Thinking Mindset Research Articles

Design thinking mindset: a user-centred approach toward innovation in the Welsh creative industries

ABSTRACT The Design Thinking (DT) mindset, a fundamental aspect of User-Centred Design (UCD), is often presented as a powerful and accessible trigger for innovation. There is much discussion in the extant literature on the communication of the DT concept to non-design practitioners to encourage broader use of design-led innovation. The present study expands this discussion by exploring which DT mindset attributes are considered meaningful for non-design professionals in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It presents a UCD intervention that embeds the DT mindset attributes to introduce design-led innovation to SMEs of the Welsh creative industries. Semi-structured interviews, non-participatory observation, and reflective open-ended questioning are utilised to analyse the impact of the intervention in supporting creative industry practitioners’ understanding of the DT mindset and design-led innovation approaches. Our findings demonstrate that the intervention has prompted participants to (i) challenge the idea of ‘ideas,’ (ii) frame failure as an option, (iii) learn to trust the process, (iv) acquire innovation self-efficacy, (v) view collaboration = learning, and (vi) change their perception of innovation. We discuss how these identified ‘mindset shifts’ are valuable toward building individual innovation capacities in non-design industries.

How Systems Thinking Provides the Foundation for A W‐Shaped Model of an Effective Technical Leader

AbstractTechnical Leadership is a relatively new subject that has not been adequately addressed in literature. Behaviors and skills of effective technical individuals and leaders are defined and cited often, including various shape models of individuals. However, a Systems Thinking approach for combining these two mindsets has not been documented. This paper's goal is to provide a background on effective technical and leadership behaviors and skills, relate them to the various shape‐based models of individuals, and ultimately present a novel W‐shaped model describing an effective Technical Leader whose foundation is a Systems Thinking mindset.

Design thinking mindset: scale development and validation

ABSTRACT Expectations from Higher Education institutions are increasing towards the education of professionals able to face complex societal issues. In this context, traditional thinking is losing ground, and scholars agree on the importance of promoting a Design Thinking (DT) Mindset in educational settings to address wicked problems. However, an explanation of and measurement for the DT mindset still needs to be adequately developed. We developed and validated a scale to measure DT mindset to fill this gap. After a comprehensive literature review, quantitative research was performed on two samples of professionals (N = 151) and students (N = 201). We employed confirmatory factor analysis, which yielded a 31-item scale based on ten dimensions. Overall, this study supports the conceptualization and operationalization of the DT mindset as a second-order factor that reflects uncertainty and risk, empathy, holistic thinking, collaboration and diversity, learning orientation, experimentation, critical questioning, abduction, creative confidence, and impact. Our findings advance knowledge that facilitates new research paths and has practical implications for educational and management fields.

Introduction to Relational Systems Evaluation

AbstractIn this paper, we introduce Relational Systems Evaluation (RSE), the focal topic of this volume. RSE is a framework for program planning and evaluation that is theoretically grounded, empirically tested and focused on building evaluation capacity. Theoretically, RSE is rooted in an evolutionary approach to program development and evaluation informed by systems thinking. The application of RSE involves a collaborative partnership approach pairing evaluators or researchers with program practitioners, the use of collaborative modeling and planning tools, and an emphasis on nurturing an Evaluative Thinking mindset. The goal of RSE is to produce more thoughtful and useful evaluations and, ultimately, better programs.

Validation of Managers Strategic Thinking Mindset Test based on components of intellectual flexibility, intellectual humility, and intellectual inclusiveness

Validation of Managers Strategic Thinking Mindset Test based on components of intellectual flexibility, intellectual humility, and intellectual inclusiveness