- In most work in education, solutions
are reductive and linear.
Design thinking opens the thinking
and encourages exploration.
While this exploration often has great results,
it does introduce ambiguity to the work
and many people are fundamentally
uncomfortable with ambiguity.
Design thinking doesn't offer a rigid set of steps.
Its activities are organized largely by
the continual reframing or redefining of the problem
based on current knowledge.
The problems themselves are usually ones which don't
have a clear answer we can measure our progress towards.
A non-linear progression of steps and
unclear solutions create a recipe for anxiety.
Understanding your own relationship with ambiguity
will help you find the strategies which work for you.
Not strategies to solve for ambiguity as a problem
that needs to be removed,
but building your capacity for design thinking
should increase the amount of ambiguity you
and your teams are able to comfortably manage.
There are four things that often mark when you
or your team are struggling with ambiguity.
The first is big picture paralysis.
This is probably the most common reaction
to ambiguity I see.
I've seen it in myself, I've seen it in my teams,
and I've definitely seen it in our stakeholders.
This often happens when the picture is set
so large that no frame exists to help determine a next step.
I recall one evening talking with a team about a new project
someone said, "We're supposed to design
"a branded experience for a building that hasn't
"been built yet.
"The brand hasn't been defined and the place
"has no mission other than the type of people
"our stakeholder wants to attract.
"Where do we even start?"
We all felt paralyzed by the formlessness of the task.
But there was one thing there.
The type of people desired.
It was still quite vague,
we just had a name for that type of person.
So we shaped an activity to do with our stakeholders
to further define who those people were
and what they might need from a new building.
The next day we did that, and the energy at the end
of that impromptu workshop was very different
than the evening before.
The same person said, "We now know
"who we want this space to serve.
"Let's go out and talk to some of them
"tomorrow, so we can learn what
"they need this space to do!"
By bringing the frame down, we could figure
out our next step.
The first, and most important strategy, is to focus on
iterating ideas, continually
reframing the question at hand, making something
and then actively noting how this has advanced
our knowledge or our perspective on the end goal.
The second challenge is step reliance.
There's a temptation to make designed thinking
into a process that you follow that gets you
repeatable results from a repeatable set
of steps, and that often helps people feel
safer with ambiguity.
And yes, there are some steps.
Frame the problem with the long view,
and people's needs in mind.
Learn about the problem and then make something
to explore it and then reframe again,
but how you do it needs to be flexible.
you need to understand where you are in order
to decide what steps you should take.
So the second strategy is to recognize that each
iteration may be different than the last.
The activities and methods will change based
on the question the team needs to address.
Like realizing that what you need to do next
is go meet the people who will use your product
regardless of what's on the project plan.
The third challenge is exhaustion.
One of the key markers of an open mind
in design thinking is asking, "What if?"
But when the team gets oppressed by what's still unknown,
they'll often hear markers of discomfort
like, 'Can't we just?"
Or the focus will shift from the problem to task completion.
So the third strategy,
a key aspect of effective teams is this optimistic
attitude that problems can be solved.
When you feel the energy drop,
ask yourself, "What can you jump in on
"with a positive focus and help the team
"see something being achieved?"
The fourth challenge is overcontrol.
If you find yourself reacting to using a design thinking
approach with a desire to control everything,
then you may need to step back from
any anxiety you're feeling and
reflect on why you feel that way.
Control is a normal response when a linear process
is going off the rails,
but in a less linear approach, it tends to
limit collaboration and the open sharing of ideas.
If you're not sure if this applies to you,
the next time you're with you're with your team,
count to 12 before you share any point of view
on any question.
The harder it is, the more controlling you may be.
In this case, try asking, "Why?"
Make suggestions and help clarify the important
nuances of the problem rather than
controlling each moment.
How a team deals with ambiguity as a group
and as individuals is one of the key influencers
of design thinking ability.
To see the signs, you will need to be
a bit of a psychologist.
Understanding the team, the users, the stakeholders
in order to see what's working for them, creatively.
Noticing the signs of exhaustion, overcontrol,
paralysis and step reliance will help
identify the challenges early enough
to help redirect the team energy.