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Learning to design: giving purpose to heart, hand and mind.

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  • S Junginger
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<mark>Journal publication date</mark>1/09/2007
<mark>Journal</mark>Journal of Business Strategy
Issue number4
Volume28
Number of pages7
Pages (from-to)59-65
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

Purpose – Design thinking is becoming a topic in strategic management. Questions range from “What is it?” to “How can we approach design?” This paper aims to offer a glimpse into early design education in design schools and link them with early design education in the organization. The purpose of the paper is to make basic design thinking and design methods accessible to managers and to show organizations a path along which they can learn about design. Design/methodology approach – The paper uses actual examples from design education and design research to illustrate how people explore design methods and design thinking. Findings – The paper finds that hands-on exercises for managers and their organizations facilitate their own exploration of basic design principles and basic design methods. Practical implications – Systematic inquiry into the organization is an iterative activity. It can be launched in almost any environment with few resources in terms of time and money. Originality/value – The paper shows how managers can prepare their employees and organizations for a strategic design effort.

Bibliographic note

Early Career Researcher. This special issue looks at the relationship of design thinking to business strategy. It is co-edited by Roger Martin (Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto), Jeanne Liedtka (Darden School of Business, University of Virginia) and dt ogilvie (Rutgers Business School, Rutgers University). Eight authors were selected to submit a contribution. The article opens up a path to design thinking and design methods for non-designers interested in exploring the value of design to their organisation(s). Its significance is two-fold. First, it familiarises senior level managers and consultants with basic design principles and design methods. Second, it invites non-designers to explore design thinking and design methods in a form of 'learning-by-doing.' The three exercises developed and adapted for this management audience combine the insights from the Domestic Mail Manual Transformation Project (2001-5) which was undertaken by the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University for the United States Postal Service and from teaching an interdisciplinary design foundation course for incoming freshmen at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Fall 2006. This publication represents one of the first instances in which a design researcher has been included as a contributor for this respected and widely read management journal. The article therefore contributes to the emerging dialogue between the two disciplines of management and design. The article is a direct outcome of Junginger's research into design and the organisation. Junginger's forthcoming publications on organisational change and design include Design Issues (2008), an edited book by Buhlmann and Wiedmer (2007) and in conference proceedings in Hong Kong and Newcastle, (both 2007). The Industrial Society of America and the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design invited Junginger to speak to 200 international design educators and design professionals about 'Design and Change' at their combined 2007 meeting in San Francisco. RAE_import_type : Journal article RAE_uoa_type : LICA