than ENGINEEREmeric Delalandre

more DESIGNER

2016July

Iteem

THANKS

to

to WHOM IT MAY CONCERN,

ITEEM, SKEMA, NCSU,to

THE IMPACTING MINDS,

toTHE SHAPING EXPERIENCES,

toTHE DISRUPTIVE FEELINGS,

to

HIM, to HER. to

THE PURPOSEFUL IDEAS,to the readings, online sources and class materials I used towrite this essay (for more details: ctrl+c, ctrl+v on Google),

CONTEXT

in an engineering school, we study thesolutions of yesterday's challengestheory

reality

the currentchallenges

We need to explore yesterday's engineering in order to design solutions for today's

challenges.

We need to be

than ENGINEERmore DESIGNER

CONTEXT According to the CTI (Commission des Titres d'Ingénieurs), the French

official body in charge of the evaluation and accreditation of higher education

institutions in the fields of engineering, an engineer is a person whose job is to

bring and fix problems in an effective and innovative way. The problems

encountered are often complex, dealing with creation, conception, realization,

or implementation challenges, within an organization contextualized by its

products, systems, services, financing and marketing. As a result, the engineer

must have a set of technical, economic, social and human knowledge, based on

solid scientific culture. This is basically why, in France, you have to attend a

CTI-accredited school to get the official engineer title.

The Institut Technologique Européen d'Entrepreneuriat et de Management

(Iteem, department of the Ecole Centrale de Lille, co-directed by Skema Business

School) is a French CTI-accredited engineering school located in Lille, North of

France. Five years ago, I was 18 years old, good in sciences, wishing to learn

how to become successful in life and I thought that becoming an Engineer

Manager Entrepreneur, was potentially a great idea. That was definitely a

tremendous opportunity. I went for it. I thought the goal of a great education

program was to learn answers to existing problems. I was wrong, I learned

that progress is always about three questions: why, then how and finally what. I

am about to graduate with more questions than answers, which is really

exciting. Entrepreneur state of mind. I feel blessed and I wish to thank

everybody I met during those years who helped me understand that I was not

simply becoming an engineer in the old-fashioned and technical sense of the

CTI job title, I am on my way to design things that matter to my personal

context with the world in mind.

I believe that being an engineer is having a purpose, being so passionate that

you act without thinking that it is a daily job and that you sow seeds which

benefit others. If being an engineer is just a job for those who went to the same

schools, then I rather be a problem solver designer.

FOREWORD Let's think about some important technical achievements: cars, phones,

buildings, vaccines, beauty, processes or even television. Engineering products,

services, structures, tools, and electronics that people love to use takes more

than math and science. It takes an understanding of human nature, needs,

habits, desires, abilities, cultures and contexts.

By going deeper on this reflexion, technical and technological innovations

require talented and skilled individuals, entrepreneurs, and investors excited by

risks and the opportunities that come with them. Technics, passionate minds

and visionary thoughts have given us the world we live in. The 21st century

inherited complex challenges that require new methodologies and processes to

solve, challenges that are way different than the cases seen at school, and even

sometimes unpredictable. Engineering has a critical role to play in solving these

problems, so the educational system needs to evolve in ways that require

considerable organizational change. I am confident that CTI-accredited schools

are delivering students who excel in applied sciences. The big deal is now to

prepare the future leaders to also have a broad knowledge of other disciplines,

and wish to connect and apply advances in engineering to society.

This is what I call designing: a balance of critical thinking skills, necessary

analysis, active learning, innovation and theory to better a special context. It

requires smooth communication and organization. The overall objectives of the

designer are to identify and explore the main issues and challenges facing a

certain reality (which could be internal of an organization, for a community or

globally around the world). The designer is not only a problem-solver, it relates

to the development, acquisition and application of knowledge about the

understanding, design, development, invention, innovation and use of

materials, machines, structures, systems and processes for specific purposes,

that matter. The designer, in the sense of the consistent engineer, connects

theory and reality, in order to create developments with a purpose, to impact.

THE ROLE OF THE ENGINEERDESIGNERSCIENCE

ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

PSYCHOLOGY

SOCIETY

&

NATUREDESIGNER

TECHNOLOGY

Tools

Needs

Needs

Ressources

Needs

Solutions

Benefits

Theories

We, the designers, need to manage the engineering support and the contextual data in

order to deliver values.

We need to be

than ENGINEERmore DESIGNER

DESIGN What's the purpose of designing solutions instead of only solving problems ?

