Innovation as a Learning Process: Embedding Design Thinking (California Management Review, Vol. 50, No.1)

The article discusses strategies for encouraging innovation through education and design of organizations and work spaces. Charles Owen of the Illinois Institute of Design proposed that design as a process has two phases: an analytical phase of finding and discovery, and a synthetic phase of invention and making. D.A. Kolb proposed a theory of learning that includes experiencing, reflecting, thinking and acting. The authors propose a combination of these theories that leads to innovation through observational or ethnographic research, creating frameworks for understanding data, analyzing new customer needs, and developing solutions or new products to meet those needs. The various learning styles appropriate for the different phases of innovation are discussed.