The Five Mindsets of Design Thinking

Think about when you were a kid or think about a kid in your life... what is something they are constantly doing? Asking questions! Sometimes they are so silly, like "have you ever tickled a dinosaur?" or "does everyone toot?" or "is there banana bread in Heaven?" And sometimes they are serious like "why does our dog have to go away?" or "why do I have to go to bed when it is still light outside?" They have a child-like curiosity that keeps them asking questions. Designers think the same way, opening the door to learn more. They may say "tell me more" or they may ask open-ended questions to get at needs and wants, what works, what doesn't and what's missing. It’s okay to think like a child if it helps you to ask lots of questions! Curiosity killed the cat is not true in life design. Curiosity helps you to jumpstart designing the life you want to live. It opens up the doors we can choose to walk through. Too much curiosity could hurt you, for example if you can’t focus on anything, but this is not the norm. You need to be able to tap into your interests! However, curiosity does no good if we aren’t willing to take action. What is your “why” and how can this be expanded with new experiences.

Reframing is how designers get unstuck. Reframing enables designers to examine ways to look at problems differently or through a new lens in order to increase the opportunity for innovation. Right now you are probably stuck, but what does it mean to be stuck? Maybe you’ve gotten a part-time job that you don’t like; maybe you want to be healthy but Netflix and Popcorn is so much more appealing than the gym and a protein shake; or maybe you lack direction – you don’t know what you want to do and are just going through the motions of each day. Reframing problems gives us the tools to fight against the resistance we face and helps us to see possible solutions. We step back, understand what we are missing in the big picture, evaluate some potential solutions, and then move forward. 

In Designing, there is a great need for radical collaboration. Think about the invention of the airplane. It wasn’t the Wright Brother, it was the Wright Brothers. When there is more than one mind involved in a process, you can see flaws that may have been missed, you can think around and outside of problems, you can hurdle obstacles and you can come up with a better idea or project overall. That’s why there are so many committees and groups and minds working together on things such as COVID, and within universities. Design is a collaborative process and many of the best ideas are going to come from other people. What makes this mindset radical is that you want a diverse team, with difference experiences, perspectives, points of views, strengths, even beliefs. If you have a team with everyone thinking the exact same way, coming from a similar background with similar experiences, the best thing you’ll get is a faster result than had you done it alone. You need the strategic people to see around the obstacles and the executers to jump into action while the relationship builders help unite the group and the influencers push forward the good ideas. We are wired to want to help others, and people gain real pleasure from offering their knowledge and abilities to someone else’s aid. It’s important to ask the right questions in these situations. “Hey, I see you doing x. I’m interested in doing x. What would you recommend I do to get started along that path?” “Could I take you out for coffee to learn more about what you do? I’m intrigued by your work.” “Do you know of any opportunities in x field?”