1. The document discusses the importance of design thinking in managing information and business communication. It emphasizes generating alternatives rather than just choosing between them. 2. Designing is about shaping contexts rather than taking them as given. Successful companies exploit design thinking in all their decisions by choosing design as their fundamental strategy. 3. The document provides lessons learned from experts in design, including the importance of empathy, inspiration from analogous situations, and engaging stakeholders in experimentation and storytelling.

1. Information managing as designing
informing inspiring innovating
presentation: rik maes EMIM, February 2011 photo: michiel hendryckx

2. Information /
Business communication Technology
Strategy
Structure
Operations

3. processes
structures data
systems
functions
relations
intentions
information
ideas
emotions
involvement

4. Why IM instruments don’t come up
to the mark
1. Reality is complex and messy
2. Every model is less than reality
3. The technical bias
4. “Carbon copy” approaches
5. The diarrhoea of projects
6. Narcissism of the management involved Claudio Ciborra
7. Exagerrated expectations

5. in balans?
inspiring
informing

6. Informing Inspiring
structure meaning
prescribing, standardizing interpreting, exploring
norms values
binding, materializing innovating, disruptive
identity confirming identity questioning
organizations, systems ideas, brands
univocal, unambiguous multivocal, ambiguous
controling the unexpected welcoming the unexpected
excess: standstill excess: chaos
ideal: inspiring through ordering ideal: forming through ideas

8. A lot of people see
what is happening
and ask ‘why?’
Some people see
what could happen
and ask ‘why not?’

9. Herbert A. Simon
The Sciences of the Artificial, 1996
“Engineering, medecine, business, architecture,
and painting are concerned not with the necessary
Intelligence
but with the contingent – not how things are Design
but how they might be – in short, with design”
Choice
“Our professional responsibility is not
to discover the laws of the universe,
but to act responsibly in the world by
transforming existing situations into
more preferred ones”
“We should leave more possibilities open to future generations than we ourselves inherited”

10. The dominant mindset of managing
decision making designing
• Choice between alternatives • Generate alternatives
• Assumptions: • Assumption:
– generating alternatives is – the more complex the
easy world is, the more important
– choosing between it becomes to generate valid
alternatives is all-important alternatives
• Problem: transforming decisions • “Designing = specifying an
into actions outline for action” (Webster)
• Information systems: • Information systems:
– management reporting systems – implementing a vision
– looking backwards – proactive

11. Visions on management
practical scientist
reflective practitioner business designer practical author

12. What now matters is the In the end, design is about shaping a context, rather
design and delivery of value. than taking it as it is. When it comes to design,
Really, what we're doing as
That needs design thinking. success arises not by emulating others, but by using
designers is, ultimately, and
That needs creative thinking. organizational assets and integrative thinking to
inevitably, designing the business
Judgment thinking alone is identify, build on, and leverage asymmetries, evolving
of the companies that we're
not going to be enough. Most unique models, products and experiences -- in short,
creative business solutions. working for. Whether you like it or
people, in business and not, the more innovative you try
elsewhere, have done very Roger Martin, The Design of Business, 2004
to be, the more you are going to
well on judgment thinking. affect the business and the
Such people are rarely aware business model.
of the need for 'design Tim Brown, speech at the
thinking'. They find it difficult This role of manager as designer is hardly
Rotman Business Design
to conceive that there is a mentioned in the literature, and barely
Conference, 2005
whole other aspect of thinking acknowledged in business
that is different from judgment practice. ...Managers practice "silent
thinking. It is not that such design"...the many decisions taken by non-
designers who enter directly into the design Companies that are successful exploit-
people are complacent. It is
process, no matter how unaware they or ing the full potential of design do so
simply that they do not know
others may be of their impact. because it's present in all of the deci-
that there is another aspect to
Angela Dumas and Henry Mintzberg, sions the company makes. These
thinking.
Managing the Form, Function, and Fit of companies aren't choosing to apply
Edward de Bono, Why So
Design, 1991 design to their respective business
Stupid? How the Human Race
strategies, but have chosen design as
has Never Really Learned to
the fundamental strategy itself. Design
Think, 2003
is the philosophical core of the compa-
ny. Everyone in the company becomes
involved in designing, whether that
We believe having designers in the mix is key to success in multidisciplinary
means creating financial plans or se-
collaboration and critical to uncovering unexplored areas of innovation.
lecting casing materials for an industrial
Designers provide a methodology that all parties can embrace and a design
product. Design isn't something that the
environment conducive to innovation. In our experience, design thinking is the
design department does. It's a way of
glue that holds these kinds of communities together and makes them
operating the company. It's an ongoing
successful.
set of choices about how the company
David Kelley, Dave Beach, George Kembel, Larry Leifer, Jim Patell, Bernie
is going to exist, to compete, to grow.
Roth, Bob Sutton, and Terry Winograd, founders of the Stanford University
John Zapolski, Design as a Core
Institute of Design, 2005
Strategy, 2005

13. What I learned from Friso Kramer
• Models are not pre-representations of the end result, but
sources of inspiration: “tools for thinking and feeling”
• Designing is an open mind activity: “If I would know in
advance how it will turn out, I wouldn’t even start”
• A designer must clear his mind in order to approach a
problem innocently
• Designing is leaving out the unnecessary
• Whatever you design, it should never hinder
• A designer must constantly train his empathy
• The most difficult customer is the best one, provided she is
competent and inspired
• A good designer goes beyond his customer’s belief in what
is necessary

14. What I learned from Dana Ponec
1. Your person
• You have to take a personal stance (what do you
really want to achieve?)
• You should believe in yourself, but not become
overconfident (you are not the most important person!)
• You are a craftsman, hence choose deliberately from
whom you want to learn the craft
2. Your method of working
• Thinking according to models only never leads to a
viable solution; worrying and try-outs are quite normal
• Accept uncertainty, there is no best solution
• You design for more people than the customer only
• Live with your customer and his situation-at-hand
• Show possibilities, even if unachievable
• Make it your customer’s design
• Imagine you use your own end product

15. desirable (people) feasible (technology)
viable (business)
“You cannot have brilliant ideas in the abstract”
Learning from analogous situations
Learning from extreme cases

16. Use of model:
≠ representation of end product
≠ authorization by customer
= “learning about your ideas”
Storytelling (in feasibility phase)
“Result without story is worthless”
Engagement with a better world is
“part of your business strategy”
Encourage experimenting beyond the
assignment and working according to plan
Visualize, create a working space where you can live
together with your design

17. bricolage
improvisation
tinkering
drift
caring
hospitality

18. Our preliminary conclusions
1. Start from real-life
experience, not from
abstract models
2. Imagination doesn’t
accept limits
3. Continuous dialogue
with all parties involved
4. The importance of
passion, engagement
and creativity

19. Networking
Questioning
Experimenting
Associating
Observing

20. Observing Networking
Real world
Voelbaar Haalbaar
Ideal world
Associating Experimenting
Denkbaar Maakbaar

21. The Christmas’ tree approach
network-
ing
experimenting
associating
observing