Deep Change: Creating Space for Meaningful Transformation

When problem solving doesn’t work anymore, we need a different logic: start with the underlying human values, reframe, and create space for deep change.

The nature of the problems we are facing has shifted, becoming more open, complex, dynamic, and networked than ever before. As a consequence, domains across society are finding out the hard way that “business as usual” doesn’t work anymore and that our current modes of innovation fall far short of what is needed. Our current reality truly requires us to change our thinking on a deep level, to embrace a different logic, and develop new approaches that go beyond mere problem solving. In Deep Change, Kees Dorst shows how this can be done.

Building on his bestseller Frame Innovation, Dorst takes creative practices from design to a wholly different level. He shows how these practices can be used to inform organizational change (by synchronizing top-down and bottom-up reframing), sector-level change (by creating and adopting new paradigms), and even societal change (by shaping major transitions). All these practices come together in his studio model, a new type of innovation infrastructure that creates the space for deep and ongoing change.

With 24+ fascinating case studies and many other real-world examples, the book takes the reader through the new thinking and the new practices, inspiring growth and change. Once you see this, you can’t unsee it.

Kees Dorst is James Wei Professor at Princeton University and Professor of Design Innovation at the University of Technology Sydney. He is the author of Frame Innovation, Creating Strategic Innovation, and coauthor of Design Expertise.