Warren Berger

Can great design transform people's lives? And can we all learn from the way great designers think? For a new generation of designers, such as Bruce Mau and Yves Behar, the answer to both questions is an unequivocal 'Yes'. To them, design is more tha n just a question of fashion or taste; it's a way of asking fundamental questions in order to solve complex problems. In "Glimmer", award-winning journalist Warren Berger shows how these visionary thinkers are taking design principles out of the stud io and applying them to the tough issues of today, from making medicines safer to counteracting the threats of global warming. By approaching seemingly intractable problems with simple thought-processes that often seem counter-intuitive - 'ask stupid questions', 'embrace constraint' - designers are creating 'glimmer moments', when a life-changing ideas crystallise in the mind, and coming up with breathtakingly innovative solutions.

To get a great answer, you need to ask the perfect question. Warren Berger revives the lost art of questioning. In this groundbreaking book, journalist and innovation expert Warren Berger shows that one of the most powerful forces for igniting change in business and in our daily lives is a simple, under-appreciated tool--one that has been available to us since childhood. Questioning--deeply, imaginatively, "beautifully"--can help us identify and solve problems, come up with game-changing ideas, and pursue fresh opportunities. So why are we often reluctant to ask "Why?" Berger's surprising findings reveal that even though children start out asking hundreds of questions a day, questioning "falls off a cliff" as kids enter school. In an education and business culture devised to reward rote answers over challenging inquiry, questioning isn't encouraged--and, in fact, is sometimes barely tolerated. And yet, as Berger shows, the most creative, successful people tend to be expert questioners. They've mastered the art of inquiry, raising questions no one else is asking--and finding powerful answers. The author takes us inside red-hot businesses like Google, Netflix, IDEO, and Airbnb to show how questioning is baked into their organizational DNA. He also shares inspiring stories of artists, teachers, entrepreneurs, basement tinkerers, and social activists who changed their lives and the world around them--by starting with a "beautiful question."

Can great design transform people's lives? And can we all learn from the way great designers think? For a new generation of designers, such as Bruce Mau and Yves Behar, the answer to both questions is an unequivocal 'Yes'. To them, design is more tha n just a question of fashion or taste; it's a way of asking fundamental questions in order to solve complex problems. In "Glimmer", award-winning journalist Warren Berger shows how these visionary thinkers are taking design principles out of the stud io and applying them to the tough issues of today, from making medicines safer to counteracting the threats of global warming. By approaching seemingly intractable problems with simple thought-processes that often seem counter-intuitive - 'ask stupid questions', 'embrace constraint' - designers are creating 'glimmer moments', when a life-changing ideas crystallise in the mind, and coming up with breathtakingly innovative solutions.