I find that when I adopt a design-thinking mentality, I develop more effective approaches for a strategic initiative. Here are five important landmarks of design thinking.

Functionality – Strategic initiatives, by definition, are endeavors intended to close an organizational performance gap. I always keep in mind this question: What is the problem or opportunity that is embedded in the performance gap? As I think my way through this, I look for simple expressions of verbs and nouns. These verb-noun phrases are functions, and they provide me the essence of the endeavor. As an example, the function of a strategic initiative is to close a performance gap.  Another hint: tie the performance gap to revenue streams or cost structures.

Evolvement – Good design is not static, it is iterative and evolving, especially in the face of the complexity and chaos inherent in many strategic situations. The word evolvement signifies that new things emerge and shape the initiative in ways that were not foreseeable.

On the demand side, stakeholders get new ideas and have new problems to solve, particularly as they start to imagine the new state. On the supply side, new technologies and events emerge.

A good designer expects the design to evolve. Starting conditions are important in anticipating emergence. As I have described in earlier articles, getting the right people on the team is essential. I gravitate towards those people who have expertise rather than simply on the most experienced people. You need to plan for the emergence of new ideas. It is one reason why small wins are useful (for more, see this article).

Tradeoffs – The familiar limits of time and resources are always concerns for strategic initiatives. To that, we must add the often ill-defined and ambiguous nature of strategic situations that can include technical uncertainty, stakeholder preferences, the need for discretion about sensitive matters, and the responses of rivals.

One of the key questions that drives design is this: What should I emphasize and should I subordinate?

Another way of asking strategy design questions is to focus on advantage. If you can gain advantage in one area, you will likely lose it in another. Thus, design thinking has to accept that tradeoffs will be made along the way.

Elegance – In arts and architecture, we tend to be most struck by designs that are simple and powerful. Strategy has more punch when it is simple and powerful. Elegance is one of those qualities that is tough to define, but you know it when you’ve experienced it.

Narrative – I’ve previously written about the importance of storytelling to strategic initiative leadership. A good story strikes a useful balance of familiarity and novelty. Thus, we could say that a story is designed, and a design is a story.

When you inspect a design, look for familiar things and look for new things, as their combination helps you to understand the design in more of a narrative sense. If there is too much new, it may not be credible. If there is too much that is familiar, it will gain little attention.

Putting it to Work

Don’t be afraid to be a little playful with this analogy. Take something familiar (your house, your car, your phone) and examine it through each of the above six lenses. That exercise will give you a sense of the challenges of good design.

Next, try those same six lenses to a strategic initiative. The exercise is certain to help you think better about the design and leadership of the initiative.

Do you agree that a sensibility about design is useful? What other examples can you identify?