Making Sense of Strategic Design Practice 2015

MAKING SENSE OF INNOVATION

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TalkingUpSenseMaking

Making Sense of Strategic Design Practice 2015AnaBarrosoinConversationwithGK.VanPatter

Part2of3

AskHUMANTIFIC

“ Mainstreammediastilltendstodepictthepurposeofdesignthinkingasproduct,serviceandexperiencecreation.Whilethoseallremainveryusefulcontributionsthatisaratheroldschool,oldnewsapproachtodesignthinking.Itisadepictionthatmissesmuchofthefrontierworkgoingontodayinthestrategicdesignpracticecommunity.”

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MAKING SENSE OF INNOVATIONQuestion 2.

Ana Barroso: Welcome back to Part 2 of this conversation GK. Here in Latin America we are seeing rising interest in the subject of sensemaking, maybe because we have a lot of complicated things going on here!

One of the layers of findings you apply to the NextD Geographies framework has to do with the toolboxes that are increasingly more complex and cross disciplinary in Design 3 and 4. What skills does it take to conduct a visual sensemaking process? Do you believe a non-designer, without formal academic training, can make a good 3.0 or 4.0 design thinker or sensemaker? Can you describe the process of capacity building Humantific does in its innovation capacity programs?

[Note:ThisarticlewasfirstpublishedinOctober2015onG.K.VanPatter’sLinkedInblog]

GK VanPatter:HiAna.Iseeyouliketoaskdifficultquestions!☺OKIamhappytocontinueourconversationhere.Ifourpurposeistoquicklymakesenseofwhatisgoingoninstrategic design practicetoday,ie:howwehelpothers,severalmind-shiftsbeyondtraditionalnotionsofwhatdesign thinkingisanddoesareuseful.

Toasignificantdegreethepracticeofapplyingdesign thinkinginthecontextoforganizationalandsocietalchangemakinghasalreadychangedtothedegreethatitmightbeunrecognizabletosomefolksworkingintraditionaldesignways…☺Thisisonereasonwhywesaydesign thinking isnotonethingbutratherchangesfromscaletoscale.That’snotafutureprediction.That’salreadyadonedeal.What’sgoingonislessabouttransformingtraditionaldesignpracticeandmoreaboutcreatingnewpathsandnewformsofpractice.Thattrainhasalreadyleftthestation,orperhapsmoreprecisely,multipletrains.

Mainstreammediastilltendstodepictthepurposeofdesign thinking asproduct,serviceandexperiencecreation.Whilethoseallremainveryusefulcontributionsthatisaratherold school, old newsapproachtodesign thinking.Itisadepictionthatmissesmuchofthefrontierworkgoingontodayinthestrategic design practice community.

In new practice design thinkingthereisalreadyamorerobustandrealisticmethodsorientedoutlook.Partofthatoutlookshiftisrecognizingthattoworkopenlyandeffectivelyintheorganizationalchange(Design 3)andsocietalchange(Design 4)requiresadiversetoolboxthatengageswithoutpreconceivedassumptionsregardingwhatthechallengesareandwhatsolutionpathsmightbe.

“Toasignificantdegreethepracticeofapplyingdesignthinkinginthecontextoforganizationalandsocietalchangemakinghasalreadychangedtothedegreethatitmightbeunrecognizabletosomefolksworkingintraditionaldesignways…☺”



“Thegraduatedesignschoolsdon’tliketotalkaboutitbuttraditionalmethodologiesthatbeginwithpredeterminedchallengeandoutcomepathassumptionssuchasproduct,serviceandexperiencedesign(Design2)arenotideallysuitedforcomplexupstreamstrategiccontexts.”

Thisisratherstraight-forwardlogicbutinthefuzzyhazeofold school design thinkingitwasoftenlostinthespin.Innew practice design thinkinglessspinandmoreclarityisalreadyexpected.

Incomplexorganizationsandsocietieswhywouldweassumethatallchallengesareproduct,serviceandexperiencerelatedandrequireproduct,serviceandexperienceoutcomes?In new practice design thinking wemakenosuchassumptions.Onecouldthinkofthisaspracticeormethodologyinnovationbutcertainlythisisamongseveralsignificantshiftsthatleadingstrategic design practiceshavealreadymadeawayfromtraditional design logic.

