Scripting a Collaborative Narrative: An Approach for Spanning Boundaries

Design leadership increasingly depends upon the power of influence in a world of information overload and emerging civic concerns (that is, environmental sustainability and social responsibility). Ideas drawn from multiple and disparate individual sources can be effectively combined through structured dialogue; however, even a highly structured dialogue can become a slippery substance with the passage of time. In complex, rapidly changing environments, design teams can become trapped in cycles that cause participants to lose track of progress that has been made. Oral traditions are reemerging as a means of grounding groups coping with information overload. In an earlier issue of this journal, EunKyong Baek provided an insightful summary of the importance of narrative thinking in design management. Stories can be informative, inspirational, and enabling. The process of creating a shared story is powerful on all these levels—if done effectively. To be done effectively when one works with technical experts, design managers need to engage both paradigmatic, technical thinking (that is, thinking shaped by formal frameworks and experiences) and imaginative thinking. The challenge in critical and creative design is to engage both of these modes of thinking concurrently within a single design process. The trick is to do this in an engaging fashion. S U P P O RT