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HE VALUE OF A NON DISCIPLINARY TEAM: INCLUSION + DIVERSITY
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The values of design have shifted enormously since
I began working in the field and teaching in it. A striving for “High Style”, mostly focused on final object and end result, understood by and available to only a few, has evolved greatly to design's current, inclusive and "Human Centered" position.
Design in its most powerful form is a verb. It’s a creative process for solving problems and discovering new opportunities in a complex and shifting world. The prefix “Co” as in “Co-design” is more often preceding the word then not. “Co-design” includes teams of people, working together. People with diverse points of view, experiences and knowledge banks, eager to work together and use tools like “The Design Process”and especially Inquiry models like "Fuzzy Front End Inquiry" to better understand, define
and solve problems, big and small. I am one of those designers.
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THE VALUE OF A RISK TAKER ON YOUR TEAM: TRANSFORMATION
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My style of teaching is unorthodox. More than teach, I create environments to discover. The creative process and creative transformation require this posture. A hallmark of innovation is being comfortable with discomfort, doubt and insecurity. Going into unknown territory and disrupting entrenched habits of thinking is much like tilling cold, hard soil before we plant seeds. It's really
hard work and some people don't like it, but it is certain to shift and change older thinking pathways and open us up to the possibility of transformation and growth.
HE VALUE OF A CONNECTOR ON YOUR TEAM: INNOVATION
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But these new discoveries and ideas need to be cobbled together. They need to find new connections and pathways. This takes time, patience and experimentation. It also take partnering with extraordinary faculty dedicated to design. Skills like "Right Answer Finding" don't work here. It's indirect hunches and often unquantifiable way-finding, that ultimately achieve the goal.
Creating environments to test new ideas is essential for the creative process. Interdisciplinary teams like the ones I lead are great for this; checking and rechecking our blind spots and assumptions. I consider myself a "Connector" who strives to combine previously unrelated bodies of knowledge and experiences in new and powerful ways in order to creatively solve complex problems.
I intentionally partner with others who do not think the way I do, because I am certain of the value of this, even when it feels "not right". I have a sustained commitment to this creatively-driven process — a process embraced by many of those dedicated to the arts, the creative process and future art and design education. This includes my chairs, my clients, my colleagues, all of my students, as well as the teachers I am honored to mentor — all who inspire me endlessly