The promise of Design Thinking is that you can solve complex challenges with the use of Design Thinking. They always focus on the end user, the customer and it assumes making many iterations through research and experimentation.

Lots of new insights and especially a lot of energy!

Design Thinking was invented by people who mainly work from their right hemisphere: design, industrial design, intuitive. In business, where Design Thinking is now quite popular, we find many people and organizational structures that operate from the left hemisphere: process, logical and rational.

In Design Thinking sessions, the right hemisphere is also put to work and this provides many new insights, especially during the sessions, not to mention: a lot of energy! The seeds have been planted of a ‘different, a new mindset’ and the solutions have been devised.

Now the implementation process can begin. Or not?

Design Thinking as mindset

Deployment is starting? Ah, we’re back to linear, left-brain thinking. Nothing wrong with that, but that’s not exactly the intention when you get started with Design Thinking. We no longer go from A to B, but have already started an iterative process in the sessions.

You may have heard it before: Design Thinking is a mindset and with that we get right to the heart of whether or not we successfully follow up on what was sparked in the sessions.

Design Thinking the start of a ‘cultural change’?

Once back in the organization, where working (together) is no different than for a Design Thinking session, we see that the energy of these sessions quickly becomes the order of the day. And the implementation of the conceived ideas is started in a linear way. That is a pity, because Design Thinking not only comes up with solutions for complex challenges, it immediately initiates a different way of looking and working together.

A customer of mine recently gave the feedback: “I did not expect that if you involve the employees in your challenges, so many solution options could be devised, wow!”

The use of Design Thinking can yield much more than just solutions for complex challenges:

• People feel much more involved, employee satisfaction
• People can contribute based on their own talents
• The organization becomes more agile
• People learn to look through different glasses, which creates more connection and understanding

As far as I am concerned, Design Thinking is the start of a cultural change, a different way of looking at things and working together: a different mindset, in which what has been stimulated in the sessions can flourish once back in the organization.