Four ways business leaders can bottle IKEA’s ‘secret sauce’

I have a confession.

I have a professional crush.

And the object of my affection is IKEA.

The Swedish retailer has long been a bastion of innovation and creativity. It doesn’t always get it right, and has its share of design fails and problematic ethical decisions under its belt. However, its approach to product, innovation, and strategy regularly stand out as beacons of light in a sea of business headlines that could be straight out of the 1980s book of management.

Here are four IKEA stories from the last year that I’ve been admiring.

Retraining IKEA call centre staff to be virtual interior designers

Since 2021, IKEA has been training its 8,500 call centre teams as virtual interior designers, a new paid service that customers can access without the hefty price tag of paying an interior designer.