example. There are also companies that are exclusively involved in development and production. They develop simple products or turn a successful idea into a product, but do not engage in any major marketing activities and have no specic design: they create the so-called Me Too or generic products with no identity or personality. In Germany, any company exclusively involved in production would most likely go out of business in the long run, as its high production costs would fail to yield any protability. Ultimately, cooperation across all disciplines is the only sensible approach. A company that creates products needs to design them, develop them and sell them; rst and foremost, however, it must train its employees. In the best case scenario, development, design and marketing are provided from one source. However, design must be understood as a self-sustainable and serious force, and not treated as a tool to be used by the development or sales departments as they see t. Establishing this understanding within the corporation is not an easy task. Every company has a development, production and marketing department, so these are accepted necessities. However, the idea of having a design department in its own right is still unusual.

Fig. 3.4 Integration of design into the corporate structure. Ideally, companies have an interdisciplinary and interactive cooperation in the areas of design, development, production and market

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While the latter may be true for the industry at large, it cannot be applied to MINI. Compared with other corporate segments, design is rather cost-efcient. In automotive engineering, for example, design costs amount to a single-digit percentage of the overall development costs. When asked for their reasons for buying MINI, however, 80% of customers answered that they made their decision because of its design. If design is so important, why do most companies treat it like a poor relation? If we want to take a closer look at the four segments mentioned earlier, we need to remember what these terms describe a large group of people. And no human is like another, particularly when it comes to their opinions and their approach to problems.

3.5 Lateral Thinking or What Is Longitudinal Thinking

More often than not, nding the answer to a difcult question is a not a linear process, but rather a path with several bends and detours. It takes one or several

people thinking outside of the box in order to nd shortcuts as well as creative and effective solutions: this approach requires lateral thinking! If there are people who think laterally, then there must also be people who think longitudinally and others who think in circles (Fig. 3.5). What are the characteristics of these special ways of thinking, and how do they differ? First, let us take a closer look at the species of circular thinkers. About 90% of the population thinks in circles; they are just ordinary people. Adequately dubbed, circular thinkers revolve around themselves. Time and time again, they try and try, but do not dare to take a risk that would jeopardize their safety and comfort. Their way of thinking is reiterative; it moves in circles, between the two poles of imitation and optimization. Whenever they come across something good, they will copy it and optimize it to suit their requirements. This way, they never leave their personal comfort zone. Major developments, personal as well as creative, are rather rare because this would compel them to leave their comfort zone. Having thus struck a balance, they have created a stable equilibrium, which they value highly.

Fig. 3.5 Characteristics and relationships among people who thing longitudinally, who think in circles, troublemakers and lateral thinkers

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Longitudinal thinkers are inconspicuous, streamlined and conventional. If required, these types will put their ego rst and act unscrupulously, ruthlessly following their own interests these people act according to the negative stereotype of the successful manager. Ultimately they will use the system to get on top of lateral and circular thinkers. They have no opinion on anything, never take any risks, but at the same time, they are very dominant. Like circular thinkers, they attach great importance to their safety and their own comfort zone, from which they never venture. These two types will bring up issues, but they will never inspire a team or act on ideas. They do not create innovation. Yet innovations are our only chance to handle future challenges in an adequate and successful way. We are missing a real thinker, somebody who thinks outside of the box, breaks new ground and dares to leave their own comfort zone in short, we need lateral thinkers. Designers can assume this very role, because they like to challenge the conventional, want to understand, explore and create, but always with a new and fresh take on things. However, the other types often nd lateral thinkers very hard to understand. To them, this way of approaching the world can seem unfathomable, elusive. Lateral thinkers are irritating because the others cannot comprehend, cannot or do not want to follow their thoughts. Therefore, lateral thinkers are often mistaken for querulous, cantankerous troublemakers. A querulous person is somebody with a destructive and disloyal attitude, somebody with a chip on his or her shoulder. But lateral thinkers are far from being querulous. They are very positive, creative and important characters. They are indispensable, and nothing would move forward without them. They provide valuable inspiration and incitement, and they will interrupt or

