Hi,
This is interesting and something I have been working on, sensitized by
Polyani and others, including reflective design practitioners. Grounded in
a multiple case study I found that designers and their collaborators were
able to express at least parts of their emergent insight and knowledge in
words, or rather, by showing and telling. This articulating initiated
others repeatedly into the new design thinking and seemed important for
collective and organizational learning in relation to design and product
innovation; I called this 'inaugurative learning' in an article published
in Design Studies (see below).
Inaugurative learning, that is initiating and familirizing top managers and
others with new design practices, emerged as an essential contribution from
professional design consultants who were working collaboratively with firms
over time. Both designers and collaborating managers took part in this
extending the learning also to other stakeholders such as a network of
dealers.
These learning and design-business alliance aspects are also reflected on
in more recent work, for example, in a 'Design Alliance' book co-edited
with Margaret Bruce (UMIST), which includes contributions from 7 other
reseachers and expands on the challenges in various settings, which may be
of interest for this list.
Best wishes,
Birgit
PS By the way, (to Rosan) I have used the term 'triggering
person-committing movements' in recent articles (see Design Management
Journal) to bring forward the combined element of skillful action and
charismatic engagement, which were found in this case study. So I read your
reflection with interest, Rosan.
Birgit H. Jevnaker
Associate professor
Norwegian School of Management BI
Department of Innovation and Economic Organization
P.O.Box 580
N-1302 Sandvika
Norway
References (examples)
- Jevnaker, Birgit H. (1993). Inaugurative kearning: adapting a new design
approach. Design Studies 4 (14), 379-401.
- Bruce, M. and Jevnaker, B.H. (eds) (1998). Management of Design
Alliances. Sustaining Competitive Advantage. Chichester: Wiley.
- Jevnaker, B.H. (2000). Championing Design: Perspectives of Design
Capabilities. Design Management Journal Academic Review, 1 (2000), 25-39.
----- Forwarded by Birgit Helene Jevnaker/s/BISTIFT on 06.11.2002 13:30
-----
Michael A R Biggs
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Sent by: Subject: Re: trick or treat?*
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06.11.2002 11:45
Please respond to
Michael A R Biggs
Dear Rosan and others
Although these intangible aspects of the creative process are rather
difficult to pin down and to talk about, I still feel that we are probably
talking about all those non-rationalized, non-verbalized decisions that one
makes based on equally non-rationalized, non-verbalized knowledge. Much of
this content may be summarized as "experience", but in common usage this
term seems to apply more to "know-how" than to "know-that" [1]. "Tacit
knowledge" is a useful expression that emphasizes the "know-that" content
which nonetheless may be non-rationalized and non-verbalized. My interest
in tacit knowledge is the problem of whether it happens to be
non-verbalized, or whether it CANNOT be verbalized, i.e. ineffable [2].
Many practitioners like to claim tacit knowledge is ineffable, whereas it
seems to be the role (for example) of the researcher, the critic and the
educator to verbalize it. One might then object that it ceases to be tacit,
and that response would accord with the notion that research makes explicit
that which was implicit. On the other hand many of the "practice-based
research" community are interested in, and motivated to establish, the role
of the tacit/experiential/ineffable/artefactual... as an integral rather
than supplementary part of the research process. Perhaps this is another
terminological problem, but I believe it also shows how embedded is this
problem of the relationship of words and doing. Having an adequate
explanation of this relationship would allow the community to explain the
role of the artefact and of practice in a research programme.
References
[1] Ryle, G. The Concept of Mind, Chapter 2.
[2] Polanyi, M. The Tacit Dimension, p.17.
Michael
At 11:29 05/11/2002 -0700, Rosan Chow wrote:
>Dear Michael and others
>
>I have nothing to say to the interesting question :"Does knowledge
disappear
>as it is converted into action and design, or does it persist as a
consitutent
>part of design but perhaps bearing a different name ("tacit knowledge"?)";
but
>I will be delighted if someone esle does.
>
>What I think I can say a little bit more is the potential usefulness of
this
>distinction between 'change' and 'movement' for articulating designing.
And
>this is where I also like to hear your ideas.
>
>In the course of study, i have come across terms such as 'knowledge
>application', 'knowledge transfer'... and i am not sure if these terms
aptly
>describe the process of 'from knowledge to designs'.
>
>My hunch is that the terms 'transfer' and 'application' imply a movement.
I
>think 'from knowledge to designs' is a transformation, a change that is
much
>less straightforward, less deductive, less matter-of-factly, less certain,
and
>less predictable than what 'transfer' and 'application' imply.
>
>I think the distinction between 'change' and 'movement' can be useful in
>putting the discussion of teaching, learning and using scientific methods
or
>scientific data (either quantative or qualitative interpreted under any
>paradigm of inquiry) in design in perspective.
>
>Best Regards, Rosan
>
>Micahael said
>
> > ..... Rosan offers an explanation of
> > design in terms of a distinction between two different types of
> > "transformation", i.e. "change" or "movement". I think I would want to
now
> > more about that distinction, and I would want to now what explanatory
> > benefit is gained by describing design in terms of one rather than the
> > other. Getting back to the pre-Socratics, one might consider this as a
> > problem of identity and whether a name applies to a "whole" or its
"parts".
> > The river can be regarded as a "whole", and that helps us to understand
why
> > the river doesn't disappear off the map into the sea. Does knowledge
> > disappear as it is converted into action and design, or does it persist
as
> > a constituent part of design but perhaps bearing a different name
("tacit
> > knowledge"?).
>
>
>
>
>
>
>--
>Rosan Chow
>Sessional Instructor
>
>University of Alberta
>Department of Art and Design
>3-98 Fine Arts Building
>Edmonton, Alberta
>Canada T6G 2C9
>
>Tel:1-780-492-7877
>Fax: 1-780-492-7870
************************************************************
Dr Michael A R Biggs
Reader in Visual Communication
Faculty of Art and Design, University of Hertfordshire
College Lane, Hatfield, Herts. AL10 9AB
United Kingdom
Telephone +44 (0)1707 285341
Fax +44 (0)1707 285350
E-mail [log in to unmask]
Internet http://www.michaelbiggs.org.uk/pub/
************************************************************
