Design-thinking can help make the new year a happy one.
Happy New Year!
Do you believe that 2017 will be a wonderful, exciting and rewarding year, or do you expect bad things? Either way, you are probably right. Research shows that the very act of having a positive outlook can increase your chances of achieving a positive outcome.
One of Bruce Mau’s design principles urges us to tackle each opportunity with fact-based optimism. Not blind optimism. Not wishful thinking. Fact-based optimism. Of course, designers are optimistic almost by definition – they wouldn’t take on a design challenge if they didn’t think improvements were possible, right? Every great achievement was attempted because someone had a dream they believed in and a plan to make it come true.
This must be our approach. When we agree to take on an assignment – be it a specific customer challenge, an all-new business opportunity, or simply a refresh of a job we’ve held for years – our commitment to design thinking requires that we consider all the relevant, available data. Whether the data is encouraging or discouraging, positive or negative, it’s what we do with the data that matters. Design solutions that help bridge gaps, diffuse land-mines, build brands and disrupt the status quo are all the work of optimists with a purpose and a plan.
Regardless of what the “real world” serves up, you can be sure to find fear-mongers ready to paint worst-case scenarios for the year ahead. But for those of us committed to designing the future, the year ahead is already rich with opportunity. We’ve designed it that way.
All the best in 2017 to you and those you love.