As the social world becomes increasingly connected and complex, and as social issues and responses to them begin to intertwine, the discipline of design is becoming an essential toolset for anyone hoping to make a positive difference. Gone are the days, if they ever were here, when you could create an isolated response to a specific challenge without considering the unintended consequences of your actions, or the larger context and constituency it affected.

We often think of ''design'' as an endeavor for physical objects -- ergonomics, utility, aesthetics all rolled into one. But the very same tools of observation, interpretation, innovation, and evaluation have proven essential for organizational structure and strategy, social interaction, and organizational and public policy.

To help design firms engage in social issues, IDEO and Rockefeller Foundation have created a new Guide and Workbook in PDF format. While intended for design professionals, the publications also provide a handy overview of where design and social impact meet.

How does this inform cultural management? Like it or not, arts organizations are engines of social impact -- gathering individuals, resources, and organizational structures to create new expressions, reshape the nature of social interaction in communities, and foster exploration and learning about what it means to be human. If that's not a process that demands a design eye, I'm not sure what is.

Worth a read.