C.K. Prahalad: Designing with respect

 When I was researching The Strategic Designer I came across a great little book titled The Future of Competition: Co-creating unique value through customers. The book describes a model for value creation in which people create their own value through companies, and companies gain competitive advantage by how well they are able to provide unique experiences to the individual consumer.  It was not a new idea, and had been expressed by others like Pat Seybold’s Outside Innovation, but it was clearly and concisely written, and gave a nice framework for thinking about co-creation.

It wasn’t till I read about Prahalad’s death today, that I learned of his work with businesses showing them how they could make a profit while helping the poor. His vision for large-scale entrepreneurship and for corporate commitment to the 4 billion people who live in poverty was noble, and his respect for those at the “Bottom of the Pyramid” was indicated by his inclusion of them as co-creators in solving their own problem.

That kind of thinking will be missed.