Improve Learning With These Designer Dispositions

Leaders of educational and nonprofit organizations face many challenges in their quest to improve learning. From building meaningful partnerships with parents, families, and community partners to ensuring equitable learning opportunities for both the youth and adults they serve. This requires more than just expertise and experience.

Leaders must possess a mindset geared towards learning and continuous improvement if they are to achieve organizational learning excellence. Fortunately, they have a valuable resource at their disposal: designers.

Beyond their specific skill sets, designers have a unique set of dispositions and ways of thinking that have much to offer leaders. By effectively cultivating these qualities, leaders can transform their approach to learning and enhance the overall educational experience and outcomes for those they serve.

What are Designer Dispositions?

Designer dispositions are a collection of characteristics that shape how designers approach their work. These dispositions enable them to navigate complex challenges and generate creative solutions.

Several common designer dispositions most leaders already know are empathy, adaptability, open-mindedness, and creativity.

But there are several lesser-known designer dispositions that can help leaders improve learning. These less popular dispositions offer unique perspectives and approaches that can enhance leadership effectiveness and promote organizational learning.

Lesser-Known Designer Dispositions for Learning Leaders

Learning from Different Industries

Designers excel at extracting inspiration and ideas from seemingly unrelated fields. They understand that boundaries are fluid, blurry, and that by making unexpected connections, they can uncover groundbreaking solutions. They are unafraid to leave the familiar to find out what could be. Leaders who commit to learning from industries besides their own uncover a treasure trove of invaluable ideas that contribute to sustainable learning solutions.

Experimental Mindset

Designers embrace an experimental mindset that involves viewing every challenge as an opportunity for learning and experimentation. They love to tinker, play with new ideas, and try new approaches. They are continuously learning to address complex challenges. Leaders who cultivate the spirit of experimentation don’t let their expertise and previous success get in the way of exploring new ideas and trying new approaches.

One of the greatest threats to better organizational learning is relying too heavily on past actions and knowledge. How might you avoid this pitfall and run frequent experiments to improve learning? Check out the first five minutes of this video, entitled Design like a Scientist. Then, think of how you as a leader might run experiments to learn more from the youth or adults you serve so you can improve their learning experiences.

Integrative Thinking

Another disposition that designers cultivate is integrative thinking. Integrative thinking emphasizes the importance of looking beyond established frameworks, and synthesizing diverse perspectives, disciplines, and sources of knowledge to generate innovative solutions to complex problems.

Leaders who practice integrative thinking tend to challenge conventional wisdom, break down silos, and encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration. This kind of thinking and practice leads to more holistic and effective approaches to problem-solving around organizational learning.

"The only sustainable solution is one that works for all parties involved."

Wangari Maathai

Kenyan Environmental Activist and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

Sensitivity to Context

Designers are sensitive to the context for which they are seeking solutions. They seek to understand the unique cultural, social, and environmental factors that shape learning experiences and outcomes. Not to check a box but to use insights to create solutions that resonate.

Leaders who are genuinely attuned to context in which they serve are better equipped to improve learning in ways that are contextually and culturally relevant to the diverse needs and preferences of both youth and adult learners. Read Angela's story to see what this looks like in one organization.

Community leaders learning more about their community at a nonprofit event

Iterative Mindset

Action-oriented leaders may find themselves trapped in the cycle of simply checking off (or trying to check off?) tasks from their to-do list. I vividly remember a time when a school board likened curriculum development to producing widgets. They inquired about when the curriculum teams would be "done" with their work. What they failed to grasp is that creating learning experiences or curriculum is an ongoing process, constantly adapting to the changing needs of students.

Just as designers refine their work based on feedback and testing, learning leaders can adopt an iterative mindset. What might this look like? Regularly evaluating learning programs or curricula, gathering feedback from various stakeholders, and making data-driven adjustments to continuously improve learning experiences and outcomes.

Curiosity

Designers thrive on curiosity. It's the fuel that propels them through the entire design process, from initial problem identification to crafting innovative solutions. Just as a curious designer delves deeper than surface appearances, curious leaders are not satisfied with a surface-level understanding of stakeholders and the context in which they learn.

Leaders who cultivate curiosity ask authentic questions, observe stakeholder behaviors, and research extensively to understand the true problems and needs of their audience. Curiosity is key. It not only uncovers hidden needs of stakeholders but also unlocks leaders’ creative potential and fuels their imagination. This enables them to come up with effective, people-centric learning solutions.

Systems Thinking

Systems thinking equips designers with a powerful lens to analyze problems, understand stakeholders, and create impactful and sustainable solutions. A core principle of systems thinking is understanding how things connect. This helps designers look beyond the immediate problem and consider the entire system in which it exists.

Leaders who embrace a system thinking approach possess a remarkable ability to perceive the intricate connections among different facets of their organizations. By anticipating unintended consequences, they can design holistic learning programs and interventions.

In conclusion, by cultivating these seven designer dispositions, educational and non-profit leaders can improve learning in themselves and ultimately, in their organizations and communities. This approach cultivates a dynamic and flexible learning environment, empowering leaders to effectively meet the changing demands of stakeholders and make a meaningful impact in their community.

Which of these dispositions would you like to strengthen? What's your wisest next step to cultivate this disposition to improve learning?

Improve Learning with these Designer Dispositions