Experiencing Design, by Jeanne Liedtka, Karen Hold, and Jessica Eldridge (chapter 1)

EXPERIENCING DESIGN THE

INNOVATOR’S JOURNEY

JEANNE LIEDTKA, KAREN HOLD, and JESSICA ELDRIDGE

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CHAPTER 1

HOW DESIGN SHAPES US AS WE SHAPE DESIGNS

“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. . . . It doesn’t happen all at once. You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept.

Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” 1

— MARGERY WILLIAMS BIANCO, THE VELVETEEN RABBIT

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EXPERIENCING DESIGN

W

e want to start this book with a radical

beings, in a world that desperately needs more of

premise: that the transformational pow-

both of those.

er of design thinking (DT, as we lovingly

refer to it) lies not in what it encourages us to do, but

But the path there is not nearly as obvious as it might seem.

in who it encourages us to become. Like our childhood

In daylong hackathons and workshops, DT can seem

friend, the Velveteen Rabbit, DT gives us a chance to

easy. But our research demonstrates that doing it well

become more real—to get in touch with our authentic

is not easy. Practiced at a superficial level, even great

human selves, to restore some of the wonder and

design tools like ethnography and prototyping don’t go

creativity that we had as children, but have lost. Being

deep enough to create the shifts in mindset and skillset

a design thinker doesn’t rely on whether you went to

that achieving DT’s most significant impacts requires.

design school or not, or have innovation in your job

Novice design thinkers may do DT activities, but do

title. The path is there for all of us, if we are willing

not experience the shifts that reveal new and deeper

to make the journey. We become design thinkers by

levels of who they themselves are. It is the becoming,

experiencing design.

not the doing, that is key to achieving transformational

But like any journey to becoming anything that

results. Becoming involves changing how we see the

really matters, you need to prepare to get some

world and the rules we use to navigate it. It requires

hair rubbed off. It is a journey of jubilant highs and

challenging beliefs about ourselves (and others) and

frustrating lows. People who break easily—who lack

letting go of some deep-seated fears. Fully leveraging

the confidence and courage to be vulnerable and to

DT’s possibilities requires moving beyond performing

dream about what is possible; who have sharp edges

the activities it prescribes; it demands that we expe-

and think they already know everything they need to

rience it fully. More so than any other approach to

know; who have to be carefully kept because they

innovation, DT experiences create the space for us to

want to be in charge and in control—they may not

get in touch with our more authentic selves.

make it. We wrote this book for those who want to

You are probably wondering what authenticity has

try. We wrote this book because, after 10 years of

to do with innovation. A lot, it turns out. Many of the

dedicated research on the subject, we know that the

barriers to creating powerful new futures are personal.

payoffs to DT done well—to ourselves, our families,

Sure—the cultures and processes of organizations

our communities and our organizations—are also very

can foster them or get in the way. But organizations

real. DT makes us better innovators and better human

only change when the people within them change.

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HOW DESIGN SHAPES US

In explaining the challenges to building learning or-

figure in the Quality movement, observed. We need

ganizations, Fred Kofman and Peter Senge explain:

to be someone new to create something new.

“Creating organizations skilled at learning requires

Maybe we’ve been looking for innovation in all the

fundamental shifts in how we think and act as indi-

wrong places. Or we have just been overlooking some

2

viduals, as well as organizations.” All change relies on

of the right ones. We have looked outside of our-

personal transformation, Edward Deming, the central

selves to external forces—technology, customers, other industries—all valid and important, but what

AUTHENTICIT Y

have we missed by largely ignoring the creator and focusing on only what they create? How might we

The idea of authenticity has preoccupied philosophers and

tap into the wellspring of innovation within the inno-

psychologists for many years. For German philosopher

vator and unlock the creative potential in each of us?

