More Than a Feeling: It's Analytical he companies in our index that performed A strong vision that explicitly commits best financially understood that design organizations to design for the sake of the is a top-management issue, and assessed customer acts as a constant reminder to the their design performance with the same rigor they top team. The CEO of T-Mobile, for example, Leadership used to track revenues and costs. In many other has a personal motto: shut up and listen. businesses, though, design leaders say they are IKEA works to create a better everyday life treated as second-class citizens. Design issues for the many people. And as Pixar cofounder remain stuck in middle management, rarely Ed Catmull told readers in a McKinsey Quarterly rising to the C-suite. When they do, senior interview, to “wow” movie-goers continually, executives make decisions based on gut feeling his company encourages its teams to take risks rather than concrete evidence. in their new projects: Pixar considers repeating "The CEO of one of the world’s the formulas of its past commercial successes a much greater threat to its long-term survival largest banks spends a day than the occasional commercial disappointment. a month with the bank’s clients It’s not enough, of course, to have fine words and encourages all members stapled to the C-suite walls. Companies that of the C-suite to do the same." performed best in this area of our survey maintain a baseline level of customer understanding among Designers themselves have been partly to blame all executives. These companies also have a in the past: they have not always embraced design leadership-level curiosity about what users need, metrics or actively shown management how their as opposed to what they say they want. One top designs tie to meeting business goals. What our team we know invites customers to its regular survey unambiguously shows, however, is that monthly meeting solely to discuss the merits of the companies with the best financial returns its products and services. The CEO of one of the have combined design and business leadership world’s largest banks spends a day a month with through a bold, design-centric vision clearly the bank’s clients and encourages all members embedded in the deliberations of their top teams. of the C-suite to do the same.> The Business Value of Design 8