Blurring Boundaries: Part 1

There is a fundamental change in the way people react to the complex world problems. We can say that design thinking is coming of age or that organization have really taken Steve Jobs seriously, wherein organization are no more ready to face a challenge they facing with the very departmentalized manner like we have been following till now.  The practices at Ideo and Apple, have really shown the world what can happen if multi-disciplinary groups of people ideate on a other relatively departmentalized problem. Their practices have resulted in landmark innovation throughout the industry, not to negate the others who I haven’t written on. Like every strong trend, this has had a trickle down effect.

In social circles, more and more people ask each other what they do that makes them interesting. In offices, other than the regular resume HR’s keep a track of those who have interest and hobbies ( like music, editing, photography, cooking) to judge the enthusiasm and potential of the possible employees at the point of recruitment. Most multinationals have offices that actively support to develop the individual personal interest for the same reasons. Institutes have started offering cross learning courses around the globe, while our local design institutes have also picked up the trend. NID offers strategic design management, which is a mix of management and design to as to create a designer who understand and speaks management.

So, designers are pursuing management. MBAs are pursuing photography. Is this going to be random or is there a sense to this madness? Well, honestly there is answer is both a yes and a no to this, but the belief that most corporates, HRs and in general, there is a word in the crowd that people who can play with multiple interest are considered a better bargain for employment.

What is fundamental here is that, when a person can understands a organizational challenge from multiple viewpoints or perspective, they end up delivering more effective, impactful and holistic solutions.

Way forward

Design hence has now evolved to a more complex field than ever. As a designer, one really needs to be familiar with technology, business and marketing more and more. The boundaries between all of them have become so blurring that often clients tend to consult designers for the same. And its not an option, it’s a slowly becoming a requirement.