Martin Heidegger, it involves accessing what he called the “withheld”—our higher and better self that lies awaiting

Accomplishing this involves helping them find their

emergence. There are preconditions for summoning our

higher, better self—the self who has the courage to

withheld. One is voice—the ability to express ourselves

ask “What if anything were possible?”, who doesn’t run

in ways consistent with our inner thoughts and feelings.

from any prospect of failure, who can detach their ego

Active engagement is another. The recognition of the power

from their idea, and who can listen to others through

of emotions to our sense of self is a third. Heidegger stress-

the perspective of what others want to say rather than

es that the withheld cannot be summoned—it can only be invited into a space prepared to welcome it. Finding our

what they want to hear.

authentic self is a developmental process—one of contin-

How can DT help us do that? By first shaping the

ually becoming. Influential developmental psychologists

experience of those who use it, before it shapes what

like Erich Fromm, Erik Erickson and Carl Rogers have all

they design for others. But success on this journey

stressed the power of authenticity and the enhanced

relies on much more than helping innovators to better

psychological benefits of acting in ways that are true to

understand their customer’s journey—it requires an

oneself, with Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and its apex of self-actualization, perhaps the best known. These theories provide useful insights into what the process

awareness of what is going on behind the scenes in their personal journeys.

of becoming entails and what it takes to encourage its

We live, we are told, in the “age of experience.”

exploration. When Heidegger’s invitation to bring what

Experience is not just about how we think, it is im-

we normally withhold into a conversation is accepted, the

mersive in a way that centers on what we perceive and

results are transformational—for us, for our customers,

feel. It is intensely personal and subjective. But whose

for our organizations and, quite possibly, for our world.

experience matters? Most discussions of DT focus on

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EXPERIENCING DESIGN

the experience of the customers we are designing

Within this story of us, we are part of a broader

for. But where does the inspiration and facility for

collective experience; our story lies at the nexus of

creating those new customer experiences come from?

a web of relationships. “De-centering” us from our

It comes from changes in the innovator as a person.

own story is perhaps DT’s most significant first step in

Their experiences—of empathy, of meaning, of col-

challenging us to become someone new. We are part

laborative co-creation, of transitioning from knower

of the world, not the center of it. “You’re not stuck in

to learner—set the stage for DT to work its magic.

traffic,” designer Kevin Slavin argues. “You are traffic.”4

Decades of research on adult learning are very

Without providing these kinds of de-centering ex-

clear on one point—we learn about what matters to

periences for the innovator, DT projects are likely

us. We learn because we care. DT’s human-centered

to generate mostly mundane ideas and lackluster

focus engages us by giving us experiences that matter,

results instead of powerful outcomes. DT might still

that impact us at a deep personal level. By connect-

feel good to use, but fail to produce the changes in

ing us with a more authentic version of ourselves, it motivates us to change. Change happens when we

THE WORLD ORBITING US

combine new knowledge with will. Many innovation methodologies bring new knowledge—few engage

Faculty gathered to hear one of our colleagues present

body, mind and spirit to forge will like DT does.

his research strategy. In his presentation, he offered a

Not to get too existential, but who is that self that we are connecting to? Who are we beyond a kind of

summarizing image: he and his research topic were at its center in a large circle. A variety of other faculty and their research surrounded him in smaller circles. After a

Freudian sense of ego and id? Psychologist Jerome

moment of stunned silence, the rest of the room erupted

Bruner argued that “the self is not a thing, but a point

into laughter. It was affectionate laughter—he was a great

of view that unifies the flow of experience into a co-

guy and we all respected his work. But really? Talk about

herent narrative.” So we are a story we tell ourselves.

ego on display! The funniest part of the story was that he

That story, that point of view, creates a personal

was totally baffled as to why we were laughing. Finally, a kindly colleague said, “Bill, the rest of us just never realized

stance that innovators carry with them into the pro-

that we were orbiting around you.” But our real problem

cess. “It is the personal stance that travels with the

(that remained unspoken) with Bill’s image was not that

researcher through the process of engaging with the

his model was wrong—we were all carrying around the

problem, thinking it through, reaching confident con-

same model in our heads—it was just that we

clusions and making these accessible to an audience,”

each thought that our name belonged in

argues designer João Ferreira.3 Of course, each of us

the center of the circle, not Bill’s.

is the lead actor in our story—we occupy its center.

