Design thinking can help to build inclusion
Note: since writing this post, some issues with IDEO came to my attention and I have rescinded my recommendation - see the next blog post for details.
I was trained as an architect and consider myself a creative at heart, but nonetheless, it has been really interesting and fruitful to take some design thinking courses through IDEO U these past few months. I took three courses back-to-back:
Having taken or seen inside other online executive education programs, including through Ivy League brand names, as well as a variety of other online courses, I have to say these were hands down the best as far as format, structure, design and interface, and probably as far as content too (I think some of the other courses I've taken or seen had good content, but the interface was so poorly designed it was hard to really experience).
The learner population is more diverse than I was expecting, with participants from all around the world, from both corporate and non-profit organizations (although unsurprisingly it does skew more corporate) and the courses combine videos, articles and assignments with weekly live "community conversations" that are very well facilitated.
Here was the most surprising part to me though - although not strictly about diversity, equity, and inclusion, the methodology and approaches taught felt very compatible to how we approach certain aspects of DEI work at Co-Creating Inclusion, especially inclusion. The three courses I took have kind of merged a bit in my mind, especially the first two, but the idea that diverse perspectives are critical for creativity and innovation is integrated throughout, and one of my big takeaways was that design thinking, at least as conceived of by IDEO, is all about fostering inclusion.
One of the things I also learned is that design thinking is not intuitive to most, nor is it how most are trained, and it can be quite uncomfortable for some. Even those of us trained as "creatives" are not necessarily trained in all aspects of design thinking, yet once you experience the benefits, it's hard to go back to any other way of thinking.
So, what is design thinking?
Design Thinking is an iterative process in which we seek to understand the user, challenge assumptions, and redefine problems in an attempt to identify alternative strategies and solutions that might not be instantly apparent with our initial level of understanding. At the same time, Design Thinking provides a solution-based approach to solving problems. It is a way of thinking and working as well as a collection of hands-on methods. - Interaction Design Foundation
Sounds like DEI to me!
Ok so it's not everything that DEI is, and I tend to see everything as DEI, but it is definitely very aligned with our needs-based approach to challenging the status quo and creating transformative change.
And by the way, one of my biggest fears about these courses was that they would be full of corporate-speak that I would find distractingly "cringe" (as my tween would say) but actually I found them refreshingly down to earth and mostly not that at all.
You can't only work on inclusion any more than you can only work on diversity, or only work on equity, but if you are also working on a solid grounding in anti-racism and anti-oppression work, I would recommend design thinking as an important mindset and skillset to draw from.
You can start with Stanford's D.School Design Thinking Bootleg for a free set of tools and methods, but if you want to go deeper, I highly recommend the IDEO U courses. Leading Complex Projects and Cultivating Creative Collaboration - the next cohorts for both start in a few days!
Banner photo by Daria Nepriakhina on Unsplash
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