Echos - Design Thinking - A Core Skill For A Post VUCA World - Echos

2/28/24, 4:43 PM Echos - Design Thinking: A Core Skill For A Post VUCA World - Echos
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desirable-futures/), ExploreDesign
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Design Thinking: A Core Skill

For A Post VUCA World
por Nayara Borges
Echos (https://schoolofdesignthinking.echos.cc) >

desired, the blog
(https://schoolofdesignthinking.echos.cc/blog/)
>
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> Design Thinking: A Core Skill For A Post VUCA World
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https://schoolofdesignthinking.echos.cc/blog/2021/01/design-thinking-a-core-skill-for-a-post-vuca-world/ 1/17
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2021, 2021 has arrived

JANUARY
and the world is a
17
very different
place. How do we
navigate this new
landscape? At Echos
we believe in
empowering people
to design desirable
futures. For many
of us, making
decisions about how
to create new
futures can feel
difficult when the
world seems
unstable and
unclear.
To assist with moving

forward we need different
ways of thinking about
the emerging future and
to acquire new skills to
help get us there. This
is where the methods that
form the practice of
design thinking can help
us build a new and better
world.
A Post VUCA World
First, we need to
understand
(/) the ways in
which our perception of
the world is changing.
Futurist Jamais Cascio
recently proposed that we
need a new acronym to
describe our post
pandemic world. Until
recently much of the
world embraced an acronym
borrowed from the cold
war era military – VUCA.
This stands for Volatile,
Uncertain, Complex and
Ambiguous. This acronym
was widely adopted into
businesses to guide agile
processes and act as a
general framework for
sense making.
In 2020 the pandemic

changed things forever.
The way in which we
create meaning in a new
emerging world has
shifted. Seeing the world
as a series of threats
that can be tactically
maneuvered through has
begun to lose relevance.
VUCA existed to make
sense of a complex world.
The world of today feels
like chaos. Cascio has
offered a new framework,
BANI to replace VUCA and
create a sense of hope
and empowerment.
The new acronym BANI can

be broken
(/) down as
follows:
B – Brittle: easy to
shatter, subjected to a
total and sudden failure.
If something is brittle,
it
requires capacity and resilience.
A – Anxious: fear that

any choice we make might
be the wrong one. If we
feel anxious, we
need empathy and mindfulness.
N –
Nonlinear: disconnection
between cause and effect
in time, proportion,
perception. If something
is non-linear, it calls
for context and
adaptivity.
I –
Incomprehensible: extremely
difficult, if not
impossible, to
understand. If something
is incomprehensible, it
demands transparency and
intuition.
(/)
(https://drive.google.com/file/d/18fy85qbC-
cvuDbWty9_a429mt0si9KzB/view)
download:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18fy85qbC-
cvuDbWty9_a429mt0si9KzB/view
(https://drive.google.com/file/d/18fy85qbC-
cvuDbWty9_a429mt0si9KzB/view)
How To Navigate In A BANI

World
Moving forward people and

business will need to
move and behave
differently in the world.
They will also need to
understand what skills
will benefit us as we
move forward.
The skills needed to

navigate
(/) a BANI world
described above are core
competencies of the
design thinking
methodology. The
following design thinking
skills will become
increasingly critical to
solving problems and move
into new desirable
futures:
Foster a growth
mindset
Practice empathy
Adaptability
Courage to imagine
The relationships between

the design thinking
processes above and the
skills needed in the post
pandemic world are
explored in greater
detail below:
Empathy:
Design Thinking is a
human-centered approach
that creates deep
connection with users to
understand their needs,
behaviors and desires.
This focus helps
businesses understand
what is most important

for users
(/) when developing
a new product, service or
business. This means that
empathy must be used to
see the world from the
customer or user’s point
of view. Learning how to
create and then apply
empathy from the research
phase to the completion
of a prototype is
critical for redeveloping
products and services in
the new world.
Growth Mindset:
The term ‘growth mindset’

was coined by Dr. Carol
Dweck who said, “In a
growth mindset, people
believe that their most
basic abilities can be
developed through
dedication and hard work—
brains and talent are
just the starting
point. This view creates
a love of learning and a
resilience that is
essential for great
accomplishment.”
Design Thinking
encourages a growth
mindset through the
process of
experimentation and
testing
(/) ideas quickly.
The practice of
experimentation helps us
to consider failure not
as something to avoid,
rather as part of a
process. It is a learning
opportunity to keep
improving products and
services, with the goal
of creating something
that is desired by users.
Failing fast through
iterations enables teams
to find solutions that
work. In order to
radically innovate, we
must be willing to
fail.
Adaptability:
When faced with

uncertainty in the
innovation context,
experiments are the best
way to quickly understand
and adapt to new
contexts. Experiments
mitigate risk by testing
our hypotheses in order
to reach a customer
solution fit and later a
product market fit.
Design thinking is an
iterative process that
embraces experimentation
to test our assumptions.
It invites us to strive
for a (/)valuable outcome
rather than a predictable
outcome.
Courage to Imagine:
Design thinking invites

us to unleash a
business’s creative
potential by getting over
fears that block
creativity. It generates
a trusting environment
where a team feels
comfortable sharing
ideas. It provides
opportunities to practice
creative confidence
through generating new
ideas.
The Power Of Discovery
The most important part

of learning new skills
for a BANI world is
practical application. If
the world we are moving
into requires new
perspectives the best way
to create them is through
the process of doing. The

most important
(/) part of
design thinking as a
practice is applying
empathy and learning from
field research to reframe
a design challenge. This
part of the process is
called the discovery
phase. This is where
teams talk to people and
observe their behavior.
This process brings new
ways of seeing the
problem they are trying
to solve.
This is when the most in-

depth learning occurs and
where sense making
becomes important. If the
world we are moving into
is non-linear, we need to
be able to think
laterally and discover
new connections that are
emerging.
The Power Of Failure
If the world according to

