1.2. Designer’s Mindset

The Design Thinking process shows that in conjunction with divergent thinking, convergent thinking is also an important skill. This is achieved by analysing, selecting and taking decisions about what to do with the chosen ideas, next.

1.2. Designer’s Mindset

There is no Design Thinking process without the proper mindset. And yes, it is possible to train for this. It is in fact, part of exercising our creative muscles. The IDEO Design Kit4 suggests to consider the following principles- useful for entrepreneurs:

● Have confidence in creativity, yours and others As mentioned above, let’s practice being creative as individuals and teams. When looking at creativity from angles different from the “arty talent”, it’s possible to discover various skills and opportunities that together, compose the perfect creative process. Since the Design Thinking process is a kind of “dance” between divergent and convergent thinking, it is essential to compose teams of players who have mastered those attitudes. Divergence is explorative - being open to ideas, brainstorming and multiplying content, while convergence is analytical- synthesising the resources and deciding on conclusions or insights that are deemed useful for the next level.

● When in doubt, build it As for entrepreneurs, it is very useful to describe ideas in written form, by building slides or with pitches. Humans are very verbal! What about going for an alternative option and building prototypes? Sketches, models and mock-ups would all effectively present ideas in a visual way. Using our hands and imagination allows for a better expression of the idea, sharing it with the team members or other stakeholders and also, most important, receiving direct feedback. Often as entrepreneurs, we might have several options on the table and not really a clear path to which one would be the most functional, viable or desired by the customers. Building a quick visual model would prevent us from making assumptions and producing products or services that aren’t tested (or wanted?).

● Learn from mistakes And what if the feedback shows that we are about to make a mistake or we just did it? As long as we are able to learn from it, it can work in our favour. It’s true that as entrepreneurs, we feel the pressure to be successful, we believe it could only attract more success, right? But what if… what if honestly demonstrating lessons learned (and applying them in the next step) would be more convincing? Yes, learning is valuable!

4 https://www.designkit.org/