Design as catalyst of new organisational readings

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The International Research Society for Public Management

Panel #24 at the Annual Conference, Rome, Italy, 13-15 April 2012 Managing collaborative innovation in the public sector Paper to be presented at the conference

Design as catalyst of new organisational readings

Christian Bason Ph.D. Fellow, Copenhagen Business School Director of Innovation, MindLab Denmark

Abstract Design is increasingly seen as a discipline and approach that is central to innovation, also in the public sector. In particular, terms such as design thinking, service design, co-design, human centred design and strategic design – which signify collaborative and inclusive approaches to design practice – are gaining prevalence in a range of countries, and at all levels of government. However, as public managers are exposed to design processes in their quest for more innovative policies, services and organisations, what happens? This paper explores how managers in public service organisations embrace new and more collaborative design approaches such as user research and involvement, ideation, prototyping and experimentation, and what significance these approaches have for them. The paper seeks to interpret a set of first research findings using Morgan’s metaphor of organisational reading, and discusses what new readings – and innovations – might be enabled through design approaches. Finally it discusses briefly how managers might be viewed as designers and what implications Michlewski’s perspective on ‘design attitude’ could have. Key words: Innovation in government, public management, design, organisational reading, collaboration

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