Design Thinking While You Work
At the Charities Review Council Annual Forum 2014, participants engaged in design thinking exercises about disruptive philanthropy.
When I ran into a former colleague recently, she asked me what I liked about freelancing. Without hesitating, I commented on how stimulating it is to work with such a diverse group of nonprofit and foundation clients.
As I explore fields that are new to me, I meet fascinating people, and best of all, I get to apply what I learn in unexpected ways that benefit my clients — and my community.
For instance, before I was introduced to CornerHouse in Minneapolis, I knew little about child and adolescent abuse. Plus, I was completely unaware that this local agency is known worldwide for training of forensic interviewers, or that it is the only children’s advocacy center in the country that is offering healing home visiting services to children and families dealing with the aftermath of abuse.
Experience the Creative Rush
So in the course of just a day or two, I’ve written about families recovering from trauma, grocery delivery services for seniors, and rural broadband access, among other topics. Shifting from one subject to the next, I see surprising connections between ideas and audiences, and new communications strategies emerge . . . it’s a sort of creative rush.
And it feels like that creativity allows me — in my own small way — to participate in the local “disruptive philanthropy” movement. The Charities Review Council team members — who championed the movement at their annual forum last fall — defined disruptive philanthropy as:
“a transformative event or moment, an act of giving and relationship building that is a departure from the status quo. It may not be easy, endorsed or comfortable, but it is necessary to inclusively create a shared vision, a new sustainability, innovation, imagination and growth.”
Personal Design Thinking
In another way, my work on behalf of my clients and their beneficiaries feels like a personal design thinking exercise.
During participation in the Giving 2.0 MOOC last fall, I heard David Kelley from IDEO speak about design thinking in philanthropy and use of the Human-Centered Design Toolkit. Its underlying premise is that problem-solving in philanthropy must be preceded by deep empathy for the people who will benefit and close engagement with them in “need-finding.”
No matter what how you describe it, I feel happy to zig and zag while I work, using my neurons to connect seemingly unrelated dots . . . and making my small contributions to the third sector and our greater community.
wendy wehr 