I sometimes wonder how much my personal consumption of sticky notes has contributed to 3M virtually doubling their share price in the last 5 years. I don’t think there’s a room in my house that doesn’t have a stash of sticky notes — just in case. And there are few…

Insights. The holy grail of problem framing, and the key to being able to see a wicked problem in a new way. Insights are NOT merely explanations. Explanations make sense of a scenario but keep you inside the space of the familiar. To be compelling, an insight should be something…

I once heard agile software development described as ‘a philosophy backed by a methodology that leaves behind a trail of techniques’. Elegant, huh? Design Thinking is the same. In fact, the most heated conversations I have on the subject are with people who merely see it as another process to push their sausage mince through. Which totally misses the point. To understand Design Thinking, to be an effective practitioner and to get the…

One of the things I love and appreciate most about Design Thinking is that it’s such a generous space, which means that so many of the resources (theories, tools and how-tos) that you need to be effective are openly and freely available. The other thing I love most about Design…

The opposite of work is not play, it is dysfunction. Strangely enough, so is the opposite of play. Play is a biological necessity. We need it as much as we need food, water, sleep, shelter and sex. All animals play. …

This is the final article in a three part series on Wicked Problems. If you missed Part I (the difference between Simple, Complex and Wicked problems), click here and for Part II click here.

This is Part II of a three part series on Wicked Problems. If you missed Part I (the difference between Simple, Complex and Wicked problems), click here. So how do you tell what kind of a problem yours is? This is an adapted excerpt from my upcoming book Navigating Wicked…

Think of a problem. In fact, think of two. A professional one and a personal one. Problems that are of the gnarly-never-seem-to-go-quietly variety, regardless of how often you take a run at it. Maybe you can’t get a micro-managing boss to give you enough space to do what you can…

Design thinking is touted to help solve the business problems that existing or BAU processes can’t deal with. Problems like; becoming more innovative, becoming more customer centric, running a successful transformation program, breaking down organisational silos, building “One Team” by engaging your workforce, or perhaps trying to convince a bunch…