At some point, I’d like to write an essay or something about design thinking – for lack of a better term at the moment – as a general skill. The value of developing the skill and habit of exploratory, divergent, parallel thinking in all kinds of areas of life. Not just for ‘problem solving’ or ‘creativity’, but as a way to approach questions and dilemma’s more broadly in all kinds of areas of life – both private and public.
Usually, it seems to me, when the value of learning some design skills is argued, it is in the context of ‘innovation’ or ‘problem solving’ – to achieve known aims. But the big value of exploration and developing alternatives is also – and crucially – in the fact that it is a means to find out what you want in the first place. You go looking for the goal by considering different options. Or at least you further your understanding of your goal, what you find important and what less so, by exploring different ideas and approaches to then critically respond to.
‘What if’-thinking seems to be unnatural or counterintuïtive to most people. Is that innate or learned? Regardless, the skill goes undeveloped in primary and secondary school. In tertiary education too, expcept in design education. This is at the core of what you learn there, and I don’t see how or why that way of thinking about and engaging with the world should be confined to those programmes training professional designers.