The Power of Creatives in Change Management
Designers and innovators hold powerful tools to help organizations through change
Change management is a business centric process highly analyzed by consultants, psychologists, and corporations that aims to help organizations through any type of structural or systemic changes. Processes differ by industry and thought school but all of the models resemble a fairly basic interpretation of:
- Figuring out the problem
- Figuring out how to change it
- Figuring out how to make the changes stick
In theory this is simple, in reality it is hard. Every change scenario is different, resulting in unique plans, models, activities, timelines, etc. But likely the most difficult part is managing, aligning, and motivating the stakeholders of the project; helping to steer everyone in the same direction in a choppy ocean. However, there is one group of people in (almost) every organization that is already comfortable with making new things: the design department. They also have the benefit of being deeply rooted in the often emotional and complicated process of creation. If you’re looking to manage change in an organization, make friends with the creatives.
1. Iteration
By training, designers learn an iterative creative process where the initial inception of an idea is never the final deliverable. We always expect to collect user feedback and try again. It’s normal, or at least tolerable, when a project doesn’t go quite as planned. This isn’t pessimism, it’s pragmatism. Going through this process over and over again builds a tough skin, especially in a world where we want solutions instant and definite.
When creatives practice this process we, perhaps unknowingly, also learn a lot of important skills that are directly transferable to changing environments. Most importantly, we are comfortable with ambiguity. We get bored when things stay the same and we are always curious as to how we can build a better future. We are empowered to always try again. We are already activists. We are activists for change.
2. Visualization
Perhaps the most important and heavily critiqued skillset of designers is our ability to communicate ideas visually. In class we learned how to sketch, render, and photograph in order to share and test our ideas at every stage in the design process. There are multitudes of websites where designers can share and practice visualization skills. We pride ourselves on the quality and impactfulness of our imagery.
Though at times this might come across to non-designers as superfluous, what we’re doing is really important because we’re sharing our vision of the future with others so they can help us create it. We organize technical documents to share with engineers or manufacturers. We create renderings to publish to marketing campaigns and packaging. Before anything exists in reality, it firsts exists in the imagination of a designer. Creatives can see the future, and with a good visualization, everyone else can too.
3. Storytelling
In art school, students are encouraged to get deeply in touch with their own emotions so they can use this as fodder for art. In design school, students are encouraged to get deeply in touch with other people’s emotions so they can create something that will be adopted by a specific user. We learn how to listen to other people’s stories, deduce insights, and communicate our decisions to organizations to get support for our solutions.
This innate understanding of empathy is a powerful tool to entice motivation. Feelings power stories and stories power movements. Stories can be told through physical mediums, which creatives already have the skill sets to facilitate, and of course, stories can also be told verbally. Talk tracks can be invented, perfected, and deeply believed in. And they’re supported by the individuals and emotions that are observed in real life. Creatives can make emotions tangible and use them as propellers to facilitate decision making. We tell stories that promote change.
In conclusion, designer training has some very clear crossovers that can be powerful tools helping the change management process. When organizations struggle to secure and understand their own future, it’s a great resource to use the brainpower that has already been working to bring that organization’s future to life. The medium might be a bit different, but the principles are the same. Designers are comfortable with change and nothing pleases us more than getting everyone excited about how great the future is going to be.
Thoughts? Feedback? Are you looking to integrate innovative practices into an organization? Reach out to me. I love to chat about design, innovation, emotional intelligence, and creativity across cultures.