I would like to think that everyone has some engineering capability and is able

to develop related solutions from existing ones. Thinking and acting like a

designer is fundamentally different because it means transforming the way

products, services or processes are implemented. By observing the world we

walk through every day with the buildings and roads we see, the daily objects

we use and the thoughts we share, we can learn to see the world as engineers

do. Although design is most often used to describe a style or an object, design at

its roots refers to a process, an action, a verb not a noun, a protocol for solving

problems but also creating value by innovating in discovering new

opportunities. This approach answers to the increasing complexity of modern

technology, modern business and more globally, modern challenges. Design

consists in a set of principles including empathy with users, prototyping and

tolerance for failure to develop a responsive, flexible organizational culture. It

is all about bringing ideas to life, not only having ideas or already known

solutions.

In reality, solutions, to be successful must be distinguished by more than

sufficient function, consistent quality, and low cost as we learn in engineering

schools. A considerable competitive advantage might be gained by reconsidering

traditional solutions with a fresh eye and approach. Why do only a few of the

welter of products on the market seem to account for the bulk of sales and

profits in many categories ? Why Cupcakes are more successful than

Magdalenas ? I believe it is because these products emphasize customer delight,

elegance, and enduring value. They may even acquire increasing value over

time. This is our challenge as designers to deliver great value opportunities.

PRINCIPLE To optimize its impact on organization outcomes, design should be the path to

understanding stakeholder needs, the tool for visualizing new solutions, and the process for

translating big ideas into effective strategies. It is very different. Because everyone is an

engineer, by expanding a design approach across the organization, this set more dramatic

growth possibilities, which is the goal of any structure. Designing is now crucial because the

world today is dynamic and ever-changing with shifting social values, global economic

instability but global marketplace, connecting technology and consumers higher

expectations. Many engineers are finding solutions that were successful in the past but are

now too rigid to rise to new challenges and opportunities. The structures are currently

searching for better, faster, and more efficient ways of tuning up their

organizations, mobilizing their human capital, and evolving their business models to get

ahead of the curve. This requires to be innovative and not apply old-fashioned engineering

principles. Designers are multifunctional in order to be business modelers.

Solutions design is about creating a model for symbiotically delivering market value and

stakeholder value. It works by mastering multidisciplinary collaboration,

considering altogether new possibilities rather than aiming for incremental

improvements, sourcing creativity from constraints, prototyping early and iterating quickly,

and creating new and better models through a systematic approach. The good news is that the

CTI-accredited engineers can have what it requires to be great designers: skills, discipline and

courage learned at school, open-mindedness, imagination, and perseverance which are

personal and learnable attributes.

The problem of today's engineers is that they are trained to be smart people and for most of

us, smart people are the best at talking about things for far too long. Designers are obsessively

‘making-oriented’ because making is the moment talk gets real and bring a real value. Before

that moment, everything is just... words, knowledge, tools, or CTI-accredited engineering

blabla.

UNDERSTAND The reason why of things is often obvious but missed by engineers. It is

crucial to understand the customer (and other critical stakeholders) more

broadly and deeply instead of bringing a solution from assumptions to have a

million dollar idea. This helps to frame the challenges through the eyes of the

end user (and not on with the view of a demanding engineering expert) and

establish a human context for innovation and value creation. Let's be clear, as

designers we need to understand the people for whom you are designing because

the problems we are trying to solve are rarely ours. As a result, what matters is

to reveal the gaps between what people need holistically to be fully satisfied and

what is currently available to them. Here are the magic opportunities for adding

new value, for innovation with purpose.

In order to obtain a global contextual approach of the customer habits,

needs, characteristics or values, the designer has to be a marketing thinker

exploring market reports or quantitative research data. However, the designer

has to go deeper by building empathy and revealing the underlying motivations

or unmet needs. This qualitative approach helps to understand the opportunity

of the engineering later process. The perspective of considering the wider

activity surrounding the target audience enables to create value in new ways. It

also helps to understand the relationships and the roles among a larger

ecosystem, from end-users to enablers and influencers. As an engineer, it is

relevant because it could allow to to get traction by building an engineering

solution with a full potential, meeting untapped opportunities.

In 2007, when Steve Jobs announced that Apple was going to reinvent the

phone, the world didn’t have any idea of the impact the iPhone was going to

have on the world. The first of its kind, the iPhone broke ground with a

primarily touch-driven user interface, a clean hardware design and an intuitive

user-oriented software with the possibility to make it evolve and personalized

with applications. Today, most of the cellphones have these pioneering

attributes. This was definitely not just formal engineering.

