Max DePree, North Americas First CEO Design Thinker

The former CEO on Herman Miller, Max DePree said, Ive got so many MBAs, but what I need
is a poet. Poets are the original systems thinkers."
This poetic mode is the critical perspective for in a human-factor and design businessand
Herman Miller is the most apt precursor in the Design Thinking revolution, so they knew the
value of this holistic, poetic lens where anything can be better designed to better suit real
people.
Even DePrees little instructional manual on running a successful business made a statement,
as it was entitled Leadership Is An Art. Not a science, mind you, but leadership as an art. This
book has sold more than 800,000 copies despite the mad rush that seeks to turn business into
a science (look no further than a degree in Management Science for proof of this statement).
DePree was a Design Thinking pioneer and also the archetype of the type of leader who will
successfully run the businesses of the coming era, the human-to-human age of commerce.
At the time of the books release, the title would have been added to a shelf with many titles
about the science of business. True to his vision, DePree followed up with Leadership Jazz,
furthering the intuitive, way-finding, and non-linear approach to designing an entire
organization. Design was at the heart of his entire world-view, and it propelled Herman Miller
into an inspired phase of growth in the market.
Empathy and cooperation were foremost traits in this style of organization. DePree cultivated
an inclusive corporation, where all voices could be heard. He also looked at the entire
corporate culture as if it were a human and gave it human virtues. To his credit he saw no
oppositions to celebrating business success while crafting a caring organization.
Much of DePrees success stemmed from instituting empathy and communication as strands of
organizational DNA of Herman Miller. He actively encouraged open communication and noted
that all should err on the side of over-communication.

Lastly, the art of leadership, for DePree, was poetic. The opening lines of his famous little
book proclaim, The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank
you.
Defining reality is the great commission, the heroic charge, and the real test of authentic
leadership. Leaders must filter so many worlds at oncesociety, trends, the market, adjacent
markets, competitors, company culture, debts and investment, short- and long-term plans. To
be able to define a reality for an entity is to give it license to live up to its full potential, to
provide the groundwork for the organization to thrive.
Saying thank you means enduring the rigors of running a business and emerging with a
tangible and contagious spirit of gratitude for the people, processes, and circumstances that
merge to make it happen. Saying thank you also means that you are flexible enough to learn
from mistakes as they arise instead of thinking of them as failures.
Thank you, Max DePree, for defining a potent and beneficial reality of leadership for the next
generation.
Michael Graber is the managing partner of the Southern Growth Studio, an innovation and
strategic growth firm based in Memphis, TN. Visit www.southerngrowthstudio.com to
learn more.