Tim Brown is the CEO of the "innovation and design" firm IDEO — taking an approach to design that digs deeper than the surface.

Why you should listen

Tim Brown is the CEO of innovation and design firm IDEO, taking an approach to design that digs deeper than the surface. Having taken over from founder David E. Kelley, Tim Brown carries forward the firm's mission of fusing design, business and social studies to come up with deeply researched, deeply understood designs and ideas -- they call it "design thinking."

IDEO is the kind of firm that companies turn to when they want a top-down rethink of a business or product -- from fast food conglomerates to high-tech startups, hospitals to universities.

IDEO has designed and prototyped everything from a life-saving portable defibrillator to the defining details at the groundbreaking Prada shop in Manhattan to corporate processes. And check out the Global Chain Reaction for a sample of how seriously this firm takes play.

Curious about design thinking? Sign up for an IDEO U design thinking course or check out this free toolkit: Design Thinking for Educators.

What others say

“We need more executives like Brown who understand how creativity works.” — Ginger Grant, comment, TED.com

Tim Brown’s TED talks

More news and ideas from Tim Brown

Ideas

Nature knows best: A biologist and a designer take creative direction from the Earth’s operating system

February 7, 2014

“Borrowing” as a concept is de rigeur in the creative industries and beyond. What’s that too-often quoted aphorism? “Good artists copy; great artists steal”? Plenty of people have trotted that out as justification for acts they want us to believe are far superior to and way different from plagiarism. In this nuanced conversation, biologist and […]

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Arts + Design

The world’s best creative director: Nature

February 7, 2014

What's that too-often quoted aphorism? "Good artists copy; great artists steal"? In this nuanced conversation, biologist Janine Benyus speaks with Tim Brown, chief executive of IDEO, to discuss what's really interesting about borrowing.

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Entertainment

The London Olympics opening ceremony … in TED Talks

July 28, 2012

Last night’s Opening Ceremony for the 2012 Olympics was filled with symbolism and storytelling over centuries of UK history. Intrigued by the stories and players? Dive into these related TEDTalks! The Olympic pageant begins with an idyllic vision of green fields — coolly surveyed by a top-hatted engineer with grand plans to build the UK […]

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