UNDERSTAND By observing users of a product or service and their behavior in the context

of their existence, a designer could bring the most disruptive and successful

realizations because there are frequently a disconnect between what someone

says and what he does. Other game-changing innovations come from things a

user missed to even think to mention in conversation. When we pick up a

dinner fork we rarely think about why it came to be, but the fork has been

designed in order to facilitate every meal and remplace our own hands.

Sometimes, by engaging an open-conversation we can uncover deeper

meaning. Engagement can come through both short intercept and longer

conversations. To broaden the lens of opportunity, it is important to look

beyond the direct use of a product or service, to the context in which it is used.

It also allows one to understand consumers: what they do, how they feel, and

how their needs link to other parts of their life. The better one's know its

audience, the more efficient will be the the tailor-made solution.

Finally, by actively listening and watching, we can understand how someone

completes a task. Why people are doing what they do is crucial and a great

source of innovation opportunities. The gap between what's going through

people's minds as they perform a task or interact with an object and what they

actually do is unbelievable: so many stories are embodied in artifacts or

emotions.

Snapchat's deep understanding of the smartphone users goes way beyond the

utility of the camera of their phone. Snapchatters are deeply motivated by the

emotions set by ephemeral visuals used for talking. Historically, photos have

always been used to save major life memories. Snapchat has shaped a new form

of connectivity that combines mobility, engagement, playful creativity,

uniqueness and fun filters. The idea was maybe born from a conversation about

sexting. Today, it is one of the hottest app of all the times. Dear engineers,

designing something with a purpose worth more than showcasing useless skills.

VISUALIZE Designing echoes to no constraints, only possibilities for serving the unmet

needs discovered in the deep understanding of the context, and moves through

multiple-prototyping and concept enrichment. All the radical innovations of our

lifetime that now seem so necessary started out as impossible for a majority.

Visualizing as entrepreneurs allowed Starbucks to become one of the most

successful brand of the world. With €4 cool cups of coffee please. The designers

of these products, services, and businesses have the ability to envision new

possibilities by paying attention to the minds and issues they understood.

To forecast new possibilities, we need to discuss the collective

imagination and test new concepts in concrete form. Inspired by a great

understanding of human needs, designers openly explore the broadest set of

solutions, way beyond the current enterprise model and competencies. Engineers

say: "we know to be true" or "the theory and our experience suggest". For a

game-changing designer, critical-thinking is crucial and it sounds unreasonable

to hear: “we can’t do that”. Life begins at the end of our comfort zone.

One of the world’s breakthrough human, Howard Hughes, was forever

tinkering with engines, designing and making them better. In the 1930s, Hughes

dreamed of breaking the world airspeed record, so he designed and built a plane

specifically for that purpose. The result was the revolutionary H-1 racer, an

unbelievable in aerodynamics that did indeed set a new world airspeed record.

Hughes next set his sites on conquering the globe so he piloted a Lockheed

Model 14 around the world in less than 4 days. The flight not only set a new

record, but also helped pave the way for the commercial airline industry.

Nowadays, who could imagine our world without aviation ?

Ideation and prototyping captures the creativity of an ecosystem. New

possibilities for creating user value in a more imaginative, compelling, and

concrete way than the best-crafted document can be generated. Emotions,

images or feelings are more powerful than words.

VISUALIZE In order to transition from identifying problems to creating solutions, the

designer has to push for the widest range of ideas from which we can select, not

simply find a single, best solution which will be discovered later, through user

testing and feedback. By combining a conscious and unconscious mind, we

can leverage the synergy of a group of users, designers and stakeholders.

Adding constraints, surrounding ourselves with inspiring thoughts, and

embracing uncertainty allows to reach further. Then, in physically making

something we can encourages new ideas to come forward.

Jack Ma, the founder of the successful marketplace Alibaba, failed more

than most of us could stomach in a lifetime: he almost didn’t get into middle

school, stayed optimistic after being turned down for 30 jobs and even couldn’t

convince Silicon Valley to fund Alibaba. Adaptability and ideation is key to

success in the current fast-changing environment. Many innovation

opportunities can shift from failures to jackpot with time and courage.

To make the design even more performant, involving end-users in

feedback and concept enrichment early on makes sense. Those co-development

interactions help. Also, designers get stronger insights from moving on to a

better iteration, with cheaper low-resolution prototypes of breakthrough

experiences versus expensive mock-ups.

