Leadership is about working with your team to solve the toughest of problems. These difficult, nasty, tough multi-domain and complicated problems are often known as “wicked problems”.
A wicked problem needs the very best thinking from your group or team. The team needs to be able to set aside biases and think deeply about a problem. As we all know, this can be very difficult to do.
One of your main goals as a leader is to build a great team surrounding yourself with the best and brightest. (see my previous blog post) This world-class team can then be set loose on solving the most complex and wicked problems.
One great way for your team to think through difficult and wicked problems is through design or visual thinking. There is a lot written about it and several leading universities and business schools are offering visual thinking courses.
Visual thinking helps one “see” the problem quickly propelling your team to a much deeper understanding of the actual problem.
Tom Wujec, a Fellow at Autodesk, has been studying visual and design thinking for years. He’s written four books on the subject and presented a great TedTalk which you can watch here. You can also visit his website at http://www.drawtoast.com. His work is a great look at the value of visual thinking. I encourage you to check it out.
Enjoy the TedTalk and I hope you will spend a few minutes “thinking about thinking”.
Dan