Thegraduatedesignschoolsdon’tliketotalkaboutitbuttraditionalmethodologiesthatbeginwithpredeterminedchallengeandoutcomepathassumptionssuchasproduct,serviceandexperiencedesign(Design 2)arenotideallysuitedforcomplexupstreamstrategiccontexts.Thisremainsanotoftentalkedaboutelephantintheold school design thinking livingroom.Innew practice design thinkingwetalkopenlyaboutthatelephantfromamethodsperspective.Weareabletodothatbecausewedon’thavelegacyinvestmentinDesign 2 product/servicecreation.

Regardingyourquestion:“Do you believe a non-designer, without formal academic training, can make a good 3.0 or 4.0 design thinker or sensemaker?”Iwilltakethoseastwodifferentquestions.

Letsdothesensemakingpartfirst.AtHumantific weconsidersensemaking tobepartoftheinnovationprocess,thedesign thinkingprocess,partofalldesignrelatedprojects.In new practice design thinking, sensemaking playsanincreasinglysignificantrole.Aschallengesgrowmorecomplexmore sensemakingisneededtogetreadyforchangemaking.Makingsenseoffuzzycomplexity(notjustdataanalysis)iswhatsensemakingisallabout.Tokeepitsimple:Effectivesensemakingcanfuelinnovationinacomplexworld.Makingthoseconnectionsinadaptablesharablewaysisalreadypartofstrategic design practice.

Asaprofessionalactivitysensemakinginvolvesahybridsetofskillsandfortraditionaldesignfolks,afewmind-shifts.Makingsenseofsomethingisnotthesameasmakingsomethingdifferent.Creative Intelligence pioneerWJJ Gordonfamouslyreferredtothesetwodistinctactivitiesas“sensemaking(makingthestrangefamiliar)andstrangemaking (makingthefamiliarstrange)”.Thisremainsausefulconstruction.Objectdifferencing(strangemaking)isdeeplyembeddedintraditionaldesigneducationandinallaspectsofthebranding/productcreationbusiness,makingonebottleofwaterlookdifferentfromanother.Objectdifferencing(strangemaking)hasbeentheprimaryfocusofmanydesignprogramsformanydecades.



Figure 1 of 40+, Source: Screens from NextDesign Geographies 2005-2015,GKVanPatter&ElizabethPastor| Humantific

Whiledoingcandidateinterviewsweseemanydesignschoolgraduateswithportfoliosfullofbrandrelateddifferencing(strangemaking)projectswhenwearelookingforsensemakers.Aftertenyearsofmakingthesuggestion,andwiththehelpofthebigdatawavethedesignschoolsarefinallycatchingontotheneedformoreadvancedsensemakingskills.Itisnobigsecretthatthegraduateschoolsareoftennotsynchronizedwiththemanychangesthathavealreadytakenplaceinstrategic design practice.

OurHumantific versionofVisual SenseMaking combinesaninnovation researchorientationwithadvanced problem framingskillsanddeepinformation designskills.Akeyaspectistheunderlyingunderstanding-centeredorientation,describedbyourfriendandsensemakingpioneerRichard Wurman as:“Knowing what its like to not understand”.Thisisaformofhuman-centerednessthatnoteveryonehas.

SincethegraduatedesignschoolsarestillnotteachingwhatHumantificdoeswetendtolookforfolkswithnaturaltendenciestowardssensemaking.Theseareoftenrevealedinpersonalratherthencurriculumprojects.

Folkswhohaveanaturalinclinationtowardssensemakingbutnottheformalinformationdesignskillstendtobebestsuitedtothefrontendofsensemaking.Thisinitialactivityhasbeenreferredtohistorically(byMarie Neurath ofIsotype)asthe“Transformer”role.TheTransformerisasuperanalyzerandorganizerofordering

“Itisnobigsecretthatthegraduateschoolsareoftennotsynchronizedwiththemanychangesthathavealreadytakenplaceinstrategicdesignpractice.”


MAKING SENSE OF INNOVATIONsystemsworkinginthespacebetweenthemessandtheformalinformationdesigncapability.IdeallyHumantificwantsfolkswhocandoallaspectsfromanalyzingandorderingtofinalvisualizationsthatarethenintegrateddirectlyintothechangemakingprocess.Thisintegrationhasalwaysbeenattheheartofhowwedowhatwedo.

HumantificdoesteachbasicVisual SenseMaking skillstoorganizationalleadersfromdiversebackgroundsandmanyfindevenintroductoryskillstobeapowerfuladditiontotheirbusinessthinkingtoolbox.NoteveryoneissuitedandequippedtobecomeanadvancedVisual SenseMakingpractitionerbutevenbasicvisualsensemaking skillscanbeasignificantleadershipvalueadd.

