Design Strategy

Conflicts over "the problem" and "the solution" plague the modern world and land problem solvers in what has been called "wicked problem territory"--a social space with high levels of conflict over problems and solutions. In Design Strategy, Nancy C. Roberts proposes design as a strategy of problem solving to close the gap between an existing state and a desired state. Utilizing this approach, designers and change agents are better able to minimize self-defeating conflicts over problems and solutions, break the logjam of opposition, and avoid the traps that lock problem solvers into a never-ending cycle of conflict.

Design as a field continues to grow and evolve, but Design Strategy focuses on three levels of design where "wicked problems" tend to lurk--strategic design (of private and public organizations), systemic design (of networked and overlapping economic, technical, political, and social subsystems), and regenerative design (of life-giving realignment between humanity and nature). Within this framework, Roberts presents refreshingly interdisciplinary case studies that integrate theory and practice across diverse fields to guide professionals in any domain--from business and nonprofit organizations to educational and healthcare systems--and finally offers hope that humanity can tackle the existential challenges we face in the twenty-first century.