stop processes whenever necessary but only to start an active rethinking process and to elaborate on existing ideas. They are the only ones to leave their comfort zone to move things forward they are constructive and innovative, and they think across all segments. If we put all these different types in an interactive situation, we would be presented with the following scene (Fig. 3.6): the circular thinker runs in circles in their wheel, while the longitudinal thinker sits atop, beneting from the efforts of the others, who try to pull them along. But it is the lateral thinker who brings the whole construction forward, straining against the efforts of the querulous troublemaker, who tries to block, obstruct and stop the process. As mentioned above, lateral thinkers are often mistakenly perceived as querulous people who are out to cause trouble. Integrating lateral thinkers is very difcult for companies that need to function and do so with an interactive approach. Related problems are evident, particularly in areas where several departments overlap, as each of the four departments (sales/marketing, development, production and design) have their own rhythm and ow. Marketing, for example, is very focused on the present; it comes with the territory and for obvious reasons. Designers, however, live in the future, because their objective is the development of products that will be launched in years to come. This dissonance creates vast potential for conict. The marketing department can take a closer look at the present customer and compare them to the past, analyze and evaluate their ndings. But they are not able to look into the future, because they do not have the time and because it is quite simply not their job. Designers, however, must look ahead to the future and create today what they expect to be fashionable in 5 years time. There are no relevant data, no statistics. Hence, they have to decide themselves what may

Fig. 3.6 The lateral thinker

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be fashionable in years to come. Working as a designer in a corporate environment, one is faced with a conicting situation that is slightly uncomfortable. Because we are not hired as mere artists, we are expected to contribute to the corporations economic success. In this function, designers have a major responsibility: the new product must not outperform any older models. Customers must not feel outdone by the new product, which they perceive as superior. After all, for most people buying a car is the second most costly investment after buying an apartment or a house. Therefore, designers must take care not to focus on individual fulllment alone, but rather aim to create a product that suits the brand and matches the target group (Fig. 3.7). As designers, we are the customers advocates, as we use the new product for the rst time in their stead. We need to anticipate their feelings, show intuition and empathy. For MINI, the brands customers are the crucial parameter; we are striving not just to meet their requirements, but we also want to set new standards. In order to achieve this, we need to know what MINI stands for and where MINI comes from.

3.6 From Original to Original

The production of MINI cars has been uninterrupted since 1959 and still continues. Over the past 50 years, MINI has covered a lot of ground, starting out as a car for the general public, a model for the masses that economized on gasoline and provided maximum internal space combined with the minimum external size. As time went on, however, MINI veered from its original specication. By the beginning of the 1960s, MINI had evolved into a sports car. Later, it developed

into an icon of the pop and hippie culture, and today, it has become an accessory of the urban generation with their trendy lifestyle, a common sight in many big cities. From a designers point of view, this car is interesting, because it was admired and used by many different people and because the original MINI for the masses evolved into an object with cult status after that, it just became timeless. This car has cult status. But there is no recipe for producing cult objects. Attributes such as timelessness and cult status will only be associated with a product if and when people accept it and integrate it into their lives. As important as an emotional form language and product design may be, function is of similar signicance, and it is downright essential, as it denes the products true utility. In my opinion, the term classic that is often associated with MINI cars and MINI design describes this very combination of functional and esthetic endurance. Obviously, MINI cars are not the only ones with a classic design but they all have one aspect in common: these cars were widely designed by engineers and not by designers. All of these cars were designed with a view to technical requirements. Hence, they will never be out of date or become unfashionable. Products that obey the principle form follows function have no expiration date. Many creative people love MINI for exactly this reason. The car radiates a certain assurance that conveys legitimacy. MINI cars are masters of value, i.e., they always retain their value. This proves that customers are not just interested in beauty, but also in a product that stands the test of time. This approach is a pleasant counterpoint to the many short-lived things that we encounter in our day-to-day lives. MINI cars are characterized by their proportions rather than by their size the overall image is the distinctive feature. MINI adheres to very denite design guidelines all written in English, obviously to

Fig. 3.7 Denition of design