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Andrew Taylor on the Business
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Getting beyond the left-brain/right-brain debate
Posted: October 13, 2009

Experience designer and strategist Peter Merholz over in Harvard Business Publishing calls a 'time out' on our growing boosterism for 'design thinking' in the world of business -- a la Daniel Pink's Whole New Mind. Is creative problem-solving important to the process? Sure it is, says Merholz, but so are a range of other skills and perspectives on BOTH sides of the brain. His complaint is that 'design thinking' has become such a myopic focus. Says he:

Design thinking is trotted out as a salve for businesses who need help with innovation. The idea is that the left-brained, MBA-trained, spreadsheet-driven crowd has squeezed all the value they can out of their methods. To fix things, all you need to do is apply some right-brained turtleneck-wearing "creatives," "ideating" tons of concepts and creating new opportunities for value out of whole cloth.

It's understandable for creative individuals -- especially those in the nonprofit arts -- to grab onto any business mythology that underscores their value. We certainly made hay out of Richard Florida's Rise of the Creative Class, even though many waving the book at city council members didn't actually read it (and didn't realize they were promoting bars, nightclubs, raves, and bohemian culture rather than the nonprofit arts). And we continue to milk the idea that the ''MFA is the new MBA,'' as Daniel Pink claims so famously in his work.

The problem isn't that we're wrong about the importance of creative thinking, just that we're a bit vague and overzealous about its sovereignty. Even Daniel Pink was actually arguing for a new balance, not a regime change (the book was called a WHOLE new mind, after all). And he's had trouble clarifying the position, as well (per this Washington Post response to his Nancy Hanks Lecture last year).

If artists, arts leaders, and arts organizations really want to engage the conversation about their value and importance to business, community, and beyond, we all might benefit from some critical analysis and balanced thinking. We can't just hop from slogan to slogan to slogan and expect to be taken seriously. As Merholz concludes:

The supposed dichotomy between "business thinking" and "design thinking" is foolish.... Instead, what we must understand is that in this savagely complex world, we need to bring as broad a diversity of viewpoints and perspectives to bear on whatever challenges we have in front of us. While it's wise to question the supremacy of "business thinking," shifting the focus only to "design thinking" will mean you're missing out on countless possibilities.

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