Good Reminder

The Revolution Will Not Be Designed is interesting (and blissfully short) reminder that when dealing with human problems we must deal with human interactions (including political, social, and cultural.)

In particular, design metaphors obscure the ideological—and political—decisions involved in tackling societal issues… Conceiving of global ills as design challenges may sometimes be in order, but only when a consensus exists on goals, budgets and relevant values. Such is rarely the case.

“Design thinking” describes a moment in the pursuit of social good that hardly ever arrives: when all the hearts are in the right place, all opinions have been brought into line and all that needs to happen is the change itself. If the model has intellectual benefits, it’s doubtful they outweigh the deficiencies of ignoring the long process by which consensus is built—a.k.a. politics.