In the early days of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk gave a test drive to the

founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. There was some bug in the

system and the car would only go 15 km/h. Despite the world’s worst demo

according to Musk, they invested a certain amount of money in the potential of

the company. What really matters is recognizing the mistakes, adapting quickly

and fixing the false promises upon which the innovation was funded. Tesla is

now considered as the future of energy and transportation, which used to be

engineering disciplines lead by formal engineers, while engineers used to have a

strong ego. Designers are open-minded engineers.

STRATEGIZE To align broad concepts with future realities through strategy formulation

and design of the business model itself, the engineer is the one who is able to

explore what it would take to make the “big idea” commercially viable. A net

commercial gain and competitive advantage can be reached by structuring

internal and external activities. Each of these components will cost money, save

money, generate revenue or retention, at the same time. Although at first, the

investment may appear prohibitive, through iterative integration it can be

designed to be a net benefit. Strategizing entails prototyping the model to identify

which strategies will drive success, to prioritize which activities must

be undertaken to deliver those strategies, and to define the relationship of

those parts strategically, operationally, and economically, by leveraging current

equities and capabilities, and by creating new activities and capabilities both

within the organization and through partnerships.

Through this iterative process of prototyping (first on a conceptual solution,

then on the strategic business model), and constant assessment of user value

(based on the identified user needs and considerations), designers can formulate

a strategy for a new level of innovation and competitive advantage in order

to create value for the market and the enterprise.

Testing is another opportunity to know the user, but unlike the

understanding, we have now likely done more framing of the problem and

created prototypes to challenge a solution with feedbacks. The designer always

prototype as if he or she know it is the right solution, but test as if it was

the wrong one because testing is the chance to refine solutions and make

them better. Engineering people are taught to be right and right away, while

designers are always in a process of discovery that continues even after

a solution is released.

STRATEGIZE Every single good strategy that requires a human being (who can't be

replaced by artificial intelligence) start with modeling opportunities without

knowing much of anything, then embrace conversations that will get to better

assumptions. By highlighting the things an engineer doesn’t know and sharing

the work in progress, the challenges will evolve from scary moments into

exciting possibilities to bring value, all together, with the stakeholders.

The best strategy designed for a certain purpose in a certain context should

be the result of three questions : “What is the need driving this initiative ?”,

“Have we pushed out on the possibilities to best serve that need ?”, “How can

we embed that into our business model to create a sustainable advantage ?”.

Far from static, the context requires flexibility and agility to be the engineer

of tomorrow. The designer adopts an ongoing mindset to stay ahead of the

curve. The needs of the user evolve, and thus the business model must evolve.

The more we see our activities as a living organisms rather than as fixed

models, the more the engineers will be poised to respond to ongoing

opportunities. Organizations can no longer count on quality, performance or

price alone to sustain leadership but CTI-accredited engineers are trained to

focus on these aspects at work. By consciously fostering the emotional

environment and embracing a design approach, the engineer could deliver

efficient strategies which translate inspiration into implementation.

In 1956, Wilson Greatbath was building a heart rhythm recording device. He

reached into a box for a resistor to complete the circuitry, but pulled out the

wrong one. He installed the ill-fitting resistor and noticed that the circuit

emitted electrical pulses. It made him think of the timing of the heartbeat so he

thought this rhythmic electrical stimulation could compensate for a breakdown

in the heart's ability to pump its own muscles, an idea that had intrigued him in

the past, but one that he hadn't thought was possible at the time. That is how he

invented the pacemaker, which finally became a winning strategy.

VISION OF THE ENGINEERDESIGNER

MANAGER

DESIGNERENGINEER

PSYCHOLOGIST

We need to be

than ENGINEERmore DESIGNER

We, the designers, should not only ensure feasible innovations that will deliver

benefits to the structure. Our fundamental role is to address business

challenges through realistic solutions that balance the benefit to the company with

value to the target.

VISION OF THE ENGINEERDESIGNER

We need to be

than ENGINEERmore DESIGNER

PSYCHOLOGY MANAGEMENT

BENEFIT

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

WHY ? HOW ? WHAT ?

DESIGN

ENGINEERING

Engineers have to find added-value-things ? Design, which requires both expansive,

exploratory methods as well as prioritization and focus, increases the chances of

finding the most efficient solutions. A new benefit is the result of an innovation.

