Design Thinking Improves Stakeholder Engagement

Design Thinking Improves Stakeholder Engagement

Design Thinking offers an approach to stakeholder engagement for schools and universities. The University of Exeter in the UK is an example of what one educational institution is achieiving by using design thinking. The stated vision of the University is

Creativity = experience, observation, imagination

Creativity = experience, observation, imagination

“Creativity has much to do with experience, observation and imagination, and if any one of those key elements is missing, it doesn’t work.” — Bob Dylan, 2011 The seismic creativity of Bob Dylan is reflected in his music and art.

Creativity in the clouds

Creativity in the clouds

I visited the recently opened Duoyun Book Store, “Books above the Clouds,” on the 52nd floor of Pudong’s Shanghai Tower, the city’s tallest building. There I saw the end result of a design project spearheaded by Wutopia Labs. This cultural

Design thinking and culture, Part II, China

Design thinking and culture, Part II, China

How does culture influence design thinking? Reflecting on my participation in and observation of design thinking, I made the assumption it was a process, uninformed by culture. While such an assumption is questionable in any culture, it is especially problematic

Design thinking and culture, Part I

Design thinking and culture, Part I

Knowledge Without Borders asserts that teaching young people design thinking is a way to introduce the critical thinking processes crucial to success in education and employment. Educators and employers agree. For example, the Pratt Institute’s Young Architects program “… demonstrates that classes

Building the STEM economy: Lessons from Massachusetts

Building the STEM economy: Lessons from Massachusetts

Instead of moaning the loss of manufacturing jobs, people from politics to the private sector must focus on creating a strong STEM economy. Technology improves productivity. According to a Ball State University study, of the 5.6 million manufacturing jobs lost

What if bureaucrats used design thinking?

What if bureaucrats used design thinking?

Design thinking has the potential to address the most pressing problems in American education today: access and equity. Whether we are talking about the benefits of a firm foundation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) among high school students

Design Thinking and Storytelling

Design Thinking and Storytelling

Design thinking is a methodology for solving problems that focuses on asking questions and listening, with empathy, to the needs of individuals and groups. Storytelling is an “essential human activity” for sharing experiences, explaining values, and deciding on solutions through vivid verbal

Visualizing Knowledge

Visualizing Knowledge

Humans like to make sense of complex information.  We categorize and classify everything from our individual music on iTunes to governments and countries throughout the world.  It is our way of visualizing knowledge — how we represent what we know.

Monet, Light and Creativity

Monet, Light and Creativity

I was literally immersed in the light of Claude Monet’s creativity when I visited the Musée de l’Orangerie in the Tuileries Garden during a recent trip to Paris. The museum devotes two large oval-shaped rooms to Monet’s study of nymphéas.