Knowledge Management supports design-driven innovation

How can knowledge management support design-driven innovation? 

Design-driven innovation is often-times discussed in small group or meeting sessions. The idea behind design and innovation is that marketing teams try to brainstorm around a particular group to develop or change a product to meet the groups needs or desires. This type of activity requires meetings where information is passed between the different levels (R&D, marketing, finance, etc). 

In design-thinking there are three levels that the thinking go through: People, Technical and Business. Will it attract to the people, is it technically feasible to produce or design and is it viable to the Business ideas and plans. During the many phases that this thinking will have to go through, knowledge management plays an important role in keeping the information organized and relevant. How information is passed from group to group will determine how the information is perceived. It is often said that perception is 9/10 reality. I believe that to be true. 

 In the many phases of design-driven innovation (Inspiration, Ideation and Implementation) there are knowledge transfers that take place. In those knowledge transfers, the different entities of the business design phase work together to share knowledge that they each have in their area of expertise. Without a strong knowledge management framework, the different entities can get lost in their idea. Tim stated in his speech that if a company spent 6 months and 1 million dollars on each different idea that their design team had, they would a. never get anything done and b. be broke and have to cease business. What's the point right? 

In my field, knowledge transfer is how things are organized and how different teams are brought to the same level of thinking. There are many expertise that exist and not all people are masters at everything. Typically we wear many hats and are considered specialists in the field that we choose. There has to be an equal sharing of knowledge for all groups to mesh and co-exist in the business world.