Strategic DT as a New Instrument for Leadership in Digital Transformation

Abstract

The Harvard Business Review headline from 2015: “Design Thinking Comes of Age” marked a milestone in the widespread integration of user-centered thought and the participatory implementation of digital transformation. Obviously, Design Thinking identified at times since its inception as the “esoteric hippie method,” had reached a new stage of development. That is, evolving from a method whose roots go back to the Bauhaus movement, to an approach on how to tackle complex tasks, to a strategy that made possible the promotion and development of an innovative and adaptable corporate culture. Strategic Design Thinking encompasses both the application of the method and the fundamental mindset of the transformational pioneers, as well as principles that can be derived for the implementation of specific transformation strategies. The article presents a brief, albeit greatly reduced, outline of the history of design thinking, and develops connections to the constructivist learning theory. References to research findings in neuroscience are made and, based on application examples, the leveraging power of strategic design thinking is shown in the context of digital transformation. The reflection closes with the elaboration of an answer to the question “How can strategic design thinking help to guide the implementation of an agile transformation strategy?”.