Microclimates for Design and Innovation

Learning from the Best:

Unpacking the Journey of Organizational Design Thinking Leaders

by Christi DINING ZUBER, Louise MOODY

Abstract:  Organizationally empowered people who can successfully create teams of design thinkers to tackle long-term challenges, is a coveted situation in the design field. While research has primarily focused on the organizational level, little has focused on the individuals who have achieved this goal. Inspired by a personal journey as an internal practitioner, this study reveals experiences of individuals who have successfully set up design thinking practices within large organizations.

Personal narratives were gathered using semi-structured interviews and personal journey maps. Multiple design thinking leaders from nine organizations ranging from healthcare to government to financial services reflect holistically on their own life story as well as their organizational experiences to leverage Design Thinking as an approach to innovation and creativity.
These narratives were analyzed to surface seven common conditions and behaviors. These findings are discussed in more detail along with the fledging theory of how these behaviors and surrounding supporting context form a “microclimate” within a larger organization, concluding that these approaches help enable the counter-culture design thinking approaches to occur. The study offers a set of learnings to inform and potentially elevate the practice of others seeking to understand and replicate their success.

Keywords: design competency; organizational change; design thinking; internal practitioner; design leadership

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Fourth of July – from 1775 until now

‘Nice to meet you. I’m an American woman currently in Italy on the 4th of July being sponsored through a Fellowship to conduct research on creativity and innovation by the British Council. The purpose is to study the artist’s creative process and role as a Change Agent at the Venice Bienalle in order to gain knowledge that I intend bring back to my home in the United States and share internationally with the amazing network of practitioners and researchers I have around the world.’

Wow.

Imagine that discussion occurring back in 1776, the year my country declared its independence from British rule. Mind blowing.

How far we have come and how much we have to be thankful for. I’m spending a beautiful Venetian day hosting visitors in the British Pavilion, where the work of Phyllida Barlow is featured. Entitled “Folly,” it challenges the concepts of sculpture, the grandiosity of place and the individual’s role in it. I’ll take a break to spend time in the American Pavilion where Mark Bradford’s work entitled “Tomorrow is Another Day” provokes thought on marginalized people and the “hope of the American unfulfilled social promise.” What a 4th of July it is…

I want to say thank you to those who created and sustained the democracy in the country I love so dearly, and I want to thank the people around the world, those in official and unofficial diplomatic roles, who have kept the beautiful experiences of this world open and available to people like me. The beauty, love, expression and mind-expanding encounters that are right there for the taking are not to be missed. When I return home to Denver, Colorado, I will take a little piece of Italy and Great Britain with me.

Happy Fourth of July.

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