Anytime human culture makes a massive shift, as it is doing now, there are a handful of minds at the forefront, helping the rest of us understand, integrate and create innovative solutions that work in our own unique situations.

The contributions of these people and companies are real and profound. I invite you explore more:

Nathan Shedroff
An experience strategist and chair of the California College of the Arts’ MBA in Design Strategy program, Nathan contends, ”While everything, technically, is an experience of some sort, there is something important and special to many experiences that make them worth discussing. In particular, the elements that contribute to superior experiences are knowable and reproducible, which make them designable.” Read more at Nathan’s site.

Steve Diller
A respected innovator and faculty in the California College of the Art’s Design MBA program, Diller grasps how innovation and experience drives customer response and behavior. He coauthored Making Meaning: How Successful Businesses Deliver Meaningful Customer Experiences with experience designer Nathan Shedroff and Cheskin CEO Darrel Rhea. Read more here.

Tim Brown / IDEO
Tim Brown urges designers to *think BIG*, utilizing a triune of *desirability*, *viability* and *feasibility* to achieve integrative thinking. President and CEO of IDEO, he participates in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and is a frequent lecturer on innovation and design thinking in relation to emerging economies.

d.school
The Institute of Design at Stanford, or “d.school”, is the hub where Stanford students and faculty in engineering, medicine, business, education and the humanities use a human-centered approach to solve big human problems. Their d.MANIFESTO encourages design thinkers to foster radical collaborations to tackle big projects.

Michael Barry
With two decades of experience in strategic innovation in the early stages of product development, Barry brings a deep subject knowledge and contagious enthusiasm to his work in the Stanford Design Program. You’ll find more on his background and his theory on “learning by doing” at the d.school site.

Doblin
“How do we define and measure innovation? How healthy is our company in terms of innovation and embracing change?” These are among the questions that Doblin helps organizations answer. Founded by industrial designer Jay Doblin (1920-1989), the firm “sets innovation strategy, develops and implements innovations, and builds capabilities to reliably continue the process.”

Adam Werbach / Saatchi & Saatchi S
Environmental activist and former president of the Sierra Club, Werbach formed Act Now Productions to consult with nonprofits and corporations on ways to “green” their operations. Acquired by Saatchi & Saatchi in 2008, the company was reformed as Saatchi & Saatchi S and now creates sustainable green visions in 80 countries worldwide. Werbach is a member of the American Advertising Federation Hall of Achievement’s 2011 cohort.

Whole Foods
The popular natural and organic grocery chain has thrived in a culture that puts healthy food ahead of corporate profits, team member happiness above bottom line concerns, and partnerships with suppliers in lieu of client-centric relationships. Crazy? Many thought so. Yet the proof, as they say, is in the checkout lines. Read more about Whole Foods’ Core Values.

Green Mapping
By putting sustainability quite literally “on the map,” the Green Mapping movement highlights green-thinking and helps raise citizens’ awareness of these resources in their communities. Green mapping solutions are creating a whole new way to look at cities like Pikes Peek, Colorado.

NextPlays
With a firm belief that “sustainability is an opportunity,” NextPlays helps companies plot sustainable futures for their client organizations. They believe that when everybody wins, everybody really wins. The design strategy consultancy is based in New Zealand and works on a global scale.

Added Value
A brand development and marketing insight firm, Added Value plays left brain against right to create what they call a culture of  ”disruptive innovation.” The design process is broken into three steps: observation, ideation and prototyping.