Apr 06, 2021 | by Budi Tanrim
Design Thinking allergy
“In a traditionally managed organization, the introduction of design thinking will lead to conflict,” André Schaminée pointed out in his book, Designing With—in Public Organizations.
When I read, it resonates.
It was one of the big mistakes I’ve made. I was too obsessed with design thinking. Throughout the process of implementing it, I kept using the term: design thinking.
Guess what. People are allergic to this term.
First, it has “design” in it. So, you exclude people from the non-design team. Second, it has “thinking” in it, making it worse because it sends out a signal that only designers can think.
After a few months, we sent out the first email to the company-wide as an effort to evangelize this practice. I decided to put “Small wins—customer story” as the subject. The email reflects how the practice can produce a dramatic business impact in one team. I do mention “human-centered practice,” but I left out the word design and also thinking.
I’m glad I did that.
People become more receptive.
We got our first traction.
Many people from the non-design team started to reach out more and more.
Leading a change is not easy. Our ego, sometimes, gets in the way. So, if you’re obsessed with any terms, perhaps you should reorient to what matters?
P.S. I will send out the first exclusive newsletter for all subscribers this Thursday, we’ll discuss some questions from the readers there :) You peeps are awesome! Thanks for all the supports.
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