The original headline of Can Innovation Really Be Reduced to a Process?, just published in Fast Company, was “The Real Problems with Design Thinking.” It’s a topic I’ve been agonizing over for weeks, and just one more element in a discussion that looks like it’ll run and run. I’m pretty happy with how the piece turned out, and the conclusion seems to have struck a chord with a few readers:

Perhaps some designers will welcome the passing of the design thinking baton to executives. Perhaps they’ll be relieved to see design thinking shaking out as a useful problem-solving approach for executives to use when appropriate. But to me, this shift emphasizes the need for leaders of both business and design to further clarify understanding of who does what, when. Design should neither be aggrandized nor trivialized. But it feels like it could play an infinitely more significant role if only those involved could figure out more convincing ways to articulate its value. For now, the real issue with design thinking is that executives run with it as they see fit, design practitioners continue to shrug their shoulders at the discussion, and corporate continues to trump creative. Given the real need for innovation in every part of culture and society, that seems like the biggest problem of all. 

Let me know what you think!

(Great picture of post-it notes in a Seoul noodle shop c/o Watchsmart.)