Kees Dorst

When problem solving doesn't work anymore, we need a different logic: start with the underlying human values, reframe, and create space for deep change. The nature of the problems we are facing has shifted, becoming more open, complex, dynamic, and networked than ever before. As a consequence, domains across society are finding out the hard way that "business as usual" doesn't work anymore and that our current modes of innovation fall far short of what is needed. Our current reality truly requires us to change our thinking on a deep level, to embrace a different logic, and develop new approaches that go beyond mere problem solving. In Deep Change, Kees Dorst shows how this can be done. Building on his bestseller Frame Innovation, Dorst takes creative practices from design to a wholly different level. He shows how these practices can be used to inform organizational change (by synchronizing top-down and bottom-up reframing), sector-level change (by creating and adopting new paradigms), and even societal change (by shaping major transitions). All these practices come together in his studio model, a new type of innovation infrastructure that creates the space for deep and ongoing change. With 24+ fascinating case studies and many other real-world examples, the book takes the reader through the new thinking and the new practices, inspiring growth and change. Once you see this, you can't unsee it.

Break Free from Outdated Thinking Traditional strategies are no longer enough. In a world defined by complexity and rapid change, businesses and leaders need a new approach. This book delivers exactly that: a bold blueprint for strategic innovation that blends design-based methods with powerful change theories to spark real transformation. Explore what it takes to drive innovation-from the right mindset and team dynamics to the collaborative conditions that enable deep, systemic change. Featuring 25 real-world case studies from entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs in sectors like Care, Education, Insurance, and Infrastructure, this book proves that lasting impact is not only possible-it's already happening. For designers, consultants, and change-makers this book offers a next step beyond Design Thinking. Packed with practical tools and proven strategies, this is your guide to uncovering blind spots, unlocking creativity, and turning bold ideas into lasting results. Deep change is possible: it CAN be done!

How organizations can use practices developed by expert designers to solve today’s open, complex, dynamic, and networked problems. When organizations apply old methods of problem-solving to new kinds of problems, they may accomplish only temporary fixes or some ineffectual tinkering around the edges. Today’s problems are a new breed—open, complex, dynamic, and networked—and require a radically different response. In this book, Kees Dorst describes a new, innovation-centered approach to problem-solving in organizations: frame creation. It applies “design thinking,” but it goes beyond the borrowed tricks and techniques that usually characterize that term. Frame creation focuses not on the generation of solutions but on the ability to create new approaches to the problem situation itself. The strategies Dorst presents are drawn from the unique, sophisticated, multilayered practices of top designers, and from insights that have emerged from fifty years of design research. Dorst describes the nine steps of the frame creation process and illustrates their application to real-world problems with a series of varied case studies. He maps innovative solutions that include rethinking a store layout so retail spaces encourage purchasing rather than stealing, applying the frame of a music festival to understand late-night problems of crime and congestion in a club district, and creative ways to attract young employees to a temporary staffing agency. Dorst provides tools and methods for implementing frame creation, offering not so much a how-to manual as a do-it-yourself handbook—a guide that will help practitioners develop their own approaches to problem-solving and creating innovation.

This book introduces practices that are now part of what people see as ‘21st Century Skills’. The enjoyable essays in this book provide a panoramic view over the subject of design. The essays are written to encourage designers and students of design to reflect upon their field. Fundamental questions are raised about the nature of design, about designers themselves, and about the role of design within the broader contexts of business and society. And design, these days, is not just for designers - many different fields are learning from design to build creative practices, and this book seeks to help to open up design practices for general use. The book is for designers (to help them reflect on their practices, and develop them further) and for students of design across all designing disciplines.

Our societies are becoming more complex, dynamic, and networked every day. Public organizations and companies alike are learning the hard way that the societal challenges before us cannot be resolved as they were in the past. We need new approaches to these problems. Over the past ten years, an increasing number of government organizations, companies, and individuals have realized that special practices from design can help us rise to the challenge. At the core of this book are twenty case studies from around the world that demonstrate how design approaches can be used for societal change. These extensive case descriptions are interspersed with reflections, lessons learned, and tricks and tips for the practitioner, culminating in a vision of how design can revolutionize society.

Design Expertise explores what it takes to become an expert designer. It examines the perception of expertise in design and asks what knowledge, skills, attributes and experiences are necessary in order to design well. Bryan Lawson and Kees Dorst develop a new model of design expertise and show how design expertise can be developed. This book is designed for all students, teachers, practitioners and researchers in architecture and design. To enable all readers to explore the book in a flexible way, the authors’ words are always found on the left hand page. On the right are diagrams, illustrations and the voices of designers, teachers and students and occasionally others too.'Design Expertise' provides a provocative new reading on the nature of design and creative thought.

How organizations can use practices developed by expert designers to solve today's open, complex, dynamic, and networked problems. When organizations apply old methods of problem-solving to new kinds of problems, they may accomplish only temporary fixes or some ineffectual tinkering around the edges. Today's problems are a new breed—open, complex, dynamic, and networked—and require a radically different response. In this book, Kees Dorst describes a new, innovation-centered approach to problem-solving in organizations: frame creation. It applies “design thinking,” but it goes beyond the borrowed tricks and techniques that usually characterize that term. Frame creation focuses not on the generation of solutions but on the ability to create new approaches to the problem situation itself. The strategies Dorst presents are drawn from the unique, sophisticated, multilayered practices of top designers, and from insights that have emerged from fifty years of design research. Dorst describes the nine steps of the frame creation process and illustrates their application to real-world problems with a series of varied case studies. He maps innovative solutions that include rethinking a store layout so retail spaces encourage purchasing rather than stealing, applying the frame of a music festival to understand late-night problems of crime and congestion in a club district, and creative ways to attract young employees to a temporary staffing agency. Dorst provides tools and methods for implementing frame creation, offering not so much a how-to manual as a do-it-yourself handbook—a guide that will help practitioners develop their own approaches to problem-solving and creating innovation.

Design Expertise explores what it takes to become an expert designer. It examines the perception of expertise in design and asks what knowledge, skills, attributes and experiences are necessary in order to design well. Bryan Lawson and Kees Dorst develop a new model of design expertise and show how design expertise can be developed. This book is designed for all students, teachers, practitioners and researchers in architecture and design. To enable all readers to explore the book in a flexible way, the authors’ words are always found on the left hand page. On the right are diagrams, illustrations and the voices of designers, teachers and students and occasionally others too.'Design Expertise' provides a provocative new reading on the nature of design and creative thought.