BANI includes
incomprehensible as a
core component, then
accepting failure will
need to feel natural. In
a world divorced from
design thinking, we tend

to blame
(/) ourselves for
failures. This goes along
with a fear to share new
thoughts or ideas for
fear of being judged.
This behavior is
limiting, creating missed
opportunities to
contribute and
collaborate. However, in
a world that embraces
design thinking
methodologies, discussing
learnings from failures
helps to guide us towards
better solutions.
Solutions tend to evolve
when teams receive and
take onboard feedback.
These powerful
transformations create
personal shifts within
individuals as they learn
from failure and feedback
sessions. Team members
become more courageous,
take risks, ask for
feedback, make mistakes
and learn from them. In a
BANI world humility and
vulnerability are very
important to solving the
complex problems ahead.
Learn More
The latest offering from

Echos (/)is Design Thinking
Online is a self-guided
learning experience that
teaches the skills of a
post pandemic world. This
process delivers ten
years of our learnings
from teaching these
methodologies. Over those
ten years we have created
teams of innovators
around the world. Fresh
mindsets and skills are
needed to create new
industries for the next
normal of 2021. Learn
more here
(https://schoolofdesignthinking.echos.cc/courses/de
thinking-online/) or get
in touch with questions,
join us for Design
Thinking Online in 2021!
(https://schoolofdesignthinking.echos.cc/courses/de
thinking-online/)
Follow us on social
Instagram
(https://www.instagram.com/echosaustralia/)
– Facebook
(https://www.facebook.com/ECHOSaus/)
– LinkedIn
(https://www.linkedin.com/school/echos-
innovation-lab/) –
Youtube
(/)
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view_as=subscriber) –
Spotify
(https://open.spotify.com/show/0Tsb68yn3bEO9pJ5h0SM
si=3f1uORBgTFOuJYkuVMPjcg)
How Can We Help?
For training and

Innovation Journeys
in your company:
check out our in-
house course offering
(https://schoolofdesignthinking.echos.cc/in-
house/).
For upcoming courses
in your region: visit
our website
(https://schoolofdesignthinking.echos.cc/on-
campus/).
For upcoming events
in your region: look
at our event calendar
(https://schoolofdesignthinking.echos.cc/course
If you have a special
project and would
like to use Echos’
consultancy services:
send us an email
(mailto:contact@echos.cc).
Want to speak to a
real person? Call us
on 1300 502 006
(/)
Nayara Borges
Nayara joins the Echos

team as an
instructional designer
and facilitator of
learning experiences,
using design as a
catalyst for
transformation. With a
career dedicated to
education, human
development, culture
and social innovation,
Nayara has already
been part of national
and international
companies and
projects. In her
multidisciplinary
career, she worked in
innovation and
leadership consulting
companies, where she
was involved in
projects and training
for companies such as
EDP, Parker, Magazine
Luiza, among others.
She also had deep
contact with an
entrepreneurial
reality, facilitating
social business
acceleration programs
and mentoring
entrepreneurs at
Alterna Impact, an
innovation hub in
Guatemala. On her
desire to get to know
the emerging
innovative ideas
around education, she
went for a one-year

journey, visiting
(/)
disruptive educational
programs and
initiatives in Latin
America. As an
entrepreneur and
education enthusiast,
she leads workshops on
nonviolent
communication for
educators.
She studied Pharmacy
at FCFRP/USP and helds
a Master Degree in
Globalization and
Culture at FESP/SP
with a specialization
in facilitation by
Instituto Ecossocial.
What drives her is the
possibility of causing
a positive impact in
the society. She loves
dancing, photography
and listening to
people’s stories.
Stay Tuned
Subscribe to the Echos’ newsletter to keep up with
industry updates, innovation news, and exclusive
offers.
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2/28/24, 4:43 PM Echos - Design Thinking: A Core Skill For A Post VUCA World - Echos

Article (https://schoolofdesignthinking.echos.cc/blog/category/article/), Designing

Design Thinking: A Core Skill

por Nayara Borges

Echos (https://schoolofdesignthinking.echos.cc) >

2021, 2021 has arrived

To assist with moving

A Post VUCA World

In 2020 the pandemic

The new acronym BANI can

A – Anxious: fear that

How To Navigate In A BANI

Moving forward people and

The skills needed to

The relationships between

what is most important

The term ‘growth mindset’

When faced with

Design thinking invites

The Power Of Discovery

The most important part

the process of doing. The

This is when the most in-

The Power Of Failure

If the world according to

design thinking, we tend

The latest offering from

How Can We Help?

For training and

Nayara joins the Echos

went for a one-year

I'm not a robot

© Copyright 2019 Echos. All rights reserved.

terms of use (https://schoolofdesignthinking.echos.cc/terms-

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