Sincethe1980stheAmericanorganizationaltheoristKarl Weick haswrittenextensivelyonthesubjectofsensemakingandtheneedfororganizationstodosensemakingonacontinuousbasisinacontinuouslychangingworld.InWeick’sworldtherearenoprofessionalsensemakersbuthisviewsonorganizationalsensemaking remainveryusefulandimportantnone-the-less.

WhatHumantificisdoingishelpingorganizationsformalizeandsuperchargethatcapabilitybybringingprofessionalsensemaking skills,andskill-building.Amongotherthingsweteachhowformalsensemakingfitstogetherwithformalchangemaking.

Regardingtheotherpartofyourdifficultquestion:InHumantific-landdesign thinkingisnotaseparateuniversefromdesign.Wehavenoticedthatsomeofthegraduatebusinessschoolleadershavebeeneagertopitchtheratherself-servingnarrativethatdesign thinkingisaseparatelogicsincetheyareinneedofreinventingthemselvesandseektocapturetheupstreamstrategicwork.Franklyspeakingthatismoreaboutcompetitivemarketingandlessaboutknowledge,skillormarketplacerealities.It’saviewthatdiscountstherealitythatthestrategic design practicecommunityalreadyexistsandhasexistedformorethenadecade.

Unfortunatelywehaveseenthatnumerousdesigneducationleadershavelaiddownunderthatbuswithoutunderstandingtheimplications.Fromourperspectiveside-steppingresponsibilityfortheleadershipofourprofessionortransferringittoarrivingothersnevermademuchsense.Wedonoticethatmostarrivingarmchairexpertshaveforeshortenedinterpretationsofdesign thinkinginmind.Regardlessofwhomightbestrategicallyawakeorasleepatanygivenmoment,wecertainlyhavenointerestinsurrenderingtoreducednotionsofwhatispossiblefortheapplicationofdesign /design thinkinginbusinessandinsocieties.

“Wehavenoticedthatsomeofthegraduatebusinessschoolleadershavebeeneagertopitchtheratherself-servingnarrativethatdesignthinkingisaseparatelogicsincetheyareinneedofreinventingthemselvesandseektocapturetheupstreamstrategicwork.”


MAKING SENSE OF INNOVATIONAllconsideredwedoseeaneedforstrategic design practiceleaderstoparticipatedirectlyinthereinventionofandmodelingofnew practice design thinkingbeyondDesign 2.Againthisisnotafuturepredictionbutatthispointaworkinprogress,tenyearsinthemaking.Forusitisjustpartofwhatwedowithoutanyone’spermission.NopracticeleaderthatIknowissittingaroundwaitingfor,orexpecting,theacademicinstitutionstofigureoutthefutureofstrategic design practice..☺

Partofwhatmakesyourquestioncomplicatedisthatevenrecognizingthatdesign thinkingisinmotion,thereisacoreorientationtherethatisimportanttoknowdeeply.Therearenumerousavenuesintothatknowledgeandawareness.Someavenueshavemoredepththanothersandcertainlydifferentpeoplehavedifferentneeds.MuchofthatorientationcannotbemastereddeeplybywatchingYouTubevideosorreadingbooks.Presentlythegraduatedesignschoolsstillrepresentrelativelydeepembodimentofthatbasic human-centered orientationeveniftheyarestillteachingdownstream Design 1 andDesign 2 methodologies.

Practice-basedskill-buildingprogramsincludingourownHumantific Academy tendtoadaptmorerapidly,aregearedtomid-careerprofessionalsandarealreadyteachingnext generation strategic design thinking skills.

Itmightalsohelpifwethinkofyourquestionintermsofrealworldpractice,ratherthenhypotheticalindividualdesigners.YouarecorrectinthatthefirmsengagedinDesign 3and4tendtobemulti-disciplinaryassemblagesofprofessionalsfromdifferentbackgroundswhocontributetothedeliveryofservicesbeingofferedunderthebannersofdesign thinkingorinnovation.Aretheyallformallytraineddesignprofessionals?Often,bydesigntheyarenot.

Inthisregarditisimportanttoappreciatethatamongtheshiftsinstrategic design practices operatingintheorganizationalandsocietalchangespaceistheon-boardingofnumerousactivitiesnotfoundintraditional design historically.Onekeyactivityiscocreationfacilitation,aprocess,notcontentrole. The NextD Geographies workpointedoutthataschallengesscaleandinvolvemanydiversestakeholders,muchmorecocreation facilitationwillbeandalreadyisneeded.Againthisisoneofnumerousmethodrelatedpracticeinnovationsorshiftsthathasalreadyoccurredinleadingstrategic design practices.

