Today we launched our new online class with Stanford Continuing Studies – [Link].

Strategic Foresight and Design Thinking

Here’s how Tamara (Carleton) and I describe what we have to offer:

“We live in an interconnected world where the old answers don’t seem to apply, where even successful businesses need to embrace radical change, where global challenges demand collaboration and innovation on a new scale, where choices seem overwhelming. Now more than ever, we need to be flexible, nonlinear, and ready for change. And that’s where design thinking and strategic foresight can make the difference.

This online course arises out of the outstanding achievements of Stanford’s design community—human-centered and focused on skill sets and toolkits that anyone can adopt. The course will show how to apply design thinking and strategic foresight, and explain how they can generate innovative solutions to challenges we face in our businesses, organizations, and teams. We will answer questions like: How do we foster a lasting culture of innovation in our business or organization? How do we increase idea cross-pollination across our groups? How do we build an innovation-savvy leadership team? How do we model our competitive landscape as it reaches into the future? How do we pick the right idea to develop? How should we understand who is our future customer?

The course uses videos, readings, case studies, demonstrations, exercises, open forums with faculty, and personal feedback to explain just what design thinking and strategic foresight are, their context and significance, and how to bring both into your business, team, and organization. A unique feature of the course is the range of case studies we explore to illustrate the features of design thinking and foresight strategy. They are drawn from history, the arts, everyday life, and other cultures, as well as, of course, from current experience in businesses, private, and public organizations. The aim is to generate inspiring insight from outside-the-box viewpoints.”

Here’s a taste – a “context map” for the course – summarizing key components of the mindset –