Sigh...

I really must be crazy to want to make aliyah. I mean to live in a country that could not sustain an IDEO office kind of depresses me. IDEO is probably the most successful design firm in the world. Though categorically an industrial design firm they do everything. Their founder David Kelley likes to think they sell design thinking rather than design. They had an office in Israel from 1998 - 2001 it's founder says it was closed because Israel was not ready for that kind of thinking. In Israel they think short term rather than long term. It is all about survival there. After learning about the closure of IDEO in Israel it suddenly makes sense why all the Israeli brand agencies aren't really brand agencies but are corporate identity design studios.

This kind of worries me. If IDEO could not survive there that does not give me much hope for the kind of design work I want to do. After all I want to be a brand strategist and design management consultant. I want to teach people how to use design thinking to enhance their businesses. I want to turn Israeli companies into international brands.

I know there is huge potential in what I do. I know I have what it takes to transform Israeli industry. I just don't know if Israel is ready for that.

On a more optimistic note the Israel Community of Designers started "Designed in Israel" in 2007. If you read the catalog from "Designed in Israel" 2008 you can see how Israel is starting to open up to the idea of design. I just hope it is enough.

This just gives me another reason to want to go to grad school. It gives Israel two extra years to get ready for me and my design thinking.