An Oral History of The Design Behind Maserati's 2008 GranTurismo

Bill Breen — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:07:20 -0500

After a 50-year hiatus, Maserati, which has produced some of the world's most lust-worthy cars, revived its partnership with Pininfarina, the legendary design house. Pininfarina's founder, Batista "Pinin" Farina, penned both the 1500 GT—Maserati's first road car—and the A6 GCS, which is widely regarded as an absolute masterpiece.

An Authenticity Timeline

Bill Breen — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:06:54 -0500

A Recent History of Authenticity

Believing that authenticity is the "new IP"--because it's a source of competitive advantage that can't be copied--the folks at Ziba, the Portland, Oregon-based design consultancy, recently embarked on an effort to create a timeline (below) that traces authenticity's recent evolution.

To Read the Consumer's Mind

Bill Breen — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:23:38 -0500

FC: Many successful designs have sprung out of the designer's instinct for what will spark an emotional connection with consumers. Why, then, is consumer research even necessary?

McCallion: We don't negate the intuitive part of the design process. That's where a lot of breakthrough creation comes from, and we certainly don't want to miss that flash of brilliance. But in a commercial design shop, where clients expect you to repeatedly deliver a high level of performance on a vast range of projects, you can't just rely on your gut all the time.

The Business of Design

Bill Breen — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:23:31 -0500

Quick, what's your IQ? No, not your intelligence quotient -- your imagination quotient. In this turbulent, get-real economy, the advantage goes to those who can outimagine and outcreate their competitors. So says Roger Martin, who has devoted his professional life to the study of competition -- first as a director at Monitor Co., the Boston-based consultancy, and now as dean of the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management.

BMW: Driven by Design

Bill Breen — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:21:27 -0500

The room is called, appropriately enough, the Penthouse. It takes up about 14,000 square meters atop the Forschungs- und Innovationszentrum, better known as the FIZ, BMW's sprawling, glass-and-steel R&D center in Munich, Germany. The Penthouse stands empty, save for a lone car cloaked in silver canvas. Parked on the west side of the room, the car is backed by floor-to-ceiling windows that reveal a great dome of sky filled with roiling thunderheads. Standing next to the car is a 45-year-old native of Wausau, Wisconsin named Chris Bangle.

The Clear Leader

Bill Breen — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:19:37 -0500

Dip into most corporate or business-school curricula on leadership and you'll find a mind-numbing list of skills that the aspiring leader must master, from motivating to communicating to counseling to managing conflict, and on and on. Corporate America has vastly overcomplicated the role of a leader, says Marcus Buckingham, and that's a shame, because those disciplines, while important, fail to get to the heart of true leadership.

Mogul for a Day

Bill Breen — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:43:56 -0500

I am the living, breathing personification of the dotcom economy. For one year, I ruled the world. But in a few swift, brutal months, my whole world collapsed.

Bill Seidman: The Enforcer

Bill Breen — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:41:56 -0500

A headline-grabbing scandal. Congressional hearings. Criminal charges on the horizon. It's happening now with Enron, but Bill Seidman has seen this movie before. Seidman played a starring role in one of the biggest scandals to ever hit corporate America: the savings-and-loan disaster of the 1980s and early 1990s.

Leadership Voyage

Bill Breen — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:41:43 -0500

Read the Main Story: High Stakes, Big Bets

During the next 18 months, Lockheed Martin's Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program will grow from 500 to 5,000 managers and engineers, many of whom will be scattered across two countries (the United States and the United Kingdom) and nine time zones. It's up to Tom Burbage, who directs Lockheed's JSF effort, to meld this diffuse group of aerospace veterans into a team.

Mogul for a Day

Bill Breen — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:39:49 -0500

I am the living, breathing personification of the dotcom economy. For one year, I ruled the world. But in a few swift, brutal months, my whole world collapsed.