Thinking and craft

One of the themes of the conference is likely to be the debate between two often counterpoised perspectives: design thinking and design craft. These concepts are embodied by two of Northumbria University School of Design school's two most illustrious alumni Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO and Jonathan Ive, Vice-president of design at Apple.

Definitions differ, but design thinkers tend to focus on: complex problems, new methods and multi-disciplinary teams; and many design and business leaders believe that its strategic focus on what to do, rather than how to do it, is one of the biggest opportunities for design.

Some designers (such as Michael Bierut writing in Design Observer) worry that the in the rush to include more people in the design process, core talents and sensibilities are being undervalued; a point Jonathan Ive makes with the simple formulation ‘Design is not important. Good design is important’. Others (such as Dan Saffer writing on the adaptive path blog)  worry about design thinking’s influence on design education.

Richard Sennett, the influential sociologist, has picked up a similar theme in his latest book The Craftsman, in which he writes about his concern about whether the dedication to craft, and the desire to do a job well, will survive in the fast-moving, 21st-century world. Stefan Stern summarises his case in this FT article:

'Prof Sennett worries that driven executives find themselves constantly manoeuvring to achieve a higher position in the future, instead of focusing on the job in hand now. This undermines the healthy obsession to work on improving professional skills.

But such commitment is not what the modern, future-focused corporation seems to want. As Prof Sennett has written elsewhere: "In place of craftsmanship, modern culture advances an idea of meritocracy that celebrates potential ability rather than past achievement”'

Both sides of the argument have a case. Ive is right to point the finger at the mediocrity of much of design. While it could be argued that this is down to lack of design management vision or an over reliance on consumer research, even smart strategies falter through lacklustre design execution – craft is still critical and in world class talent in short supply. That said, he is fortunate to work within a well thought through strategic framework at Apple. For those designers who don’t have Steve Jobs to clarify the big issues for them, craft can rarely save a flawed strategy.

Clearly we need talented design thinkers and crafters, but is it realistic to expect ‘T-shaped designers' to hone both skills to world-class levels, or should designers specialise in one or the other?

Comments

[Guy Julier]

Interestingly, Simon Myers of FigTree was asking a similar ‘either or’ question in DesignWeek recently. He suggested that designers should choose clearly between whether they were a product-focused or a strategy-orientated designer. Myers states this in starkly hard-nosed terms. The former’s chief concern is in achieving best value by balancing utilitarian, legal and aesthetic demands with cost optimization. The latter’s bread and butter lies more in the delivery of bespoke projects and personalised insight.

I wonder if by terming this debate as ‘thinking and craft’ there is the danger that it focuses on open-ended processes – not at all bad in themselves and I would advocate both as often as possible! – but design, and particularly the design that Myers is talking about, is such a ends-driven, calculated activity. This is as true for both its object-focused, problem-solving practices and the more strategic sort of design work.

Richard Sennett seems to be getting increasingly maudlin about the world he lives in, possibly with reason. But looping the FT article and Myers’s argument back to this ‘thinking and craft’ discussion (and, indeed, Kevin’s other blogs) I think it's productive to pursue the intersections of ‘thought-through crafting’ and ‘well-crafted thinking’.

[Lynne Maher]

So, what can someone from outside the design field add to this debate? I find that it is similar to many debates that we have in the field of healthcare, especially those of us involved in the area of improvement. In this context, we recognise that both the 'thinking and craft' (we would also describe this as 'what and how') are essential but recognise that some people have fantastic skills leaning towards either thinking or craft and some have fantastic skills in both areas. The leadership challenge is valuing both sets of skills and building a team that recognises the potential of each individual. The mix of people with different levels of skills create an intersection in itself. I have had the wonderful opportunity of working with some designers whom I have learnt a lot from and hold great respect for. As I reflect on my experience of their skills it is my opinion that they have a mix of both 'thinking' and 'craft'. The individuals I know have these at different levels but in my view, all have displayed both. I now want to be bold and offer a challenge to the design community. This is to focus less on the 'either' 'or' skills debate but to focus more on how we might maximise the potential of the growing intersection that is design and healthcare.