From the president: Understanding

Design Management Journal, Summer 2002 by Powell, Earl N

What role does understanding play in our lives? What do we lose when we don't understand? Energy? Resources? Time? Relationships? How do we achieve understanding? How do we test it?

Of course, there are no definitive answers to these questions, but I find them rather intriguing-especially in the context of education, where understanding and learning are intertwined. Understanding is a simple word, but we often underestimate its power. Perhaps human nature is part of the problem. We react to situations without stopping to think-making choices, judgments, and decisions before our understanding is complete, or even partially complete. It's like the understanding you get from reading a recipe: quite different from the understanding you get when you eat the results. The awareness that we simply may not understand another person's motives, interests, or perspective can be crucial in effective interaction and communication, and it will affect the quality of the relationship.

Designers have many tools and techniques that aid understanding. The process of drawing, for example, requires more observation and analysis than does a simple verbal description of an envisioned product, and it can lead to deeper insights. Brainstorming, too, can lead to new ideas and along the way provide a much better understanding of the problem to be solved.

Recently, Gerry Nadler, IBM chair emeritus in engineering management at the University of Southern California and a member of the Design Management journal editorial board, sent me an excerpt from his upcoming book, Ask the Right Questions: Creating the Answers that Work. Although I'm still reading the book, I find one of its key concepts, Question Forward, works as a powerful approach to achieving richer understanding and insight. The Question Forward process acts like a magnet, giving direction and drawing forward, focused thinking.

We are very pleased that Dr. Nadler will be a featured speaker at our 27th International Design Management Conference on Cape Cod this October.

I believe we all need to think deeper about industry's lack of understanding of design-and managing for design. We could also benefit from considering how our own understanding biases or shapes our thoughts and actions. Is our understanding shaped by our need for social acceptance? What are the components of the drive for understanding? Why do we need to understand? What is the difference between knowing and understanding? Where are the links among ambiguity, anxiety, and understanding?

Good design is all about understanding-and, not to belabor the obvious, effective management for design is all about understanding, as well. When did you last ask yourself if you really understood something?

DMI would like to extend its thanks to Jon Craine and Brandy Riley at Devine & Pearson for their help in redesigning the DMI Journal Table of Contents.