One Calendar with Social Networking PowersDesign Thinking: Actively Creating the Future
This morning a quote from Mark Fishman, M.D., President of Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research was brought to my attention. He said, “If you’re leading a team or mapping out a strategy—if you’re trying to solve a problem— you’re engaged in design.”
Well put Mark! This really captures everything we’ve been posting on the Design Changes blog around design thinking.
Regardless of you’re industry—finance, engineering, sales, marketing—we believe that when design thinking is applied to any problem, your chances of an innovation solution dramatically improves.
This is because design thinking is a not problem-focused mind-set —it’s a solution focused mind-set. It uses both left brain and right brain thinking to find an actionable solution. Design thinking can be applied to find:
1. Order in chaos
2. People-centered solutions
3. Emotional/desired appeals
4. Memorable, human experiences (scenarios/stories)
5. Unseen/overlooked opportunities
6. Possibilities for the future
7. Prototypes for solutions
Internationally renowned academic and author on business and management, Henry Mintzberg, wrote the influential book, The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning, and he claims, “Leaders and managers need to think like designers…Design and leadership are fundamentally about actively creating the future rather than reacting to the present.” Mintzberg points to large, successful corporations like Apple, Starbucks, Sony, and Virgin, that all use designed thinking in their leadership, management, market, creation and innovation.
Now, does their success prove that design thinking really works?
