The first time I heard about "Design Thinking" I did not know what to expect. According to Tim Brown, design thinking is a "methodology that imbues the full spectrum of innovation activities with a human centered design ethos". If this definition sounds cryptic to you, welcome to the club. The best way I understood this concept brings me back to Brown again citing Thomas Edison; his genius laid in the ability to conceive not an electric lightbulb, but an entire marketplace. He envisioned how people would want to use his invention and he engineered toward that insight.

Innovation seems to be the word of the century. Companies spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to redesign websites, stores, and advertising campaigns. But is this innovation? Recalling from my last post, content is king. The design of the content definitely determines whether your content will be clicked on more than your competitor's, but again it is what you write that makes the difference. You are what You Publish.

Human beings are innately tinkerers; although the journey can be long and painful, eventually we get it right. In 1899 Charles Duell, the Commissioner of the US Patent Office stated "everything that can be invented has been invented". Aside from the irony of the quote and its source, aren't we all glad for design thinkers? Would we have computers, smartphones, and watches where we can store our entire life in and talk with entities like "Siri" without them?

Paula Scher said that the best way to accomplish serious design is to be totally and completely unqualified for the job. The whole reason why I decided to pursue a higher education in integrated marketing is because I live by innovation and design thinking. These are mindsets that people do not understand you don't necessarily need to be born with. Design thinking can become your mindset even if you believe you were not born creative. The key is to push yourself. We will never achieve change by doing things the same way we did yesterday. Up to a few years ago, I did not consider myself a creative person, but I have always thought ahead and approached things with what they call "a beginner's mind".