Design in the 2020s: More Agency, Less Control – with Christian Bason

Podcast Notes

Drawing from one of his latest books “Expand: Stretching the Future By Design”, co-authored with Jens Martin Skibsted, Christian introduces the concept of six expansions: time, proximity, life, value, dimensions, and sectors. These expansions encourage designers to break free from traditional boundaries and tackle complex issues like climate change, pandemics, and digitization. We also discuss the dynamic nature of design modes and methods, highlighting the importance of agency and adaptability in diverse contexts.

Dr. Christian Bason brings his expertise in innovation, design, policy and leadership to enrich our conversation. Before becoming CEO of the Danish Design Center, Christian gathered a wealth of experience leading organizations such as MindLab, the Danish government’s innovation team, and Ramboll Management Consulting. He has published in amongst others Harvard Business Review and Stanford Social Innovation Review and has taught executives at Oxford Saïd Business School, Henley MBA, the European School of Administration, and Copenhagen Business School. 

With Christian, we dive deep into the ethical considerations surrounding technological innovation and the responsibilities of designers and developers in the digital space. Our conversation examines the impact of technology on society and emphasizes the need for governance mechanisms to keep up with rapid advancements.

The podcast further explores the role of designers as decision-makers and their responsibility at various scales. We look into the transformative power of unlocking individual creativity and cultivating innovative cultures within organizations.

Lastly, we confront the current state of the world and examine the rise of autocracies and surveillance societies, questioning why top-down control has become such a prevailing force. Christian proposes that we have the agency to create more sustainable and human-centered organizational forms that can effectively navigate complexity and build alternative futures.

Join us for this captivating podcast episode as we navigate the future of design, highlighting the transformative power of agency, and embrace a world where creativity and collaboration pave the way for a better tomorrow.

Key highlights

• We need to expand our thinking about the future in six areas: time, proximity, life, value, dimensions, and sectors.
• By adopting a designer’s mindset, we should embrace agency to shape our future
• Human imagination and ideas around what is good need to dominate no matter what technology we have at our disposal.
• Designers in the digital space have incredible power today because of their ability to scale
• Many organizations are stuck in 19th or 20th-century ways of thinking.
• Technologies allowing for large-scale distributed coordination exist, but many corporates prefer to exert top-down control
• To enable technology as a catalyst for leadership, we must design organizations that prioritize our beliefs about people rather than solely focusing on technology.
• Groups of people together deciding to make a change is the only thing that’s ever changed the world.

Topics (chapters):

00:00 Do organization layers inevitably have to grow as an organization expands?

01:01 Christian Bason’s introduction

02:08 Expand: Stretching the Future By Design – Exploring the Boundaries of Design Thinking

14:33 Human Agency in the Age of Technological Advancement

23:37 The Need for a Designer’s Perspective in Technology and Innovation

32:41   Balancing Technological Awareness and Leadership in the Digital Age

42:42 Imagining a Better Future: The Crisis of Imagination and Design

49:51 Christian Bason’s breadcrumbs

Recorded on 2nd May 2023.

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Music

Music from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: https://blss.io/Podcast-Music