Design Thinking: Process or Culture?

Abstract

The Design Thinking method is often applied as a process for innovation. Innovation, however, also always means change and requires a culture open to change. To what extent can Design Thinking be used to implement change in organizations?

Design Thinking is actually more than just a process; it stems from the classical disciplines of design and engineering. People with a professional background in these disciplines—who had not only applied the practices and steps of Design Thinking, but who had also internalised them—developed the method from their daily work procedures. Today, we would call them “Design Thinkers”. The companies where Design Thinking was formulated, especially the design agency IDEO, had an established corporate culture. The components of this culture shaped the characteristics of Design Thinking and are the foundation for every Design Thinking process.

Organizations interested in using the method should differentiate between the following two aspects and decide how far down the road they wish to go in a change process:

• Are they only interested in the method’s classical function as an innovation process—as a tool to develop innovations and shape change?

• Or do they want Design Thinking to become an element of their corporate culture—as a sum of characteristics that make a company culture generally more innovative, more agile, more adaptable and more flexible, thus creating a culture of change?

These two aspects can not only be used together, but can also work separately from each other; as the process can not only be a fixed part of the culture, but can also help in its transformation. Design Thinking can be used beyond products and services to change organisations and create new corporate cultures.

This is a translated and revised version of an article initially published in the “Zeitschrift für Organisationsentwicklung”, issue number 2/2012, from Handelsblatt Fachmedien GmbH.