Design, creativity, and design thinking
Beforetimes were different than now and what’s next will be different, too. The difference is that one we can design for. The carefree days of standing out in public admiring the possibilities is what attracted me to this picture. There’s no digital things, the man is dressed up, there are flowers, yet he’s also mostly […]
Innovators are nothing without maintainers to keep those innovations working: we forget that at our peril. Innovation is what a colleague of mine calls one of those million dollar words that springs to mind all kinds of things that are meant to generate excitement in a business or organization. Beyond the myriad misuses and abuses
Innovators and Maintainers Read More »
Shared events do not always yield common experiences or perceptions: our design research must keep that in mind. Prior to the global pandemic of 2020 design philosophies tended to view research as ’rounding out’ or ‘filling the gaps’ in our knowledge about someone or something. Designers would assume they had a good read on what
Listening Matters Read More »
Checking our assumptions about basic things could be the difference between design delight and doom. If you were to tell me that one of the greatest lessons I would take from the pandemic – one of the few globally reaching, shared issues of the last 100 years — was a much deeper appreciation of diversity
Doing Our Homework on our Research Read More »
Path dependency is a concept in complexity science that refers to the way in which the past patterns influence current and future actions. Mindful attention to identifying these patterns and use of design thinking can help ensure that the past is not the present, unless we want it to be.
Designing For Path Dependency: The Case of Mental Health Read More »
Innovation has likely never been more important and that’s why its study and practice is no laughing matter. The systemic changes that are underway and amplified by the pandemic that arrived in 2020 has meant enormous changes for sectors across society and the world — one’s that will require attention for the decade to come.
Comical Innovation Read More »
A bull is charging us and knowing which which — if any — horn we will take will determine what we innovate for. Clayton Christensen passed away in 2020 — one of the year’s many losses — and was responsible for developing and popularizing the concept of the innovator’s dilemma. The book was largely focused
Innovator’s Dilemmas Read More »
What does it take to innovate? We look at the basics and what they mean for individuals and organizations looking to do it. Innovation is often equated with its products, not its process. That’s one of the reasons it’s often mis-understood and poorly done at an institutional level because the emphasis is placed on the
The Mindset, Skillset, Toolset for Innovation Read More »
Design Thinking is not only a means to innovate, but as a means to heal and grow. After a year that by most people’s standards was ugly beyond any others in recent memory, our need for beauty, sustainable and responsible businesses, supportive communities, and viable, service-forward industries needs this.
Design Thinking’s Triple-B Future Read More »
It’s possible to design a program or service that hits every note for some and becomes a monster for others. One of the principal outcomes of good design is inspiration. As I’ve written in a previous post, inspiration is the primary dividend for any design project and one of the few outcomes that are a
Inspiration and the Frankenstein Design Read More »
