Creative Drive

Believe. Bangle isn't much for "being teamy." But he makes a point of pairing up engineers and finance experts with members of the design team to hang out at car shows and other events. Why? On the business side, it helps the suits understand what the designers are doing. Plus, it's good for designers to have a friend or two who sees why you must use leather that costs three times more than the budget calls for.

See. "Humans need time to get used to newness," even if that's something that they themselves created. If you don't give designers time to get comfortable with their own creation, they will keep second-guessing the curve of a roof or the shape of a grill -- even after it's been cast in metal. By then it's too late or too costly to implement those changes that would make the design perfect.

Contact Chris Bangle by email (christopher.bangle@bmw.de).