IDEO’s Single Best Decision To Date
Appointing Sandy Speicher as CEO signals systems-level vision.
Today is a historic day for IDEO with Sandy Speicher stepping up as its CEO. It is simultaneously an unexpected, bold, and logical move. It’s a recognition that the future of design is more than about products, toolkits, and organizations (note: all are critical to the future). It’s about design at the level of systems with empathy at its core, and Sandy is just the leader to chart that course.
A few observations on Sandy, not that she (or you) need me to qualify her for this role.
When Sandy and I worked side-by-side in 2012 and 2013, everyone wanted her in every room — especially with clients. She listens, hears people, and understands them. And truly understands, even if she doesn’t agree.
Nobody asks better questions than Sandy.
Of particular resonance with IDEO’s raison d’être, she has an ability to extract herself from day-to-day business pressures to cultivate deep empathy — not only with stakeholders of a given project, but clients as well. Sandy believes in the power of relationships like few others. This consistently leads to step-change better design and business outcomes, for IDEO, its clients, and anyone impacted by their work.
Sandy has always been a team builder and, by extension, she perpetually inspires confidence. Despite so many of us seeking “the answer” from Sandy on a range of issues (I still do today), she never gives it to you. Instead, she leads you to discover them all for yourself.
She’s a Jedi.
She is also a business builder, having started IDEO’s Design for Learning practice from standstill, creating a model for how to birth new, multi-million dollar business units at the nexus of IDEO’s existential Venn diagram:
She was able to do this with the rarest of dedication and perseverance, simultaneously creating an entirely new field of design that continues to affect millions of people today.
Perhaps most relevant to what’s ahead for the field of design is that Sandy not only thinks in systems, but knows how to design and build them. While designers often gravitate toward divergent, inspirational paths and deliver idealized work, the devil always rears its head in executional details. Nowhere is this more challenging than with systems design, be they schools or cities. Sandy has a unique ability to capture and make use of the constraints of systems-level work, hold high vision and purpose, all while keeping execution at the fore. It’s astounding. Anyone who has worked with her has experienced this firsthand.
And what’s most exciting for IDEO, all IDEO designers, and the alum: Sandy is a “we” kind of leader. When she says that word, and she does it frequently, she means it. Everyone will know that we’re in it together — whatever “it” may be — with her. And that’s where the most powerful leadership comes from.
20 years ago IDEO founder David Kelley appointed his successor, Tim Brown. Tim did extraordinary things for IDEO while democratizing design thinking globally. When he started, few knew who he was. The same may now be true for Sandy, but soon the world will find out.
Personally, working with Sandy was a transformative experience and continues equally so as a friendship. We had a special working relationship that’s tough to find anywhere. When I left IDEO in early 2014, the hardest part was leaving her side as a daily collaborator. And when I recently learned she was appointed CEO of IDEO, I broke down in tears — for all the reasons.
Congratulations to you, Sandy, you deserve it. And thank you to the IDEO leadership for anointing an extraordinary human to take the field, and all of us, forward.
