Design Thinking and Disciplined Thinking

Erik Stolterman Bergqvist

[This is a slightly edited version of a text I have published before]

We all think.

Most of us understand that there are different ways of thinking. Most of us also believe that different ways of thinking lead to different outcomes. So, the choice of how to think about something has serious consequences.

Howard Gardner explores forms of thinking in his books "The Disciplined Mind" and "Truth, Beauty, and Goodness Reframed". Gardner is famous for his notion of multiple forms of intelligence. His idea is that people are intelligent in different ways. Ways that more or less are suitable for specific problems and situations. He argues that people need to nurture all forms of intelligence to be able to function well in the world, and his theories have of course been influential and debated when it comes to education.

In the book "The Disciplined Mind" Gardner explores the notion of "disciplined thinking". He writes "over the years, cultures have evolved systematic ways of thinking about these issues" ("issues" referring to questions about the "true, the beautiful, and the good"). He continues "At any given moment, the disciplines represent the most well-honed efforts of human beings to approach questions and concerns of importance in a systematic and reliable way" (p 144).

He shows that over time different disciplined ways of thinking may find themselves in conflict or competition, or going through a radical change. For instance, the scientific way of thinking has grown over centuries and has evolved into an extraordinarily powerful and efficient way of thinking when the purpose is to establish solid and trustworthy knowledge. However, scientific thinking is aimed at revealing what exists and how it works (the "true") and is less efficient when it comes to finding out what is "beautiful" or "good". So, each disciplined way of thinking has its strengths and weaknesses.

Lately 'design thinking" has evolved as a "new" form of thinking. People in academia and industry are accepting design thinking as a powerful way of approaching the world and achieving change. Design thinking as a broad approach (and not as a simplistic process) seems to be able to provide humans with solutions and futures that other ways of thinking can't. However, if we want design thinking to develop into a form of disciplined thinking, we have to let go of the idea that it is a well-defined step-wise process, or that it consists of a set of tools and techniques and something that can be learned in an afternoon workshop.

Instead, we have to understand design thinking as a broad disciplined way of thinking, similar to what Gardner describes in his book as a "disciplined approach". Design thinking is not about using post-it notes or about being user-oriented, or working in creative teams. It is a broad form of thinking that is disciplined in ways that other approaches are not. If we do not accept this, design thinking will only become a temporary fad and will after a few years disappear and be forgotten.