Thinking Like Nature at Cisco Secure
Combining Biomimicry and Cisco Design Thinking
The Case for Interdisciplinary Design
Design Thinking’s tolerance for ambiguity and encouragement of diverse ideas make it a catalyst for human-centered innovation. However, the method is not without its critics, who point out Design Thinking’s role in ill-considered solutions and tendency to over-prioritize designers’ opinions. The fact is, human-centeredness alone is no longer enough. Increasing social inequity, the accelerating pace of climate change, and other emerging systemic problems require approaches that are equitable, ethical, and sustainable as well as human-centered. Forward-looking solutions must draw on more than just the design methods to succeed: to truly make a difference, the modern problem solver must combine frameworks from multiple fields. By integrating the design process with systems-focused lenses, we can build solutions not just for today, but for the decades to come.
During my internship at Cisco, I’ve had the opportunity to explore what this type of interdisciplinary design looks like in practice. Over the course of the summer, I worked with the Duo Security Product Design team to develop “Thinking Like Nature,” a workshop delivered to a cross-functional team at Cisco Secure that explores the intersection of Biomimicry and Cisco Design Thinking.
Planning a Nature-Centered Workshop
Discover
I came into this project a Biomimicry novice at best, so my first few weeks were spent on desk research. Looking back, three of the biggest ideological influences on the final session came from this initial exploration:
Janine Benyus’s ideas, particularly her interview with Vox and 99% Invisible, was my initial introduction to Biomimicry. Her concept of “consciously emulating nature’s genius” was a guiding principle as I created the session.
Once I started to understand Biomimicry on a high level, the DesignLens framework from Biomimicry 3.8 helped me connect nature-focused methods with the Design Thinking process. “Thinking Like Nature” focuses on their “Discovering” and “Creating” phases.
Nature Emblems were the final key to my understanding of Biomimicry. This framework, created by Complex Movements and introduced to me via Emergent Strategy, became the connecting thread that tied all my activities together.
Define
With all this new knowledge in hand, I started brainstorming activities that would get attendees excited about nature — my initial list included self-guided nature walks, AskNature.org case study discussions, and even journaling. However, when I presented my rough outline to others for feedback, one thing became clear: many team members were already inspired by the natural world. The goal of the session, then, was not to create new interest in Biomimicry — it was to channel the existing energy to cultivate even more momentum. I could provide case study links or nature walk instructions for those who were interested, but the session itself should be focused on providing hands-on experience with Biomimicry methods.
Explore
Based on this discovery, I created a 90-minute session with two main objectives: developing participants’ Biomimicry knowledge and providing opportunities to apply nature-centered methods.
To add to participants’ understanding of Biomimicry, I made sure to provide plenty of background information before, during, and after the session. Though attendees found these resources interesting and helpful, people don’t come to a workshop to be talked at! From my initial feedback chats with Duo Security designers, I knew they wanted opportunities to use Biomimicry frameworks — not just learn about them. For this reason, most of the session (70 out of 90 minutes) was focused on applying nature-focused methods through interactive activities.
Participants’ engagement started before the workshop itself as they identified their biggest inspiration from nature. Once in the workshop, they focused on cultivating their initial inspirations into nature-inspired concepts. Everyone combined their top learnings with noteworthy qualities from their inspiration to create a Nature Emblem, then discussed these emblems in breakout groups. By encouraging participants “yes, and…” others’ emblems, these conversations helped each group build new and exciting connections to nature beyond their initial ideas. This divergent, innovation-focused mindset served the teams well in their final activity: brainstorming and sharing ways to apply their emblems at Duo and Cisco. At the close of the workshop, team members emerged with a prioritized list of their nature-inspired ideas to share with the whole group and apply to their day-to-day roles going forward.
Outcomes and Learnings
The initial Thinking Like Nature session was a success, with over 50 new nature-inspired ideas generated and lots of momentum created within 90 minutes. Some of the participants even expressed interest in building on the nature-inspired concepts they developed through a future hackathon project. The benefits of Thinking Like Nature go beyond the ideas created as well. In creating and discussing their own Nature Emblems, attendees learned how to apply an entirely new mindset toward the challenges their teams face and make connections to previously unexplored forms of inspiration.
As an Earth-centered framework, Biomimicry has a lot to offer when used in conjunction with Design Thinking methods. In today’s rapidly evolving world, solutions must be more than just desirable, viable, and feasible — they must be sustainable and equitable as well. From collaborating in a hybrid world to flattening the COVID-19 curve, the challenges we face today require nuanced and varied perspectives in addition to human-centered methods. Design can help us build the future, but it cannot do it alone — whether Biomimicry or another framework for innovation, new and varied lenses can empower us to address the world’s most complex problems.
