"Confidence is in process and opportunities, not necessarily outcomes" is one of the clearest descriptions of design confidence I've read. It would help a lot of people early in their careers, who often wait to feel sure of the answer before they start. Your point about innovation units not thriving beyond their own boundaries rings true too: a team can design well and still be an island. In your experience, what's the first sign that a design culture is spreading past the team that started it?
Hi Nicole, I'm glad this connected with you. Among the ways in which I've seen this work is largely because the leadership within that innovation unit is very well connected and integrated into something outside of their unit and that their value (and thus, the value of their group) is understood before they start producing things. It's an example where there is a mindset that is open to the thinking (and thus, the products that come from that thinking). One example is with a mid-sized health organization (~200 staff), where the CEO fostered an innovation agenda within each main 'division' and allowed each leader to innovate as far and as much as they felt they could. This meant that every group did things differently to different degrees, but they did it with a shared mindset around innovation. That's what made the difference for them to be creative and impactful.
"Confidence is in process and opportunities, not necessarily outcomes" is one of the clearest descriptions of design confidence I've read. It would help a lot of people early in their careers, who often wait to feel sure of the answer before they start. Your point about innovation units not thriving beyond their own boundaries rings true too: a team can design well and still be an island. In your experience, what's the first sign that a design culture is spreading past the team that started it?
Hi Nicole, I'm glad this connected with you. Among the ways in which I've seen this work is largely because the leadership within that innovation unit is very well connected and integrated into something outside of their unit and that their value (and thus, the value of their group) is understood before they start producing things. It's an example where there is a mindset that is open to the thinking (and thus, the products that come from that thinking). One example is with a mid-sized health organization (~200 staff), where the CEO fostered an innovation agenda within each main 'division' and allowed each leader to innovate as far and as much as they felt they could. This meant that every group did things differently to different degrees, but they did it with a shared mindset around innovation. That's what made the difference for them to be creative and impactful.