Ok, I’ve had it.

Let’s make one thing clear upfront: there is nothing wrong with pretty things. Beautiful objects, moments, people etc. are what make life worthwhile.

Fashion, for example, is an ultimate expression of self, and although temporal it’s not at all shallow or superfluous. Look at Africa, where people have nothing – they do all have amazing dresses and art to enrich their lives.

This why it ribs me that lately the tone set in the debate about design, creativity, etc. is not one of opportunity and possibility, but rather one of dismay and despair. About design versus Design.

Ever since people started talking about ‘design thinking’, in itself a very worthwhile and valuable concept, designers seem to feel misunderstood all the time. “nobody is listening to us”, “we have to prove added value”, and “people still equate design with varnish”. Baaaaa.

Hardly ever is the solution to being misunderstood balking at the culprit. Don’t get your knickers in a twist, guys.

This morning, when I posted a comment made by Seth Godin to Twitter, the response that I expected came almost immediately: “I think Godin’s vision on design is shallow. Design is a tool to shape a desirable future. Increased sales is a side effect.” (Thanks @tynamite)

Well, somebody has to pay for it…

And to be honest, it’s not that the business world does not value good design – at least I don’t know a lot of successful fashion houses that are having trouble getting financing. Apple seems to be doing fine and dandy, and so does Method.

The problem here seems to be that part of the design world is looking for academic laurels rather than doing what they are really good at, namely making creative solutions to highly complex problems.

I’ll say that again: designers are very good at solving complex, ill defined problems that have ambiguous outcomes.

Being a good designer requires the ability to analyze a situation and frame the problem before you, and having the courage and judgment to make decision that cannot be logically deduced. You’re somewhere between a mathematician and an artist. It’s quite an achievement, but you’re not going to win any Nobel prizes.

Last week at an event in NYC I met acclaimed designer Gadi Amit and I asked him about his view about the difference between his own, more intuitive approach versus, say, IDEO’s analytical style of design.

His answer: “IDEO are basically engineers, I think that most of my designs have been 10 times as impactful as theirs.”
And although I don’t have any numbers to sustain that claim, I guess the truth lies somewhere in the middle: there is something to be said for either approach, depending on the circumstances. But we should stop claiming that one ‘form’ of design is better than another, because let’s be honest, it’s all very subjective to begin with.

What design thinking is accomplishing is a toolbox that will make the levers and switches of design useful and accessible to a wider audience –for examples, take a look at these ideas from Erik and Ralf.

What it’s not doing is giving designers the same status as economists, Mark Hurst, or even Damien Hirst. Meanwhile, some designers claim Marcel Wanders is not really a designer. Why? Because he merely makes ‘pretty things’.

And herein lies the crux of this entire debate: in their eagerness to convince corporate people that design is a useful tool that can make users’ lives better and add value to the bottom line, they have started to distinguish between design and Design. Big complex ideas with user-based solutions versus the 134th Alessi coffee cup. And this has proven quite counterproductive – it’s like trying to balance a chair with one leg shorter.

The very role ‘designers’ claim in the process of innovation is that of an external factor. Designers are consultants, hired guns brought in by a project manager to bring ‘creative skills’ or ‘user insights’ to a new project. Of course you’re going to have to prove that you’re worth the money. It took McKinsey 80 years (and a lot of academic achievement) and still hardly anyone listens to them.

One need only read ‘Leading the revolution‘ or ‘Business stripped bare‘ to gauge that the skill set of designers is very well suited to being front and center in the innovation game.

So please, stop whining already. Learn about business, about the corporate system. Learn how money is made and what forces are at play. You might not agree with it, but at least you can then beat the system at its own game. Take one of your great ideas and build a company on top of it. Make the concept of design thinking the bearings of your organization.

Stop being a consultant and start being an innovator.

Because the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

R.