Continued... design and innovation as well as science and technology in a series of workshops. Making design very handson in schools, particularly in urban areas, is another powerful approach." Tim Brown, CEO of global design consultancy IDEO: “1) Include design thinking as an integral part of the K-12 education system as it already has been in many countries in Europe. This doesn't mean lots of art classes. It means more specifically teaching kids, through projects, to be human centered, creative, and collaborative. 2) Fund universities to set up innovation institutes like the [design] school at Stanford. These institutes act as a place for business thinkers, design thinkers, and technologists to come together to incubate new ideas.” So where is Malaysia in terms of promoting and developing the use of design and design thinking to stimulate local SME’s growth and indirectly the economic growth of the country? Unfortunately, I feel that not enough attention is given to this area. It is clear that a lot of effort and resources are being poured into manufacturing, science, technology and engineering but nothing in the area of design. SMIDEC, which is the organization responsible for developing local SMEs to contribute to the economic growth and enhancement of Malaysia’s competitiveness, is also taking this as their focus. For example, one of the programs that SMIDEC runs is the Skills Upgrading Program that is aimed at enhancing the skills and capabilities of employees of SMEs. Unfortunately this
program once again only focuses on technical subjects such as information technology and engineering but nothing on design let alone design thinking. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that we should totally ignore science and technology. However what I am saying is that if we look at developed countries and if they are starting to focus on design and design thinking, we might also want to do likewise. We might want to have a more balanced approach that focuses not only on science and technology but also equally on design. Admittedly design thinking as a field is relatively new. In fact here is what Bruce Nussbaum of Businessweek has to say about design in the U.S.: “There is a huge amount of public policy work going on in Europe in the space of innovation, design and creativity. I fear that in the U.S., we are stuck in a rut of the federal government defining innovation just in terms of technology and pouring more money into engineering, science and math (yes, it’s a good thing but only necessary, not nearly sufficient).”5 In fact if we think about it, the above statement actually also describes our country’s efforts thus far in terms of where we are focusing our resources when it comes to innovation. So yes, using design and design thinking is relatively new and there are probably a lot of unknowns as with all things new. However if we ever want to catch up to the developed countries and not only play catch up ad infinitum then it will be wise as a country for us to start
looking into design and design thinking. References: 1.Cox Review of Creativity in Business: building on the UK’s strengths, Available online: http://www.hmtreasury.gov.uk./independent_reviews/ cox_review/coxreview_index.cfm 2.The essentials of innovation, Available online: http:// www.designcouncil.org.uk/en/AboutDesign/Business-Essentials/Innovation/ 3.The Star, May 6 May 2008 by Jo Timbuong - IDC: Innovate to survive 4.U.S. News, 4 January 2008 by James Pethokouki - Innovate or Else: 6 Thinkers' Ideass. Available online: http://www.usnews.com/articles/ business/personal-investing-guide/ 2008/01/04/innovate-or-else-6thinkers-ideas.html 5.Businessweek, 10 July 2006 by Bruce Nussbum - James Dyson Sets Up the Dyson School of Design Innovation. Available online: http:// www.businessweek.com/innovate/ NussbaumOnDesign/archives/ 2006/07/james_dyson_set.html 6.BusinessWeek, 3 October 2007 by Kerry Capell - How Britain Jumpstarts Design. Available online: http:// www.businessweek.com/innovate/ content/oct2007/ id2007103_116457.htm?chan=search 7.BusinessWeek, 4 October 2007 by Harry West - The Cross-Discipline Design Imperative. Available online: http://www.businessweek.com/ innovate/content/oct2007/ id2007104_562559.htm? chan=innovation_special+report+--+dschools_special+report+--+d-schools