The term “innovation theater” refers to a situation in which a project appears on the surface to be promoting innovation, but in reality the project ends up in the pilot phase and does not produce essential results.
- The “implementation” step, which is an important part of design thinking education and instruction, is often omitted from textbooks.
- Consultants and experts have the attitude that they know everything, which leads to the misconception that the knowledge and ideas they offer are more valuable than their implementation.
Where did “design thinking” go wrong that was supposed to change the world｜Hiroshi Maruyama
Below is a bulleted list of the main points of this article:
- This article is a commentary on an article by Rebecca Ackermann in the MIT Technology Review.
- The “design thinking” was considered a groundbreaking methodology that changed creative work from being the work of one genius to the collaborative work of many.
- Design thinking, promoted by IDEO, a Silicon Valley company, and the Stanford University dSchool, recommends a six-step process for design.
- However, an “innovation theater” situation has become the norm, with many projects ending up in the pilot stage.
- In many cases, as well as in design thinking, outsourcing the upstream processes of a project leads to “PoC poverty,” a phenomenon in which the project ends in a Proof of Concept (PoC).
- There is a widely shared perception that the real difficulty of a project is not the idea, but the implementation and operational part of securing the necessary budget and staffing, convincing relevant stakeholders, and considering complex impact relationships.
- The sixth step in design thinking is implementation, which is often omitted from textbooks.
- As a result of the popularity of design thinking, there is a possibility that only designers will be highlighted and a new hierarchy will be created.
- Consultants often adopt the attitude that they know everything, which can lead to the misconception that the knowledge and ideas they offer are more valuable than their implementation.
- George Aye, a former designer at IDEO, helps clients improve on ideas they already have and then quietly walks away after seeing the project succeed.
- Aye argues that if people in the field are not at the center, it is only “profit-centered design.”
- This concept may be applicable not only to design thinking, but also to businesses in general that support expertise, e.g., consulting firms.
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