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HOW DESIGN SHAPES US

individual mindsets and group dynamics that lie at the

and email—seem to damage, rather than enhance, our

heart of its transformational value. In our decade of

ability as humans to collaborate, especially across dif-

teaching DT to thousands of managers, engineers,

ference. Social media seems to produce the opposite

scientists and others not trained in design, and study-

of the social technology we need: rather than helping

ing scores of organizational DT projects as well, we

us leverage our differences to find higher-order solu-

have learned that going deep with design—where the

tions, it inflames them in ways that make productive

crucial payoffs are—requires more than changing the

(or even just civil) conversation even more difficult to

activities that innovators do; it involves creating the

achieve; it divides and polarizes.

conditions that shape who they become, that create

So we think the time has come to liberate the term

the space that invites their best selves to emerge.

“technology” from its modern meaning, bring back

Understanding what the foundation of DT’s success—

the missing human dimension, and create a different

its social technology—looks like and means for creating

kind of technology—one that catalyzes collaboration

powerful developmental pathways for learners is es-

and encourages conversations for change across dif-

sential for innovators and their leaders.

ference; one that helps us locate our better (rather than worse) selves by creating a space for respectful

WHY A SOCIAL TECHNOLOGY?

and inclusive conversations that invite all of us to make what we withhold visible to each other. The more

Today we think of computers and smartphones when

artificially intelligent our world becomes, the more

we hear the term “technology,” so it may seem a

important it is that we access what makes us human.

strange term to describe the very human phenomena

Acknowledging this human element doesn’t mean

we are talking about here. In fact, the juxtaposition of

rejecting technology: it means complementing it

the digital with the human is what makes DT so pow-

with a human dimension. Derived from the Greek,

erful! Think about the incredible advances in digital

meaning “science of craft,” a technology is a collection

technology that we have witnessed over the past 20

of techniques, skills, and processes for transform-

years or so. Decades ago, capturing the computing

ing knowledge into practical outcomes. Therefore,

capacity of the latest iPhone would have required a

understanding innovation as an intensely personal

tall building covering multiple city blocks. But what

and social process—with an accompanying need for a

about corresponding advances on the human side?

social technology—ties it to human emotions, to the

Not so impressive. Some of the “advances” made

complex interactions of people, and to the way the

possible by the digital revolution—tweeting, texting,

best solutions emerge from interactions with each

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EXPERIENCING DESIGN

other. It highlights the need for a human-centered

diverse as global corporations, start-ups, govern-

collection of tools and processes that foster enhanced

ment agencies, hospitals, and high schools, it makes

inclusion, empathy, collaboration and productivity.

possible the kinds of changes in the innovation space

Such a human-focused technology needs to be

that TQM did in quality. It is democratizing innovation

teachable and scalable to achieve for innovation what

and unlocking hidden opportunities—not just to tap

Total Quality Management (TQM) did for quality in

into new sources of value that senior leaders simply

the 1980s and 1990s: invite people at all levels of

cannot see, but also to explore new dimensions of

an organization to become involved in making an

ourselves. Creating transformational experiences for

abstract concept real in practice. DT is innovation’s

others on the outside first requires transformation

equivalent of TQM. Practiced by organizations as

on the inside.

