Design Thinking: You're Not Doing It Right!

Don't get mad, as it is probably true. You've either heard negative things about design thinking or have unsuccessfully attempted it yourself in the workplace. In this article I will tell you how to identify ways your doing design thinking wrong and provide ways to get you or your team on the correct course.

Design Thinking is having a moment. Design, in general is having a moment. I would argue this is partly due to our culture's fetishistic view of personal devices, like the iPhone and drones. This is what Ian Bogost refers to as Future Ennui. For some, this moment is filled with joy that the rest of the world is recognizing the importance of design. Netflix has even dedicated a series to design called Abstract. For others, this moment is laughable or considered bullsh*t. Take a bow, Natasha Jen. You've earned it.

Full transparency, I am an adviser and facilitator in Design Thinking. But I've seen its effectiveness in communications, innovations and solving interesting problems. Not just to the world of design but to businesses and personal lives. Done improperly, design thinking leads to inefficiencies, uncertainties and emotional flare-ups. I see these pain points regularly and it is usually due to poor training and support. More on that later.

I welcome the frustrations and vocal outbursts that come with a design thinking workshop. This let’s me know that you’re engaged and challenged. The worst thing that happens is passivity or vapid acceptance. It is the kind of acceptance that some groups display when they feel good that they've checked the box: “Done. We did design thinking. Yay!”

WRONG!

“DESIGN THINKING” means different things to many, but it typically refers to a set of processes, methods and tools for creating human-centered services, experiences and products. It's also widely viewed as a way toward innovation. For me, design thinking holds its main source of power by establishing empathy. A good practitioner will seek a rich and nuanced understanding of the users’ conditions, environment and needs by walking a mile in their shoes. But for most, they have long been accustomed to execution-oriented work without much consideration to immersive research. In that way, the sheer notion of ideation through a design thinking workshop can appear intimidating or a complete waste of time.

Another unnerving dimension of design thinking is its dependency on divergent thinking. For the execution-oriented person or team, they don’t have time to explore ideas that might have the appearance of wild or being unattainable. Design thinking requires you not to race to a “solution” or converge on an answer. The goal is to come up with a variety of options and be willing to explore which of these have more merit as a group. For this exercise, my motto has always been — there are no bad ideas, just priorities. For the team working on a problem, those priorities will come later. For now, let those wild ideas emerge even if it feels like you are spinning your wheels. This is especially true for teams used to driving a clear objective, like cost-savings or revenue targets.

Design thinking also requires you to do the one thing you probably hate: FAIL. The word alone has bad connotations for people. I even hate the term “fail-fast”. I understand what it means in spirit, but, to quote Stephen Gates we should be saying “learn-fast”. Design thinking forces you to be iterative so you can observe what works and what does not. This helps you get to a more refined approach toward a solution. There is power to enduring this kind of iterative mindset because it reveals new dimensions, improvements and insights to the way you work, not just the solution itself.

Another area where design thinking can go wrong is the "institutionalizing" of its practices. Design thinking has recently become the darling among large consultancies. In typical fashion, the consultancy will standardize the approach into the form of a playbook. It appeals to those who want a repeatable process that is easy to scale and refactor as necessary. Arguably, this is a great way to scale and advocate for design thinking throughout the firm. But therein lies the rub for the execution-oriented consultant - they will tear pages out of the playbook without having a proper coach. Design thinking, in this instance, starts to look like a hammer seeking nails.

Lastly, a major issue people run into is using design thinking to vet an existing solution and not solving the right problem. Design thinking fundamentally requires you to start at the problem. Even more important to that, you must start with the right question. Sure, it’s easy to proclaim “Our HR process is broken…” or “The CRM system is too slow…” or even “Our top product has dropped in sales. Let’s spend more Marketing dollars…” You must start with the correct problem to solve and not just test the appetite for a new piece of technology or business plan. This “vetting of your idea” can result in the “Love-Time Continuum”. The more time you spend with your idea, the more you fall in love with it. Therefore, when you come up against any resistance or objection to your "solution" your emotions run high. Your judgment becomes clouded and you are unable to see the larger problem.

Let’s face it — those newly exposed to design thinking will require guidance and assurance. This starts with the support of their respective leadership to provide runway to do this type of work. Equally important, it will require talented practitioners to provide the day-to-day support toward the application of design thinking. Unfortunately, design thinking is not for everyone or everything. It will take an outgoing and passionate personality to truly deliver and facilitate compelling workshops. However, if you’re not the “outgoing type”, at bare minimum, be a trusted adviser who can facilitate working sessions.

So, what do you do if you don’t have the leadership or mentor-ship to guide you. There are a few public resources you can use today. Jake Knapp, for instance has written a compelling book called SPRINT exploring specific ways design thinking can lead to innovative products and services in under five days. It is written for both those with design thinking DNA and those who are skeptical. Additionally, the folks over at AJ & Smart, (who have partnered with Jake Knapp) explore ways to get started in the world of design sprints.

Let me close with this: design thinking is about doing the right thing versus doing things right. If you want to do “things” right get a project manager. They can help you keep up with busy work. But doing the right thing could be innovating on the next big idea.

Now, there is nothing wrong with that.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed here are of my own and not of my clients.