He asserts that, increasingly, effective design means engaging with the messy politics – the “dark matter” – taking place above the designer’s head. And that may mean redesigning the organisation that hires you.
– Blurb for Dan Hill’s Dark Matter and Trojan Horses
A lesson I keep relearning: the type and quality of work an organization produces is entirely a function of how it is set up internally.
All the good intentions in the world cannot withstand processes optimized for a conflicting outcome.
- What outcome do we say we want?
- Is our current system optimized for that outcome?
- If not, what new muscles must we build to be able to effect that outcome? What skills must we learn or unlearn? What prosthetics must we acquire?
(via quartey)
(via elmerseason)