One Calendar with Social Networking PowersWhat Design Thinking Can Teach Businesses
If you asked a designer at my agency, “How many designers does it take to change a light bulb?”, they would certainly answer: “Does it have to be a light bulb?”
Very funny I know, but seriously, the tendency to challenge the very essence of my question is innate in designers, or rather people engaged in design thinking. They tend to ask a lot of questions—especially those that challenge existing or stale assumptions.
And yes, these questions might be dubbed “stupid questions” by those married to a certain convention or strategy, but as author, Warren Berger, points out, asking those “stupid questions…is the starting point in the design process, and has a profound influence on everything that follows.”
If you don’t believe it, try and think of how many times you’ve been stalled over the same old issue at your business. The vintage FedEx commercial that shows how corporate insiders can get so stuck in a rut that they no longer think for themselves is a great visual explanation of what I’m talking about. Many times it does take an outsider (or someone willing to question those conventions) to see the situation clearly—while stating the obvious.
Berger found this out when he spent time studying the likes of Bruce Mau, Richard Saul Wurman and Paula Scher, the most respected designers in the biz, who constantly discussed the importance of asking “stupid questions”.
In his article this morning from the Harvard Business Review, Berger points to specific ways that people in business can learn from design thinkers by learning to question, care, connect and commit to a final idea.
Read Berger’s full article and find out why you should apply a little design thinking to your own small business problems.
