Many scientists of the past were right when they predicted that we won’t be able to solve the problems of the future with the same kind of thinking of the past.

With the rapid changes that society is going through every day, the methods we have been using to deal with our problems in the past are no longer relevant.

We need to develop thinking methods that are much more efficient and systemized and do not depend on human skills and physical labor.

Innovation of this kind will certainly help us tackle problems of the 21st century in the most practical way possible.

The problems that artists, designers, business owners, engineers and civic leaders of today face are on a whole new level.

In a world that is largely globalized in every which way, changes in the economy and resource management are felt in every sector across the world almost instantly.

“To solve the new problems of today, we need new kind of innovation in design thinking.”

Design thinking is a large part of new innovation that we need to bring into our everyday mindsets.

This will allow us to engage in collaborative work by having a human-centered perspective towards the work needed.

“We need to make sure that most problems get tackled logically and scientifically, instead of with emotions or egos.”

Problems We Can Tackle with Design Thinking

Here is a hardly exhaustive list of problems and challenges that can be tackled with design thinking. Problems and challenges in society that involve:

● A redefinition of values

● Shifting markets and behaviors

● Reinvention of business models

● Addressing rapid changes in society

● Multiple systems and ideals

● Direct impact to diverse groups of people

● Quality of life

● Multidisciplinary teams

● Entrepreneurial initiatives

● Education advances

● Medical breakthroughs

● Inspiration

● Problems that big data can’t effectively solve

How to Approach Challenges Holistically

Design thinking is best suited to addressing problems by applying multiple dimensions to them, not singular views of one way or the other as we are experiencing today, especially in the political theater.

They are also most effective at the intersection of business and society, logic and emotion, human needs and economic requirements, rational and creative beings and between systems and individuals.

We would not require this kind of design thinking when you’re tackling time problems — that is, problems that have fixed solutions that are known to many stakeholders. Cake walks, basically.

Unless we’re looking for a novel way to address the problems that we’ve been tackling with the same solutions for so long, deep thinking is less than useless.

“Deep thinking is not just a process or a fixed set of steps you follow.”

Design thinking cannot be understood as a process that can solve a set-in-stone collection of problems that someone finds in front of them. It is rather a mindset towards approaching problems.

This mindset can be applied to almost any scenario where innovation or thinking differently is the most crucial aspect.

It can also be effectively combined with other thinking or strategy methodologies, business strategies that have been devised by marketing experts and management practices that have been followed heuristically for years by organizations or teams.

The Human Spirit

Information overload in this information economy is a big problem. Companies and organizations are battling not for money, but for attention.

Besides the constant accountability drives and scrutiny of employees by their seniors and superiors, people are being bombarded with information they don’t need for very long.

Hence, more and more humans are seeking products, services and organizations that they personally connect with.

These meaningful connections provide them a sweet escape from the daily information hustle, making them more capable to get up and put in a productive day of work.

“With the right mindset, we can tackle any problem with innovation in design thinking.”

The challenges that society and countries are facing today are much more complex than they were decades ago.

As they are becoming more complex every year, we must make sure that we employ proactive ways to figure out newer techniques that help us deal with them effectively.

Design thinking is a big part of that innovation. We must make sure that the thinking we design helps us focus on a human-centric approach to problem solving, making sure that the solutions designed are incorporating creativity as well as logic.

When we align our mindsets, skills and environments, we are able to create innovations that allow us to survive the constant challenges that society and the world presents us with.

“To solve the biggest problems facing us today, we have to replace convictions with curiosity.”

By being curious about understanding differences in points of view, we can learn more from the cause of current thinking, vs the effects.

“We can’t continue to tap into ideologies of the past to move us forward, we must evolve to collaborative design thinking driven by the human spirit.”

We must make sure that we keep a deep desire for learning alive inside us so that we always seek out better ways to solve the hurdles in life and find peace at last.