ABOUT THE RESEARCH This book reflects the cumulative learning from over a

and qualitative results into more quantitative ones that

decade of work researching DT. In our first study, more

demonstrate and quantify the impact of DT in practice.

than 10 years ago, we set out to explore the role that

We will share some of those results in Chapter 2.

operating managers in large organizations played in inno-

Throughout this research journey, we have been inter-

vation. We interviewed more than 70 successful growth

ested in how nondesigners learn DT. We’ve developed a

leaders, focusing on identifying the specific practices

methodology (Designing for Growth) and project handbook

leading to their success. We reported these results in our

(Designing for Growth: A Field Guide), and helped thou-

first book, The Catalyst: How You Can Lead Extraordinary

sands of people learn and practice DT, both in person and

Growth. Meanwhile, DT was on the ascent. As we examined

online. Our big Aha! came when we looked seriously at

the behaviors and mindsets we observed in our growth

competency building, rather than just teaching tools and

leaders, the parallels between these and the formal DT

process. The key to deep learning, we realized, was using

methodology became obvious. Could teaching the DT

tools and process to facilitate a series of experiences for

toolkit help less intuitively growth-oriented managers

our learners. These experiences, we saw, did more than

see new opportunities? We hoped so then and know so

skill building; they created personal transformations. As

now. Over the next seven years, we created a database

we dug deeper, we also saw that student personalities and

of in-depth studies of DT projects in action (reported in

preferences impacted their learning path in significant

two books, Problem Solving with Design Thinking and Design

ways that we needed to recognize and support. (Stay

Thinking for the Greater Good). For the past several years,

tuned for more on this in Part 4.)

we have been on a new mission to translate these cases

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Praise for EXPERIENCING

DESIGN

“Here is the code to transform yourself, your team, or your whole organization. A true landmark book rooted in design thinking— meticulously evidenced, easy to read, and, above all, actionable for frontline change agents, CEOs, and everyone in between.

I guarantee much nodding and many an aha moment. Better still, you’ll finish with your own personal profile and plan!”

—DAVID KESTER, M ANAGING DIREC TOR, DK& A , AND FORMER CHIEF EXECUTIVE, UK DESIGN COUNCIL “This is an amazing book. It is not just another design thinking ‘how-to’ guide. Experiencing Design is about you—how embracing design thinking as a way of being will transform the way you see, approach, and navigate the digital age.

Experiencing Design is a liberating journey: it will enhance your cognitive, emotional, and behavioral abilities to think, explore, discover, create, listen, and collaborate in order to experience the joy and wonder of life more often.”

—EDWARD D. HESS, PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, DARDEN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, AND AUTHOR OF THIRTEEN BOOKS, INCLUDING HYPER-LEARNING: HOW TO ADAPT TO THE SPEED OF CHANGE

“As design thinking gains in popularity, it risks being reduced to a set of rote steps that users naively assume will magically produce a fabulous solution. In Experiencing Design, the longtime design theorist Jeanne Liedtka and her coauthors argue persuasively that the design thinker, not a particular set of steps, is the key to design thinking effectiveness. With thoroughness and clarity, they lead the reader through the experiential journey a design thinker must take to achieve the desired breakthrough solutions.”

—ROGER L . MARTIN, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, ROGER L . M ARTIN, INC. “Experiencing Design is a must-read for anyone seeking to build more change-ready and adaptive organizations.

Liedtka and her team have effectively unlocked the secret to not only developing but also assessing the behaviors and mindsets that are essential for success in a fast-changing world.”

—ADAM BILLING, FOUNDER OF TREEHOUSE INNOVATION AND SPRINTBASE “Looking for a practical guide on how to cultivate and integrate an enterprising spirit into any enterprise? Experiencing Design will show you step-by-step how to unleash the innate creativity that resides in all of us and channel it toward a purpose-led outcome. It is a marvelous read based on sound research. I’m recommending Experiencing Design to everyone in my company to read and relish.”

—MAUREEN THURSTON, CHIEF EXPERIENCE OFFICER, AURECON “Liedtka, Hold, and Eldridge make the case for how individuals are transformed through design thinking, allowing them to make greater innovations. The focus on how the process changes those who use it is a unique and needed contribution.”

—MATHEW D. DUERDEN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF EXPERIENCE DESIGN AND M ANAGEMENT, BRIGHA M YOUNG UNIVERSIT Y, AND COAUTHOR OF DESIGNING EXPERIENCES

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