Hi Chris,
Maybe I am a bit wide eyed here, but I see this in almost the exact
inverse. I believe that d-schools and design thinking are preparing
designer to not only broaden the scope of 'what they design' but to
also become the managers, executives and vision of business down the
road. So far, what we have seen is the competitive advantage of
companies that either embrace design as a critical thinking and
operating tool or build design into the dna of the company and its
culture. To me, the design thinking movement promises not only a far
greater reach and purpose for design, but positions designers as
point people in defining and executing the vision. Surely, many of
the great design minds will continue their role as designers, but
some are looking to step up and lead... and not just lead designers,
but lead major projects, product initiatives and companies.
The CEO of the future can be the chief experience officer. At least
how it plays out in my scenario planning.
Frankly, it makes me crazy that many, many designers are still
managed and lead by business people who don't really get design. As
design and interaction design are very hot professions right now, the
next 3-10 years will be critical for establishing the same demand for
design management.
And no - I do not think that an mba with a couple of design classes
will have a huge impact. But for the mba being able to understand and
discuss design is huge. It is huge for business and for designers. My
regret there is that the mba folks seem to be a lot quicker to the
trigger when it comes to applying design thinking beyond designing
things. More designers need to step up and acclimate to business.
Mark
On Oct 7, 2007, at 9:48 PM, Christopher Fahey wrote:
> Mark Schraad wrote:
>
>> nice article on desgin talent and d-schools on this morning's bweek
>
>
> I don't understand why those of us who design things keep praising
> "d-schools" and "design thinking".
>
> The theory behind design thinking & d-schools is, to me, this:
> "Design is important. Too important to be managed by those fuzzy
> people who actually do design. It's time for designers to step
> aside and allow themselves to be led by a new generation of MBAs
> who have taken a couple of courses about design (but who don't do
> design)."
>
> How does this help us? It seems to me that the purpose of a D-
> School is to rob us designers of a career path and to allow MBAs to
> manage us instead of allowing us to pull ourselves up into
> corporate management. It circumvents what I deeply believe is the
> natural evolution of business towards more design-centric (which is
> to say user experience design-oriented) management.
>
> We designers, I think, are too starry-eyed and flattered by the
> term "design thinking" ("Ooh, they want business people to think
> like I do!") to notice that it may well be a tool to pull us out of
> the management loop.
>
> What do you think?
>
> -Cf
>
> Christopher Fahey
> ____________________________
> Behavior
> biz: http://www.behaviordesign.com
> me: http://www.graphpaper.com
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