SeniorpeopleoperatinginthispartofourHumantificpracticemayormaynotcomefromdesigneducationbackgrounds.Asadvisorsourpracticerequiresextremelyhighlevelsofinnovationmethodologyknowledgeandfacilitationskill.Thetruthis:muchofthisknowledge

“YouarecorrectinthatthefirmsengagedinDesign3and4tendtobemulti-disciplinaryassemblagesofprofessionalsfromdifferentbackgroundswhocontributetothedeliveryofservicesbeingofferedunderthebannersofdesignthinkingorinnovation.”


MAKING SENSE OF INNOVATIONisnotfoundinthetraditional design community.Asfarasweknow:therearenograduatedesignschoolsteachingcocreation facilitation skillatanydepth.Theonlywaytogetthereistoreachbeyondtraditionaldesignapproaches.Weteachthisskill,butmostgraduateschoolsdonot.

Moststrategicdesignpracticeson-boardedconsiderablemethodsknowledgefromtheApplied Creativity(CreativeIntelligence,CreativeProblemSolving,CPS)communityadecadeago.Thetruthismoststrategic design practices areatthispointhybrid in nature andtheskillsbeingtakentomarkettendtobediverse.Thisispartofwhatmakesyourquestioncomplicated.

Attheendofthedaythedepth,timelinessandflavorofanymultidisciplinaryinnovationapproachdependstoasignificantdegreeonthebackgroundsandorientationsofthefoundersandorleadersofthecompany.Firmswithengineers,scientists,ormarketingexpertsleadingthemtendtoframe,conceptualize,anddeliverinnovationrelatedservicesquitedifferently.☺

Humantificfounderswereeducatedingraduatedesignschoolssothisorientationisdeeplyembeddedineverythingwedo,evenwhileweon-boardmanyotherformsofknowledgefromnumerousotherdisciplines.Wefindthatthereistremendousneedforhuman-centered servicesincludingculturebuildingsoourapproachiswellsuitedtothisexpandedcontext.

AlsoimportantistoappreciatethatDesign 3 and 4 participantsfromdiversebackgroundsarenottypicallycreatingtoothbrushes,carsoriPads.Theyareoftengrapplingwithcomplexfuzzyorganizationalandsocietalchallengesofmanytypes.

PerhapsitmightbehelpfultosomereadersifIpointoutthatunderneathourdaytodayoperationswetendtobeconstantlyengagedinthisfivepartHumantificdancestep:

1. Beinghuman-centered(alsoreferredtoaslife-centeredsincehumansarenottheonlybeingsonplanetearth.)

2. Workingdirectlywithorganizationalleadersgrapplingwithcomplexchallenges,sharingknowledgeandlearning.

3. Reinventingdesign/design thinkingmethodologiesaschallengesscale.

4. Importingandadaptingknowledgefromotherfields.

5. Shiftingfromjustdoingprojectworktodoingteam-basedcapacitybuildingandculturebuilding.

“Moststrategicdesignpracticeson-boardedconsiderablemethodsknowledgefromtheAppliedCreativity(CreativeIntelligence,CreativeProblemSolving,CPS)communityadecadeago.”


MAKING SENSE OF INNOVATIONOnekeytounderstandingwhatisgoingoninstrategic design practice communityistobeawarethatmanytraditionalold school design practicesactmethodologicallyasextensionsofspecificgraduateschoolprogramsthathavedeeplegacyrootsinDesign 1 or Design 2.ThosefirmstendtooperatewithintheconfinesofStep1ofthedancereferencedaboveusingtraditionalDesign 1or2 methods.Thosefirmstendtobenotsoinsyncwithwherethemarketexpectations,challengesandopportunitieshaveshiftedto.

Sufficeittosaywearenotintertwinedwiththatpicture.Itisprobablysafetosaythatnoleadingstrategic design practiceisasimpleprojectionofwhatisgoingoninthegraduatedesignschoolprograms.

Ourclientsexpectmuchmoreofusandwearenotfollowersofanyspecificgradschoolmanifestohere.Asahybridpracticeourgoalistotrulybeusefulindiverseproblematiccontexts,notjustproductandservicedesign.Ourclientsare organizational leadersandtheirneedshaveplayedasignificantroleinthedevelopmentandfinetuningofwhatwedoandhowwedoit.Wedesignservicesfromtheoutsidein.

