Podcast

Episode 21 – Christian Bason

Listen to our FINAL(!) episode of the #21for21 podcast 🚀  🌏  with Christian Bason, director of the Danish Design Center, author and thought leader on mission driven design. 
Christian sat down with Marco (Unfortunately, Carola was still not able to make it due to personal circumstances) and talked with Marco about complexity, the role of design centers, the role and responsibilities of designers, governments and companies, and about stretching the future, for us all and for a more beautiful planet.
  • 🎤 We should get the thinking back into Design Thinking. Design Thinking is what has gotten us into the boardroom and the 🎤corporate lingo. But we are not getting much further as it has reduced design to a set of processes and methods.
  • 🎤 We (Danish Design Center) can drown you in toolkits😉 But I think we should have a nuanced perspective on what design is and what the role of the designer is.
  • 🎤 To work on these complex issues won’t be for all designers. Some of us will move into more strategic positions, but many probably won’t. And that is fine. We need to re-think ‘Design Thinking’ in this way.
  • 🎤 Our role is to raise agenda’s, to direct design education but at the same time train current professionals and executives with the latest tools and mindsets that are needed.
  • 🎤 Designers can work together with farmers to positively envision a future, with nature as a stakeholder, that can be beneficial for all. And interestingly enough… don’t forget: the dining table is the epicenter of the transition.
  • 🎤 Regulation is driving innovation, putting incredible pressure on companies. This is an incredible opportunity for designers. Designers can be the glue that binds and bridge all layers and parties.
  • 🎤 As innovation labs/ design centers… If you want to work with real systemic change, we have to build new infrastructure. It is important to be open and available for a wider set of actors and entities. Not just inside institutions.
  • 🎤 I am really first and foremost a storyteller… How might I tell the right stories, so that we can truly address the challenges we are facing as humanity and the planet?
  • 🎤 Dear Future, I am Ready to stretch you. I am ready to expand you and I am ready to shape you in a way that is good for us all and for the world we live in.

Listen to the episode below 👇 🎧

About Christian Bason

Christian Bason, CEO, Ph.D. leads the Danish Design Centre (DDC), a non-profit foundation backed by the Danish government. Pursuing missions across green, digital and social transitions, the DDC creates new opportunities for innovation and sustainable growth for business, organizations and designers. Previously, Christian was Director of MindLab, the Danish government’s innovation team, and Business Manager with Ramboll Management Consulting. Christian is the author of eight books on innovation, design and leadership, including Expand: Stretching the Future by Design (2022). He has published in amongst other Harvard Business Review and Stanford Social Innovation Review. He has taught executives at Oxford Saïd Business School, Henley MBA, the European School of Administration and Copenhagen Business School. Christian is M.Sc. in political science and Ph.D. in design, leadership and governance.

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