I read the interview with Oliver Broadbent and watched the interview with Brent Darnell. They both articulate the need for ideation to solve the problems of today and tomorrow and cite the role that cognitive biases play in disabling new ideas. I thought Darnell provided a compelling list of attributes and behaviors to enable ideation including 1) practice empathy and ask a lot of good questions, 2) clearly define the problem, 3) practice ideation and 4) prototype and test.
However, I felt the place where both fell short was on communicating and 'selling' the idea. At the end of the day, you need someone to buy into your idea. Innovation and disruption do not naturally sell. One way to sell a new idea is to put it in perspective with the alternative(s) and show how it measures up against the value measures of importance. A decision by definition requires alternatives. It's also imperative that one have 'permission' to ideate and a notional agreement for commitment to action at the get go from the client or customer.
The augmented and modified steps based on my experience in ideation and selling an idea are: 1) practice empathy and ask a lot of good questions, 2) clearly define the problem, 3) secure the commitment upfront to consider new and/or disruptive ideas, 4 ) clearly establish what's important by way of values, priorities and tradeoffs, 5) practice ideation (e.g., apply a structured brainstorming process) and generate at least 2 alternatives and 6) apply logically correct reasoning to show how each of the alternatives measures up against what's deemed important.
What would others add, subtract, or modify?
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Mitch Winkler P.E., M.ASCE
Houston, TX
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-14-2021 04:41 PM
From: Tirza Austin
Subject: Civil Engineering and Design Thinking
ASCE members have been talking about design thinking and how it helps the next generation of civil engineers design for tomorrow's infrastructure. You can find some of these resources here: https://collaborate.asce.org/careerbydesign/resources/design-thinking
I also wanted to start a thread for YOU to ask questions about design thinking and how civil engineers can apply some of these principles to their work. Please use this thread to ask questions about design thinking.
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Tirza Austin
Manager, Online Community
American Society of Civil Engineers
1801 Alexander Bell Drive
Reston, VA 20191
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