Intermsofyourcapacitybuildingrelatedquestion:Closeto50%ofourbusinessiscross-disciplinary innovation skill-building, inclusive culture building, innovation capacity building. Weworkwithmanyorganizationalleadersnotjustdoingprojectsbutcreatinginnovationgroups,centersofstrategicdesignexcellence,coreteamsinsideorganizationscapableofdrivingchange,buildingouttheirculturesandworkingupstreamfrombriefs.

Whatweareoutintheworldteachingtoothers,includingorganizationalleadersfrommanybackgroundsisembodiedinourComplexity Navigation Programwhichincludes:Strategic CoCreation, Design Research and Visual SenseMaking. Theseare21stcenturyleadershipskills.

Inreferencetogenerallywhatischanginginthenewpracticedesign thinkingarenaaschallengesscaleupwepublished,someyearsago,thesetwelveNextDesignLeadershipPrinciplesaspartoftheNextDGeographieswork.

“OnekeytounderstandingwhatisgoingoninstrategicdesignpracticecommunityistobeawarethatmanytraditionaloldschooldesignpracticesactmethodologicallyasextensionsofspecificgraduateschoolprogramsthathavedeeplegacyrootsinDesign1orDesign2.”


MAKING SENSE OF INNOVATIONNextDesign Leadership Principles

• Design thinkingchangesaccordingtochallengescale.

•Contentknowledgeisnotprocessknowledge.

•Facilitationisaprocessrolenotacontentrole.

•Advocatingisnotfacilitation.

•Clarify/externalize/visualizeprocess.

•Upstreamtoolsaredifferentfromdownstreamtools.

•Proportionofsensemakingtostrangemakinginvertsasscaleincreases.

•Cocreationrisesaschallengescaleincreases.

•Expandtheuniverse,nomoretribalacronyms.

•Thinkconstructingchallengeconstellationsnotjumpingfrombriefs.

•Sustainabilityisonechallengetype,notmetadesign.

•Beusefulineverycontext.

Eachofthoseprinciplesrequiressomeformofpracticeinnovationorchangefromtraditionalformsofoperating.Wefurthersharedhownew strategic design practiceisdifferentinaconferencetalkentitled:The OTHER Design Thinkingfirstpresentedatadesign thinkingconferencein2013.

Noteverydesign thinkingfirmisupforthatjourney.Thatmakesforausefullydiversemarketplaceofchoicesforclientsseekingvarioustypesofinput.Sufficeittosay,Humantificisonthatchangemakingroadandhasbeenforsometime.

InclosingIwillmentionthatonethingwedonoticeinthebroadercommunityisthatforthosestrategic design practices doingthiskindofworkfindingaconferencethatreflectsandrelatestotheworkisdifficult.Wehavetriedseveralbuttodatehavenotyetfoundone.Wehavethoughtaboutorganizingsuchaconferenceourselves,perhapsincollaborationwithlike-mindedothers.Itssomethingwedoconsiderfromtimetotime.Wecertainlywelcomeconversationswithotherstrategic design practitioners.

PerhapsnowwearereadyforyouroriginalquestionAna…☺

“Wecertainlywelcomeconversationswithotherstrategicdesignpractitioners.”


MAKING SENSE OF INNOVATIONQuestion 3.

Ana Barroso: GK, you mention that your clients “needs have played a significant role in the development and fine tuning of what we do and how we do it. We design from the outside in.” That seems very aligned with the past 7 years of design thinking practice I have conducted in Brazil, with clients from very different industries and completely different challenges. Those are some of the variables that usually inform the tools we end up using in the sense making and change making phases of the design thinking process.

I personally have found that many pre-framed tools and canvas that are used in the market place were created with product, service and experience outcomes in mind, and in a organization transformation and social innovation context, they represent, to use your words; “a methodology misfit”.

In his article entitled “Why Everyone is a designer…but shouldn’t design” Mercin Treder talks about the importance of the designer in the facilitation of the design process. Treder writes about bringing everyone into the design process, and then “kicking them out”. I would be interested to hear your view of Mercin Treder’s comments.

In Humantific-land, what tools are used to conduct the sensemaking and changemaking processes? What is Humantific’s approach to collaboration and consensus?

To Be Continued….Stay tuned!

Making Sense of Strategic Design Practice 2015

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