Design Thinking
Often times, I believe that entrepreneurs and inventors are so focused on the idea of creating the next ‘big thing’ that they miss the big picture. There is so much pressure to create something that is going to completely revolutionize lives and to continue to do so throughout time. There could definitely be waves of success for a product as consumers join a new bandwagon on a regular basis. But to create something that will be useful throughout time, how does that come about? Creating an ecosystem is the solution. Having an idea and expanding it to encompass an entire line of products or system needed to keep consumers coming back. And how does that happen? Through a team of varied individuals being driven in one direction. Design thinking means being focused on the task at hand. It is so easy to get wrapped around the ‘me’ factor. Everyone wants to be the one to achieve something great, but no one actually achieves greatness alone. It is all about the team. Two is better than one, but what about ten? Imagine fifteen talented people all coming from different backgrounds, all holding different degrees, all focused on one goal. This allows for so much more growth and so many more ideas. “...Edison made it a profession that blended art, craft, science, business savvy, and an astute understanding of customers and markets.” (Brown, T. (2008). Design Thinking. Harvard Business Review, 85-92). For some reason, it has traditionally been that finance, health, sustainability, biology, etc. have all been separate fields. Design thinking requires an intermixing to work and that is something that is great when looking to the future of all fields. This way of thinking is not just involved with inventing, but also looking to current products and realizing that they could improve. The blade-less fan has created a safe environment for everyone’s use. Hair utensils such as dryers, curlers, and straighteners have been replaced by a single handle with interchangeable attachments. Pots and strainers have now been redesigned to be one product, and these are just a few examples. All of these incredible changes to our lives are only possible through this thinking process: realizing the problem or seeing the need for improvement and then coming up with possible solutions. IDEO and Shimano team members went to all sort of customers to realize what the problem was in bike riding amongst adults, (Brown, 89). The biggest takeaway of design thinking is learning that the focus is not you or an end product, it is how to make an aspect of life or a process easier for the users. It also doesn’t hurt to enjoy the process along the way.
