DMI student essay winner 2022
“The real world” is what we create through our education and experiences. Studying Design Management for the past year opened me up to the broad spectrum of its transdisciplinary nature that integrates design, development of innovation, strategies and change management through transformational leadership.
Apparently, Design Managers wear different hats to help the organization succeed. The first hat is that of a researcher. As researchers, asking the appropriate “whys” helps to create a meaningful shared purpose across the triple bottom line– Why do we need the Metaverse? Why are we incorporating it in the business? Answering these can help discover latent needs and understand if there is even a need. The second hat is that of a leader. Through my education, I realized that a designer alone is powerless like a tiny piece of dust in a big crisis in creating value. It is good leadership that connects these tiny pieces of dust to create something valuable. Working in a multi-disciplinary group with designers from four countries at college was fascinating to understand beliefs and perspectives on the complex topic of micro-plastics. Leadership helped the team to be objective, work through everyone’s thoughts and come to a consensus. In the real world, an added responsibility of a leader is the ability to navigate through ambiguity of uncertain times such as the pandemic and thorny challenges like being profitable while being sustainable.
Third hat is that of a facilitator. A good facilitator guides a group through charged conversations and discussions to imagine the unimaginable. Exploring ways to conduct workshops made me realize its power to change people's mindsets and lead larger initiatives. The fourth hat is that of a systems thinker, wearing which a design manager performs sensemaking by delving deep into knowledge, emotions, and prior experience to find meaning in complex situations. My internship at Philips has exposed me to real world system thinking when we consider multiple stakeholders– patients, clinicians, distributors and even insurance companies, when designing an intervention. Finally, the fifth hat of a storyteller is always on while communicating an idea in varied ways to resonate with multitudes of people. This skill has helped me in different areas of my design career– user interviews, business pitches and even job interviews!
A Design Management approach is widely practiced in organizations to deliver financial performance. However, with the growing belief of businesses to address societal and environmental problems, it is vital to practice this approach to see progress in these areas. Examples of frameworks that address these concerns include the Sustainability SWOT by The World Resource Institute and Environmental Profit and Loss Statement by Stella McCartney. Although these frameworks show immense potential, limited applications in complex organization structures make me feel unprepared (however excited) to implement them. Another challenge faced as a Design Management graduate is understanding roles and career paths. It appears as if the knowledge gained while learning is not fully utilized during the early career phase. DMI can bridge this gap by facilitating student-professional discussions to further explore ways in which Design Management graduates can contribute to organizations. These interactions might also inspire students to write for academic purposes and communicate their ideas for the greater good.
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