The Power of Thought: Using Design Thinking, Critical Thinking, and Integrative Thinking to Change the World
Lane Wallace, Author, Correspondent for TheAtlantic.com; West Coast Editor, Flying Magazine
Roger Martin, Dean, Rotman School of Management
A lot of new terms related to “thinking” are being bandied about these days: “design thinking,” “critical thinking,” “integrative thinking.” What are the differences between these different concepts, how are they related, and how do each of them help or relate to coming up with more innovative solutions in the real world?
Roger Martin champions the idea of integrative thinking as a way of not only discovering innovative solutions, but also of finding a way forward when faced with two or more entrenched, opposing viewpoints or models. This can be a powerful tool for finding effective design solutions for intractable problems, or in contentious situations, and it has implications far beyond just consumer-oriented design. But few of us have ever been taught how to do concerted, integrative thinking. To understand this concept better, we need to explore:
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What is a “model” and how can each of us use models to process information in the world?
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How do you deconstruct models to find and question their underlying assumptions?
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How can we take the information we discover in that process to design new, innovative, and better solutions—for ourselves, our clients, and even between opposing camps in the world at large?
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