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"What comes out of a team or a committee is the most daring idea that the least daring man can accept."
Before there was Design Thinking, there was John Arnold.
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Before there was Design Thinking, there was John Arnold.
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John started the Product Design program at Stanford in the 50s.
He was a proponent of the individual in the creative process, as John Steinbeck said, 'it lies in the lonely mind of a man.”
He was a proponent of the individual in the creative process, as John Steinbeck said, 'it lies in the lonely mind of a man.”
He thought the greatest creative accomplishments (such as a Picasso painting) were inherently individual endeavors.
However, he also thought contributions by individuals in a group brainstorming session could be synergetic and provide value in the early stages of a project.
However, he also thought contributions by individuals in a group brainstorming session could be synergetic and provide value in the early stages of a project.
Arnold stressed that we needed engineers who could form and justify their own thoughts. He was concerned that teams sometimes inhibited or obstructed creativity.
Arnold broke with the common approach of giving engineering students highly specified problems that by definition have only one correct answer. Today we see this manifest in the concept of effectual reasoning.
Design thinking emerged from an engineering mindset!
Design thinking emerged from an engineering mindset!
Arnold believed that the creative process is problem-solving, distinguished from other decision-making by four unique qualities.
When considered together, the creative result has a multiplicative effect.
When considered together, the creative result has a multiplicative effect.
There are four requirements that make a result creative:
- a better combination, not just different
- something tangible, not just an idea
- forward-looking, not merely recreative
- value from the combination, not a sum of the parts
- a better combination, not just different
- something tangible, not just an idea
- forward-looking, not merely recreative
- value from the combination, not a sum of the parts
I was influenced by Arnold through Rolf Faste, design thinking contributor, and David Kelly, who commercialized design thinking. They were both my product design advisors in the Stanford Engineering School.
I'm grateful to have learned from amazing thinkers and practitioners.
I'm grateful to have learned from amazing thinkers and practitioners.
