What’s the big deal about the “meaning” of a product (or a fund-raising proposal)? Roberto Verganti, professor of a leading design school in Milan, Italy says meanings are at the heart of who we are, what we do, and, by extension, what we buy. If we are donors, it is meaning that helps decide what we support.
Meaning and innovation are closely aligned. Verganti in his book Design Driven Innovation, (Harvard Business Press, 2009) explains why, if you want to achieve the big ideas – the ones that make a difference – you have to first dig deep and ferret out new meanings. Yes, new ideas absolutely have to come from new meanings.
Verganti has no time for incremental tweaking – his heroes are people like the late Steve Jobs who was described by one of his managers as starting his day pondering what new technological wrinkle would really wake him up.
Fundraisers take note – Verganti is part of a growing drumbeat on the need to innovate, and the strength of his book is how fully he spells out the need, the process, and the impact. His verdict is salutary: keep producing new ideas, consistently; or run and run and get nowhere.
