While I’m not certain what Adaptive Path* does, I do know one of their workers spoke to Pentagram’s Michael Bierut recently. Here’s a snippet of his elevated thinking:
I’ve come to believe strongly that one of the roles of design is to bring humanity, intelligence and beauty to the world of business, and indeed to everyday life. In my experience, good clients and good designers don’t see this goal as being opposed to — or even separate from — achieving business goals, but rather an integral part of it. It’s a dirty secret that much of what we admire in the design world is a byproduct not of “strategy” but of common sense, taste and luck. Some clients are too unnerved by ambiguity to accept this, and create garganuan superstructures of bullshit to provide a sense of security. Not only do designers enthusiastically collude in this process, but many have found ways to bill for it.
*According to their site, they’re seasoned practitioners, authors, speakers, and teachers, native to the Web and business savvy.