Grounding a leading Chinese smart home energy brand’s corporate vision in its own heritage

The deeper question behind

The brief was to define and design the corporate vision for the next stage of growth. The deeper question was which future of home energy this client was truly meant to build.

My leadership & impact: bridging Western design thinking with the company’s heritage

The team began where most vision projects begin: collecting trend signals and inspiration from around the world through futuring and design ideation.

I proposed the team also look inward, to the family’s roots in traditional Chinese philosophy, drawn from Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. I immersed myself in the classical texts that shaped the family’s thinking, and translated the abstract philosophical concepts into a relationship-based framework the team could design with.

Every trend and opportunity was mapped against it, then tested through client workshops, prototyping and consumer interviews.

Outcome

The framework earned the CEO’s full buy-in. One trend I developed, inspired by the altruism of Buddhist thought, resonated with him deeply and led him to share his vision for the company’s social responsibility with its senior leadership team. It also laid the foundation for the corporate vision film the team went on to produce in the next phase of the project.

Key learning

A corporate vision doesn’t always need to be invented from scratch. For this project, it was rooted in the founding family’s cultural DNA, bringing the spirit of traditional Chinese philosophy into a reimagined future for smart home energy, in a way that speaks to everyday consumers.

Details of this project are kept general for confidentiality. Happy to discuss the approach in conversation.