Design Thinking & Gumption - Part 1 of 2

In the months of February and March I'll span a couple of thoughts that have been on my mind while working at the Foundry. What started as a single post, actually has parallels to the larger concept of Design Thinking. In some of my personal readings in February, I’ve been looking back to a required reading that was assigned during my first year design studio at Harrisburg Area Community College. The book was Robert M. Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values.

It has been well over 25 years since I have opened the book, which I have held onto all of these years. While that great passage of time has happened, I still recall the main themes in the book because it had a profound impact on the design methodologies / design theories that were emphasized in the school. This month, I’ll provide some backstory into why I feel this book is important to Design Thinking with Pirsig’s discussion of the word Gumption.

But first, let's start with Design Thinking. I mentioned the phrase Design Thinking in my December Blog post and I would like to expand on this to further understand its usefulness in the classroom. There are several great articles that trace the origins of this concept that will do a better job than I. It is a vast topic and I must note that a stroll through the Design Thinking article on Wikipedia is highly encouraged.

In tracing the history, two people emerge. The first is Tim Brown, the Head Director of the IDEO London Office. In June of 2008, Brown writes about Design Thinking in the Harvard Business Review. He uses it as the title of his article. This cauterizes the Design Thinking terminology in the mainstream, in particular the business world, as it relates to a business process. He states that design thinking as:

“a discipline that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods to match people’s needs with what is technologically feasible and what a viable business strategy can convert into customer value and market opportunity.” Definitions of Design Thinking 3/11/2013

The second person that emerges is Herbert Simon. In the 3/20/2006 Fast Company magazine article titled “Design Thinking...What is That?”, the Staff writers identified the essential elements that Tim Brown pulled together two years later. The 4 key concepts in the business world as:

1. Define the Problem

2. Create and Consider Many Options

3. Refine Selected Directions

4. Pick the Winner, Execute

In that article, the writers also reference Herbert Simon, who who the basis of Design Methodologies / Design Theories. In his 1969 book, Sciences of the Artificial, Simon wrote “Engineering, medicine, business, architecture, and painting are concerned not with the necessary but with the contingent – not with how things are but with how they might be – in short, with design.” They outline Simon’s work of identifying a seven step process:

1. Define

2. Research

3. Ideate

4. Prototype

5. Choose

6. Implement

7. Learn

What I would like to point out is that the discussion to define Design Thinking is somewhat caught in the Design Thinking Process itself. The original definition embraces an idea, and it continues to be researched, tested, implemented, and learned from in many forms, and ultimately refined. This is shown in a graphic developed by Linda Naiman at Creativity at Work. In her blog article “How do you create a strategy for guaranteeing that innovation and creativity flourish in your organization?” she created the following graphic that shows a Creative Problem-Solving (CPS) with art and design methodologies.

Her interview with John Seely Brown (Xerox PARC Artist-In-Residence) contains an interesting discussion about the intersection of Art and Science.

Linda Naiman’s diagram applied to the evolving concept of design thinking is best represented on a blog entitled I Think...I Design. In the 6/8/2012 article, A Brief History of Design Thinking: How Design Thinking Came to “Be”, Swinburne University PhD candidate Stefanie Di Russo, takes the challenge to assemble the history of Design Thinking. See the circular timeline below from her blog. I think she has done a great job, which brings me to my point.

While I was in college the term Design Thinking was not a term on anyone’s radar. Simon’s concept of “design methodologies” or “design theory” were discussed. These methodologies/theories applied to many different fields. There was a process. A workflow. This was emphasized in the design studio. This was highly creative, highly collaborative in solving large problems. This is what architects were trained to do, analysis a complex problem set, and get to an approach that solves the age old need outlined in Marcus Vitruvius Pollio Vitruvius’s Ten Books on Architecture. The three important areas, which have lasted many millennia, are utilitas=commodity/useful, firmitas=firmness/sturdy and venustas=delight/beautiful. In that triad relationship there exists another triad relationship of Architect, Client, and Contractor, which is a topic for a later date.

In wrapping up part one, I’ve drawn together some background to Design Thinking. This is an important start for next month’s topic of the word Gumption. It is found in Chapter 26 of Pirsig’s book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I believe this word is critical to Design Thinking because in order to get to an ideal, what Simon stated “not with how things are but with how they might be.” This sometimes takes tremendous effort that that word perseverance just doesn’t do service to explain the process.

FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS:

For an alternative perspective of Design Thinking see Jeffrey Tjendra’s 4/2014 Wired article, The Origins of Design Thinking.

In Tjendra's 4/2014 Business Innovation Design article, he outlines his 13 reasons “Why Design Thinking Will Fail.”

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STEAM Making @ Camp Curtin Academy Middle School

SCIENCE:

Trout in the Classroom

The fish in Room 308 are doing exceedingly well. They are very active. Students added more gravel and a rock feature that allows fish some place to hide in the tank. The students haven’t noticed any large spike in either pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, or Nitrate levels through the past couple of months. We have lost a couple of fish due to a filter intake and not developing correctly. They enjoy being feed 2-3 times a week. An April release date will be announcements next month, as plans are made for a day trip to the Yellow Breeches near Messiah College.

TECHNOLOGY:

Robotics Club

We are still waiting to identify a Lead Teacher to facilitate this initiative at Camp Curtin Academy. During January the Robotics Club was on break and we are regrouping to develop one workshop that demonstration the ideas of Design, Build, and Program.

ARTS:

AV Studio Morning Broadcasting​

The month of February brought the African American History Month to the studio. Ms. Monaghan used the book African Americans of Harrisburg to highlight the local achievements of individuals leading the cause of freedom and rights as far back as the Civil War Camp Curtin, for which the school is named. Ms. Monaghan also choose to highlight HBCU’s in the morning announcements to help students recognize opportunities of higher education in Pennsylvania and around the nation. In April we are planning to have a field trip to WITF, ABC 27 News, and Harrisburg’s WHBG, Channel 20.

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STEAM Making @ SciTech High School

TECHNOLOGY:

Scibots Robotics Team

On Saturday 2/25 the 2016-2017 Championship Season wrapped up at Dallastown

Intermediate Unit in York PA. The outcomes of that championship can be see at the FTC State Championship Recap. Due to a scheduling conflict at John Harris High School, the venue had to be relocated. While this was a disappointment to students, staff, and Foundry members, it was a point to regroup and think about potential outreach ideas to do during the spring. It also helped the group reflect on what could be done to make next year even better. One thing that we will be focusing on in March is the Arts Showcase at John Harris High School. Bob Steps was invited to present Robotics at this event and the SciBots team is looking to demonstrate their robots and show the video of the 2016-2017 FTC Season. Bob Steps hand an idea for coins to be given away the event. The Foundry's Delta Printr Go has been busy printing out coins.

ARTS:

AV Studio Morning Broadcasting​

George Elo has been working with students to develop a morning broadcasting crew. He has started them off in the basics of news gathering and journalism and on Thursday, February 23rd completed the first live stream broadcast. We will be working with George at SciTech, as well as Camp Curtin Academy and Marshall Math and Science Academy to draw together a common curriculum that relates to Common Core Standards and 21st Learning.