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.