Redesigning Leadership

by John Maeda, Rebecca J Bermont (Contribution by)

Overview

Lessons for a new generation of leaders on teamwork, meetings, conversations, free food, social media, apologizing, and other topics.

When designer and computer scientist John Maeda was tapped to be president of the celebrated Rhode Island School of Design in 2008, he had to learn how to be a leader quickly. He had to transform himself from a tenured professor—with a love of argument for argument's sake and the freedom to experiment—into the head of a hierarchical organization. The professor is free to speak his mind against “the man.” The college president is “the man.” Maeda has had to teach himself, through trial and error, about leadership. In Redesigning Leadership, he shares his learning process.

Maeda, writing as an artist and designer, a technologist, and a professor, discusses intuition and risk-taking, “transparency,” and all the things that a conversation can do that an email can't. In his transition from MIT to RISD he finds that the most effective way to pull people together is not social networking but free food. Leading a team? The best way for a leader to leverage the collective power of a team is to reveal his or her own humanity.

Asked if he has stopped designing, Maeda replied (via Twitter) “I'm designing how to talk about/with/for our #RISD community.” Maeda's creative nature makes him a different sort of leader—one who prizes experimentation, honest critique, and learning as you go. With Redesigning Leadership, he uses his experience to reveal a new model of leadership for the next generation of leaders.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262294942
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	04/25/2011
Series:	Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	96
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

An internationally recognized leader at the intersection of design and technology, John Maeda is Executive Vice President/Chief Experience Officer at Publicis Sapient. He was the 16th President of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). He is the author of Design by Numbers, The Laws of Simplicity, and Redesigning Leadership, all published by The MIT Press.

Becky Bermont is Vice President of Media + Partners at RISD and has partnered with John Maeda, the current president, since his time at the Media Lab in efforts to bridge design, academia, and business.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

1 Start Here 1

2 Creative as Leader 9

3 Technologist as Leader 27

4 Professor as Leader 43

5 Human as Leader 57

6 Thank You 73

Acknowledgments 79

What People are Saying About This

Roger Martin

John Maeda is one of the most insightful thinkers on creativity and innovation in America. Plainspoken but playful, Redesigning Leadership offers Maeda's unique take on creative leadership.

Endorsement

No one but John Maeda can give us the secrets of simplicity and the power that comes through simply leading. This is a contemporary leader's handbook.

—Beth Comstock, Chief Marketing Officer, GE

From the Publisher

John Maeda adroitly separates and then blends perspectives on leadership—macro and micro, personal and institutional, familial and cultural—finding the connectivity among each. Whether you're a seasoned leader or just beginning to learn what leadership means, this book will help clarify what it means to you, to effectively lead others.

—Will Setliff, Vice President of Marketing, Target

John Maeda is one of the most insightful thinkers on creativity and innovation in America. Plainspoken but playful, Redesigning Leadership offers Maeda's unique take on creative leadership.

—Roger Martin, Dean, Rotman School of Management

John Maeda's roots as the son of an immigrant Japanese family, his visionary work in technology and design, and now his leadership of some of the most talented young people of this generation at RISD, give him a unique set of skills to lead. Redesigning Leadership is an important personal diary on the art, science and humanity of inspiration.

— John C. Jay, Global Executive Creative Director, Wieden + Kennedy

No one but John Maeda can give us the secrets of simplicity and the power that comes through simply leading. This is a contemporary leader's handbook.

—Beth Comstock, Chief Marketing Officer, GE

Will Setliff

John Maeda adroitly separates and then blends perspectives on leadership—macro and micro, personal and institutional, familial and cultural—finding the connectivity among each. Whether you're a seasoned leader or just beginning to learn what leadership means, this book will help clarify what it means to you, to effectively lead others.

Beth Comstock

No one but John Maeda can give us the secrets of simplicity and the power that comes through simply leading. This is a contemporary leader's handbook.

John C. Jay

John Maeda's roots as the son of an immigrant Japanese family, his visionary work in technology and design, and now his leadership of some of the most talented young people of this generation at RISD, give him a unique set of skills to lead. Redesigning Leadership is an important personal diary on the art, science and humanity of inspiration.

Editorial Reviews

Redesigning Leadership is a gem of a book, and like a genuine gem is compact, short, succinct and a pleasure to read.—Mohsen Shahmanesh, Design Talks—

It's short, beautifully designed and produced...There's none of the usual guff that afflicts the genre. Intead, clear crisp prose, a lot of common sense, and some points that were either new to me or worth reaffirming.

—The Enlightened Economist—

From the Publisher

It's short, beautifully designed and produced...There's none of the usual guff that afflicts the genre. Intead, clear crisp prose, a lot of common sense, and some points that were either new to me or worth reaffirming.

—The Enlightened Economist

Reviews

It's short, beautifully designed and produced...There's none of the usual guff that afflicts the genre. Intead, clear crisp prose, a lot of common sense, and some points that were either new to me or worth reaffirming.

The Enlightened Economist

Redesigning Leadership is a gem of a book, and like a genuine gem is compact, short, succinct and a pleasure to read.

Design Talks - Mohsen Shahmanesh

Narrator Nick Podehl has a satisfying grasp of what John Maeda is all about: Podehl sounds as comfortable with the author’s confidence as he is with the author’s humble approach to leadership. Maeda became president of Rhode Island School of Design with no experience leading large institutions. With a delightful openness to learning, this compact book chronicles the novel ways he approached the challenge of serving a diverse group of constituents. Podehl’s performance captures Maeda’s childlike wonder as he explains the transparent ways he embraced conflict, communicated creatively, and built a community that was consistent with his deepest values. Kate Rudd’s spontaneous reading of the introduction (by Rebecca J. Bermont) sets the creative tone that makes the entire audio sound fresh and true to the author’s message. T.W. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2012 - AudioFile