Imagine How

Sometimes people fail to do good because they don't care. But I suspect that even more often, people don't do the good they can because the don't know how to do it. Whether or not someone pursues a socially just end involves motive, but also means.

Desire, it turns out, is not sufficient for making a better world. We also need the tools. 

Design thinking produces "hows." It doesn't start with the how. It starts by bringing people together and having them discuss a whole host of whats. But eventually the process of collaboratively considering lives, problems, ideas, and possibilities produces a sense of how the next step should be taken.

That's our goal: help people uncover how they can accomplish the good. 

Which isn't to say that we tell them what to do. We don't. Neither do we believe that people are smarter when we are around. We don't. Rather, we believe that all people are inventive, problem solving, collaborative creatures, and that certain conditions foster inventiveness, problem solving, and collaboration. 

And that's how we accomplish our goal: create the conditions that foster the robust imagination of how the good can come to pass.

-written by Dr. Tim Huffman

More On Design Thinking

Contrary to many other problem-solving techniques, Design Thinking requires that people do not jump straight to a solution or idea.  Listed here are the steps in the Design Thinking model:

1. Empathize

Innovators must first understand the people they are designing for. Ask questions. Become friends. Learn to love the people you are designing for. The majority of the project should be understanding who you are working with. Talk about their concerns, their hopes, their viewpoints, and so on. Ask how they have handled the situation thus far.

2. Define (problems)

Keep delving deeper into the issues. Do background research. Gather information. Take surveys. Keep looking for a source of the problem(s). The roots of these problems may, in fact, lead to their own solutions.

3. Ideate

This is where the brainstorming comes in, not at the beginning. Keep in mind the people you are designing for. Everyone should contribute to this process. Throw ideas onto a whiteboard. Write paragraphs. Connect ideas together. This is where you can set your imagination free. Remember to always make the people the center of your ideas.

4. Prototype

Put the idea together. Realize that this should not be the final product. The goal is to test as many iterations of the design as possible.

5. Test

Implement the design. Notice what works and what doesn’t work. Repeat Steps 3-5 until you have what you think is the most ideal design. 

Socially Just Innovation

Today’s innovation often takes place among an exclusive group of people sitting in a small office building or working in a closed-off laboratory.  When addressing social justice problems, this is the worst way to approach innovation.  Truly effective innovation must be all-inclusive while taking place out on the streets alongside the people experiencing the problem being addressed.  

To be comprehensive, all people must be part of the problem solving process.  The college professor, the business entrepreneur, the waitress, the high school student, and the homeless man must all work together to solve problems—as, their diverse skills, knowledge, and experiences become a great asset when searching for solutions.  Changing the world is a large feat, but by working together, helping each other, and thinking with each other, we have the collective brain power and resources to solve any problem.

Design Thinking focuses on people, requiring the innovators to share life with others prior to the actual innovation. For this reason, we prefer to use Design Thinking methods when working to solve social justice problems.

The first step in Design Thinking is to empathize.  Contrary to many other problem-solving techniques, design thinking requires that people do not jump straight to a solution or idea. Before understanding ideas, you must first understand the people you seek to help.  Ask questions, share life, and become friends. Learn to love the people you are designing for, since they will also be the ones you are working and thinking with. Talk about their concerns, their hopes, their viewpoints, and so on. Ask how they have handled the situation thus far.

The next step is to define the problems at hand, to delve deeper into the issues.  Do background research, identify stakeholders, gather information, take surveys, and keep looking for a source of the problem(s). You may find that a larger, unseen issue drives the problem at hand.  The result of this empathetic research is a “Eureka!” moment in which a solution suddenly dawns on you. When analyzing the true roots of problems, issues become less complicated and solutions begin to emerge.

This is where the brainstorming begins.  Throw ideas on a whiteboard, write paragraphs, and connect ideas together.  Let your imagination run wild—abstract ideas are encouraged.  Keeping in mind the people you now understand better, coming up with ideas becomes similar to designing something for a member of your family. You know what he or she likes or dislikes, their life patterns, and hopes.  In this way, innovation becomes an act of kinship, a problem solving process that brings people closer together while improving the lives of both parties.

As the idea starts to take life, the physical building begins.  In Design Thinking, the goal is to test as many iterations of the design as possible.  This careful testing helps to ensure that the design achieves the greatest good possible for those who need it the most.  It accounts for unintended consequences and perfects the design. That way, by the time the design is finally implemented, it is very likely to work.

Our Vision

The trouble with social problems is that they compound themselves. Economic inequity, for instance, can separate people, and those separations can lead to further inequity. Lack of quality education can lead to lower wages, which limits further educational opportunities. Sometimes, the problem is part of the problem.

Which can be depressing. However, the self-perpetuating nature of social ills has a curious upside. Addressing the issue in the right way not only helps lead to improvement, but it also becomes part of a solution. People working together for a brighter future is what a brighter future looks like.

We strive to help people think with each other. We hold that people thinking together improves society and promotes social justice. It isn't enough to work for the good, as charity can get caught up as part of the problem. And, it isn't enough to innovate, because transformations unguided by the good just lead to new inequity. We believe that benevolent, innovative citizens are the key to a better world.

But, a small handful of innovators isn't enough. A few bright ideas by some caring folks will not a better world make. Even the brightest and the nicest people on the planet cannot represent the interests of all people, because people are just different enough that their interests are best met by themselves. As such, innovation is most transformative when it is bottom up. When all stakeholders have, well, a chance speak and decide on the behalf of their own stake.

Seeking transformative innovation, we invent. Desiring socially just innovation, we strive to make our "we" as radically inclusive and polyvocal as we can manage.