Recipes for Systemic Change - Helsinki Design Lab

326Look AgainUnpack IssuesExamine Boundary Conditions Find the Right SimplifiersWe are bound by our own Putting everything on the The complex challenges that a By their nature, complexexperiences and patterns ofbehaviour. New experienceshelp create new insights byallowing you to see what waspreviously undetected. Thiscan happen in many ways, forexample by empatheticallyseeing things from someoneelse’s perspective or seeingthem in a new way, such asthe visualising of data in adifferent manner. The StudioModel itself gently pushes itstable is one way of openingour minds to new possibilities.This involves asking theusual questions of who, what,when, where, why and how inan attempt to try to analyse aproblem or explore a solutionfrom all angles. Often whatseems like a simple concept ispacked with complexity whencarefully examined.Work Between ScalesStudio confronts are in somesense endless, so one cannotexamine all aspects of everyissue. Rather, one has to beable to identify key boundaryconditions where somethingstarts, ends or has a pointof inflection. Observing andunderstanding extreme conditionsis a way to peer into aparallel reality where innovationoften happens at a fasterrate out of simple necessity.challenges cannot be simplified.But solutions need to besimple to be robust, adoptableand replicable. Thus the challengein strategic design is tofind the right simplifiers. Thinkabout the idea of democracy:it is a simple enough conceptthat everyone gets a say inthe fate of their community,but the social, juridical andpolitical systems that makedemocracy function are incrediblyparticipants into a new pattern Understanding insights and Only the innovative survive atcomplex in nature.of behaviour by introducingnew perspectives, new knowledgepropositions as situated within the extremes.S,M,L,XL contexts in time andDig for Rootsand new experience.Draw Insights and IdeasThe specific choices involvedin committing ideas to thespace enables the strategicdesigner to also think aboutthe way decisions at one particularscale have an affect on,or are affected by, decisions atBuild and Rebuild TaxonomiesHumans have attempted tostructure their understandingof the world since ancienttimes. Taking a pile of itemsPursuing strategic improvementsalways involves lookingfor root causes. By understandingfirst principles one isable to reformulate the needspage is a way to confront their other scales. Being cognisant and finding order in their coexistenceand see status quo solutionsis one way of searching in a fresh light, exposing newcomplexity. Occasionally what of scale is a practical way to beseems like a simple thought sensitive to the interconnectivityfor meaning by focusing on the opportunities. When diggingis incredibly difficult to drawbecause the act of makingmarks on the page forcesone to answer questions thatwords alone are able to avoid.That is a good thing: afterworking through the drawingyou will have a refined understanding!Drawing is especiallypowerful as a way to developa more robust consensusamongst a group of individualswho may be using the exactsame words but thinkingabout different variations ofan idea.of our world.relationships between things.Different taxonomies createdifferent alignments and leaveopen different gaps. Buildingand rebuilding these structuresis a way to be diligent aboutseeing all aspects of an issueand discovering areas thatneed more attention.for roots you continually asksyourself if you have discoveredthe primary causes or if thereare still deeper drivers.