Fundamentals of Level Three Leadership

52. Design Thinking

Concept

The business world at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries was enamored with the concept of design thinking. Much of this interest was stimulated by IDEO founder Tim Brown’s book, Change by Design.⁸ Design Thinking can be an elusive concept to those not trained in schools of design. At its core, Brown argues that it takes a human-centered approach to helping people do things easier and better. At IDEO, on of their philosophies is that we can learn most about design by observing closely humans doing the thing we are interested in. Their work arounds and routines will instruct us if we look carefully and those observations can inform better designed solutions.

What was the most elegant design you ...