TIPS FOR ME AS AN ENGINEERAS A DESIGNERTO BE SPECIAL

Congratulations Emeric on getting your dream master's CTI-accredited

engineering degree ! Enjoy the moment and the feeling of freedom that comes

with starting your career. Just keep in the back of your mind that one day you

will realize that real life comes with being able to walk away from what you

once coveted, instead of sticking to it at any cost. Also, remember that your

identity does not come from the designation you have at your jobs but what

inspires you, what makes you feel free, the reason why you exist. Is your

purpose in life being an engineer ? Does being a designer makes you feel really

special ? Not really. So, design you reasons to be alive. Learning is a process

not an event and the moment you graduate is when the real things that will

have a consistent value in the real world are able to start, when real learning

begins. Be an entrepreneur. Lots of opportunities will come your way. Make

sure to never start by asking the designation and salary. Ask about the culture,

the projects and the people that will surround you. The more you say yes, the

more you will grow personally and professionally. Challenge the known and

embrace the unknown, it is always time to take this risk because you have

almost nothing to lose and everything to gain if you put your lifetime existence

in perspective. Great things happen to people who question the status quo. Once

again, is being a CTI-accredited engineer in the mind of your relatives your

aspiration in life ? Or maybe is it more making great things that matters for the

world ? Ok, so make it happen. If there is no door open to achieve this goal,

build a new door. A beautiful one please. You are a engineer, designer, manager,

entrepreneur, blabla, isn't it ? What is really significant in your life is whether

you deliver results or you don’t, so make it happen. Finally, nothing can replace

your family and friends or bring them back once they are gone. Never forget

what designed you, who evangelized you, the reason why you are doing things.

Feel blessed and love. Be thankful to Iteem.

PROJECTION0

15

Birth.

16Started living by myself.

20Lived in New York, USA.

Tragic event. Made a commitment.

19Met my most influential mentors.

22Launched my first company. Joined Apple.

Lessons, on Meetings, on Emotions,

My Career My Life is co-designed.

1Birth of my daily inspiration, my brother.

6Met my most loyal friends.

EVANGELISMStill prototyping.

PERSONAL DESIGN VISION I have always been interested and excited in challenges that offers an ideal

opportunity, as a designer and entrepreneur specialized in customer orientation,

to take a role in the creation or expansion of disruptive ways to bring value. I

believe that my business oriented mindset, my passion for learning and my

managerial skills can contribute to the development of a sustainable world. I am

looking to contribute and take responsibilities in the sectors of marketing,

research, project management, business development and strategy in a fast-fun-

growing company combining a technical part with an exclusive customer-

oriented approach. Here are my personal interests: entrepreneurship (I would say

that it is my ultimate hobby, I want to be part of a global change which creates

value), exclusive marketing (where my major work and school experiences are),

startup spirit (I mostly prefer a multitasks position with responsibilities to be

involved) and technology (I really think that the new possibilities create tons of

opportunities for the world and I want to be an actor of this change in

behaviors).

I believe that I need to experience a globally-oriented role: recently I had the

opportunity to ensure an Executive Assistant position in a luxury jewelry in a

well-known French seaside town where I met many influent people from all over

Europe. I also had the chance to work in Marketing for the France Tourism

Development Agency in New York, France being the most visited country of the

world at this time, experiencing terrorists attacks I had to manage with 360°

communication campaigns across the United States. I also had the desire to

discover the most of this world so I already studied in different places around the

world and visited more than 15 countries. In addition to all these great moments

which probably represent only a little part of my entire life, I had really hard

times, struggling financially to live decently, wishing to give up after loosing

someone or something I was really in love with. As a result of these revealing

experiences, I decided to run and develop a life (and not only a business) with an

international dimension, combining innovation and customer-orientation.

I am currently involved in the launch of a watchmaking company with one of

my previous employer. We started and are progressing for and with the

customers. We have innovative patterns which took a deep understanding of all

the stakeholders, an incredible design approach that is leading to a killer

business model. When I say that entrepreneurship is my hobby, I really mean it.

After finishing my three Master’s degrees, I have been recruited in parallel by

Apple through the company’s future retail talent program. I am a kind-of Apple

in-store evangelist. In fact, I have no regular job and this is what excites me. I

wish to have diverse activities with diverse people for the rest of my life in order

to experience as many perspectives I could. Designer state of mind.

Thanks for reading. Your feedback is much appreciated.I'm still prototyping.

Emeric.

PERSONAL DESIGN VISION

ENGINEERS

the world needs

because worth more than features

than

Emeric Delalandreemeric.delalandre@gmail.com

more DESIGNERS

BENEFITS