“IT IS IN THE STRENGTH OF OBSERVATION AND REFLECTION THAT ONE FINDS A WAY.” – CLAUDE MONET
In a dynamically changing environment, organizations seek constant change. The current business scenario represents a change from the earlier Taylorian approach to decompose a complex issue into smaller well defined units to a recognition of design as a social process, representing a move from clear cut problem solving to problem formulating procedures. Charles Owen defines ‘design thinking’ beginning with the analytic phase of search and understanding and ending with the synthetic phases of experimentation and invention. The Scientific revolution while undergoing a plethora of inventions was unable to embed those inventions in usable artifacts, thereby underlining the crucial role of design thinking which involves fixing flaws on the basis of approximations culminating in sustainability.
There is an overwhelming evidence unearthing a strong relation between good office design and employee productivity and wellbeing. There is an increasing trend of engaging work communities through art and design at the workplace. Design thinking is employed by many organizations, in the form of artworks in the reception area which leads to a dynamic process of public participation and involvement which leads to relationship building through learning, action and expression of the needs and values of the organization. The artwork might represent an outgrowth of the ‘World CafĂ©’ method employed for organizing meetings , only in this case the artwork serves the role of a table host setting the context for further discussions leading to abstract conceptualization, active experimentalism, concrete evidence and reflective observation, which affects their approach to various work problems. For instance, a simple activity of creating an artwork(a hand painting exercise) might draw people from different backgrounds together and underlines the idea of a ‘Human Operating System’, placing employees at the center, trusting them to act, increasing involvement right at the outset. A United Nations report titled ‘Creativity, culture and economic development’ talks about the contribution that creativity in the form of art makes towards developing entrepreneurship, fostering innovation and enhancing productivity. Eric Kandel, a Nobel prize winner in Physiology says that an individual’s environment and learning alter the effectiveness of the pre-existing pathways-structure and functioning of our brain is built mainly from our experiences. Art creates impression and as experiences embed these impressions on our minds, it is transformed into our everyday thoughts.
Different artworks over the years can be applied to Human Resource Management. Michelangelo’s artwork in the Sistine Chapel, covering all aspects of visual forms actually stands as a testimony to Peter Senge’s first of the ‘five disciplines’ for driving learning in an organization- ‘systems thinking’; viewing an organization as a collection with each part playing its role. For instance, lack of personal expression and accountability in the sales department of a particular organization might not only prove to lead to a decline in sales for a particular sales engineer but if the problem persists, it can end up depleting the client base, making it an issue for the entire organization. Da Vinci’s focus on creativity in the ‘Mona Lisa’ with the development of the ‘sfumato’ style refers to the informal phenomenon as a major source of learning as far as the organizational culture of the workplace is concerned. His works draw inspiration from random objects followed by the identification of design and patterns they represent finally mixing it with thoughts to come to a concept. Caravaggio’s ‘David and Goliath’ reflects the idea of conflict management in an organization. An example of this would be the constant conflict between two different leadership styles- the manager’s overarching leadership style with the personal leadership styles of the employees being rendered irrelevant with subordinates often creating their own sub groups. Thus the artwork can be seen to represent the workplace, offering a space to address differences drawing from the acknowledgement and acceptance of the ‘other side’, moving beyond the approaches of ‘either-or’ and ‘convincing the employees’ to nurture an expansive pattern of thinking. Another example would be Monet’s Impressionist art and its linkage with Peter Senge’s ‘Dance of Change’ which seeks to develop core competencies like aspiration, reflective conversation and understanding complexity. His three action steps:identifying challenges, developing mental models and strategies can be done through different artworks. In Picasso’s works, constant reinvention can be applied to an organization-appreciation of different world views leads to an infrastructure of community building and finally to the realization of people as carriers of ideas and not simply as resources. Such a culture promotes internal exchange of information and research by line managers focusing on appreciative enquiry. ‘David and Goliath’, on the other hand strengthens the idea of a reflective openness within employees and the use of scenario thinking and combines it with organizational purpose, exposing faults and testing assumptions. Creative thinking in this form involves pulling a problem out into the open and is exposed encouraging brainstorming. An innovation in one field can be applied to a completely different field -Enlightenment was weaved into the basis for the Declaration of Independence. Artworks grab one’s concentration, ruffle mental calm and compel one to re-arrange perception and change the way we perceive the world. Therefore, art should not merely be looked at as a series of objects on the wall. An appreciation for its pervasiveness, force and power needs to be inculcated and embedded in the working of the organizations.
References
- Owen, Charles. (2007, August). Design Thinking: Notes on its nature and use. Design Research Quarterly, 2(1), 16-27
- Schama, Simon. (2006). The power of Art. UK: HarperCollins
- Senge, Peter. (1990). The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. NewYork, US: Random House
- Brown, Juanita. (2005). The World Café. California, US: BK Publishers
- Senge, Peter. (1990). The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York, US: Random House
Author Information:
Nitya Pandey is a student of First Year, MA in Human Resource Management and Labour Relations, TISS
