Resist the Urge to Go to Solution...

Yesterday, I was reminded yet again the importance of staying in empathy for as long as possible.  In this day of hustle and bustle, make your mark, be the first, and get it done because I said so, taking short cuts to solutions is the easy way but not always the right way. I have had time to reflect & unwind over the last several of months of being on a constant hamster wheel that not only got faster and faster, the wheel got larger and larger and a bit spiky. And as good intentions by many to keep the "culture" healthy and nurtured with a work/life balance, it just never truly happened.  I have spent the last six months not carb loading and constantly hydrating to jump back & try like hell to stay on that wheel. And to be perfectly honest it has been a relief and has caused me to pause in wonderment.

What is the driving force behind the pace and demand for impact and instant "whats" in your organization? Why is there a need for "nuggets" & "wins" to share out for the masses to consume? What kind of pressure does this create among educators within an organization yet more importantly the learners within this pressure cooker?

I love to repeat and fall back on this quote by Martin Moran, "So many solutions looking for problems." In a recent post, Which Comes 1st, The User or the Problem, I posed the question,

"If DT is human-centered (about another person), how can the designer assume the problem without true contact with the User?"

Resist the urge to go to solution. In a fast-paced arena, it is way to easy, safe, and expected to produce results, ideas, and solutions. And it is very hard lately to not see organizations not be sped up to keep up with the Joneses, especially the newbies trying to get a spot at the coveted "in" table.

As educators learning and guiding students through the design thinking process, resist the urge to go to solution. Help your students resist the urge to go to solution.  Encourage and demonstrate "paused" time in empathy, testing, collecting feedback, and iterating solutions multiple times. Resist (and persist).