Virtually everyone can innovate
d-School rankings on Bloomberg
Non-degree program features three key precepts of innovation
“Innovators aren’t exceptional as much as they are confident.” (WSJ, 17 October 2011, R5)
“…virtually everyone has the capacity to innovate. It’s just that somewhere around fourth grade most of us stop thinking of ourselves as creative…so our ability to innovate atrophies.” (Ibid.)
These are the beliefs, along with a $35 million gift from German software entrepreneur Hasso Plattner, the co-founder of SAP, that have stirred David Kelley to create the d.School at Stanford. The program does not award degrees and is open to Stanford graduate students to learn what it takes to become more innovative. It warrants mention in this column because to survive in the years ahead every student will need to innovate and create both within the classroom and afterwards within their chosen careers.
The recognition by businesses of d.school training is measured in the popularity and growth of d.Schools. Bloomberg Business Week lists programs at http://www.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/talenthunt.html, with d.Schools found on a range of campuses from Arizona State, to an alliance between MIT and Rhode Island School of Design.
David Kelley wants us to resurrect our latent talent and stretch our limitless imagination around an ‘experience,’ a ‘design challenge.’ He knows that within each of us there is an ossified creative engine; it needs to be kicked into gear and we need to start ‘design thinking.’ That’s a lot of buzzwords that might seem daunting, but they shouldn’t. Design thinking works, and it’s a set of skills that evolve through experience. There is a mythical dimension to the creative process that innovative concepts appear as flashes, or bolts, from the heavens: certainly Hollywood had a bit to do with this perception, but the realities are that innovation is a developed habit and, again, most of us contain the key elements. Three precepts must be instilled in us to unlock innovative thinking. Mr. Kelley tells us ‘we must be open to experimentation, become comfortable with ambiguity, and don’t fear failure.’ By the way, Stanford d.School actually has a K-12 lab where a lot of these processes are being used to create innovative curriculum and more effective teaching methods.
Here is how Mr. Kelley’s teaching model works. First a student is given a design problem. Yet, rather than just setting off to work on the problem, the student must define the problem in his or her own words, through research, and direct observation. The key is to get a visceral sense of what it is one is attempting to solve, why, and what are the constraints? Defining the challenge also allows for the problem to gel. The second step is ‘ideation.’ Groups of students, and beyond, with disciplines of all sorts: engineering, language, computer science, political science…the list goes on, collaborate in an attempt to brainstorm and visualize a solution. In such a mix of views, conflicting and contrasting solutions arise and are encouraged. It is through such entanglements that truly innovative paths are illuminated. Moreover, going through this process of search and consideration gets students use to dealing with the wide open nature of innovation, and, more importantly, builds self -confidence with the innovative process.
The third step is ‘prototyping’. This can be done through a series of sketches, or CAD (computer aided design) modeling, or even creating 3-D images or models. It’s not important how the prototype is composed, what is important is to create as many as possible that can be tested, modified, and retested. The innovative process, done successfully is very hands-on and iterative. The more prototypes, the better: it’s important to fail early and often to get to a plausible solution. This is the heart of design thinking.
Some of the fruits of the process include a number of d.school spinoffs; d.light design produces solar powered lamps for developing countries; and, Alphonso Labs markets an iPhone application named Pulse for news reading. Altogether, d.school wants you to get out and innovate. Yes, some innovations arise through associating two unrelated ideas, but even association is often abetted by questioning, observing, networking, and experimenting. These skills, in turn, can be honed through practice. You have the capability and capacity to innovate. Build confidence through action and your creative prowess will be boundless.