Recipes for Systemic Change - Helsinki Design Lab

Strategic Design43A Quick Case Study in Applied OptimismThe popularity of some business books makes it enticingto offer a simple ‘Strategic Design: 7 steps to success.’ Whilethis might attract attention, it may prove less useful to anyoneattempting to genuinely practice strategic design or apply theHDL Studio Model. Rather, in this section we have looked atit as a flexible approach. In a way, this introduction has beenitself strategic, resisting the urge to specify exact tactics andprocedures. Nevertheless, underpinning this way of workingis a set of abilities and an attitude that orchestrates them. Toclose this section and bring into play the abilities and attitudethat are complementary to strategic design, we would like totransition from the heady, ambitious examples used aboveand focus on a small vignette from the autumn of 2010.In September of that year we organized an event calledHelsinki Design Lab Global which brought together over ahundred people from around the world to discuss the possibilitiesof design as a government capability. The final sessionof the three-day event was organized as a round table discussionand our hope was to use this as a forum for engaging all120 individuals present. But how were we to avoid the typicalscenario where a panel of speakers sitting on stage are physicallyand mentally separated from the audience?We had an unusual audience consisting of people fromgovernment in equal share to designers, and the content wasequally exploratory for everyone. Under these circumstancesit is hard enough to get everyone in the same room, let alonetry to coax them into the same conversation.To give ourselves a fair shot at success we wereattempting to design an event format to fit ourneeds rather than allowing the existing conditionsto shape our aims.Our proposal was to forgo the stage at thefront of the room altogether and hold the conversationin the round by forming a large circleof chairs with the moderator in the middle and the panelistssitting side by side with the rest of the guests. We also proposedspecific configurations of lighting and sound, particularchairs, and changes to the standard catering regimen. Indoing so we hoped to create an atmosphere of comfort andcommunity that would support our objectives. Citing lifesafety concerns in the event of a fire, the venue insisted thatwe utilize their usual, time-tested set up with the panelists onstage and the audience in rank and file rows facing forward.We were attempting to design anevent format to fit our needs ratherthan allowing the existing conditionsto shape our aims.