PhD JourneyThe oficial version
Doctoral investigation between :Cranfield University UK&Loughborough University UK
Margarida Monteiro de BarrosCurrently @ CEG-IST
Personal view
FACULDADE DE ARQUITECTURA DE LISBOA October, 2014
and this is where everything started
an EPSRC founded project
Design Dialogues 2005-2008
exploring interventionsthat demonstrates different uses of natural & human capital to allow different life-styles
transitions in thinkingfocuses on the ‘softer side’ - perception - to understand how a change towards sustainability thinking can happen
creating sustainabilitynot reducing unsustainability
aim Provoke a radical transition in thinking toward global levels of sustainability
Setting the context
Foundations
Approach to researchResearch view
ExpertsOrganisations
dialogues
Innovation
Data approach
Outcome: SuCoPosition
Emerging questions
Scales of actionEvaluation and Validation
Elements
Journey of this presentation
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Setting the context
While a product unit’s environment attributes may increase, with a growing global consumption rate of products, business and design activity still results in a net increase in resource use.
(Roy, 2000)
Thefore, individual actions have, in fact, minor impacts on the overall impact of a product or service (e.g. electricity); changes need to happen at the level of redesign the systems in which we operate and live in as well as our pattern of choice as society
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Today’s view of sustainability
making what we do today less bad (Ehrenfeld, 2004: 2)
meet peoples’ real needs (Papanek1971); which require a rethink of natural and human capital use.
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Foundations
Some key points which build the research journey
Changing perceptions are needed to a system thinking approach to be engage that incorporates new values capable of apprehending:the whole as dependent and related to all its parts (Capra, F. 1997:4;5;).
Sustainability and unsustainability are not just two sides of the same coin. Unsustainability is measurable; it can be managed and incrementally reduced. Creating sustainability is not the same as reducing unsustainability." (Ehrenfeld 2004:2).
A more comprehensive approach to sustainability is limited by our understanding of, and relationship to, nature (Orr, 1994).
It is imperative to change the strategic framework of organisations in order to be able to strongly challenge the “business-as-usual” pattern in a radical way, not extreme (Ehrenfeld 2004).
The incremental approach, which operates inside of the same system, looking for efficiency; and, the radical approach, which tries to establish new visions, parameters and lenses for a new system or mind set (Manzini 2005).
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Foundations
Some key points which build the research journey
Changing perceptions are needed to a system thinking approach to be engage that incorporates new values capable of apprehending:the whole as dependent and related to all its parts (Capra, F. 1997:4;5;).
A more comprehensive approach to sustainability is limited by our understanding of, and relationship to, nature (Orr, 1994).
It is imperative to change the strategic framework of organisations in order to be able to strongly challenge the “business-as-usual” pattern in a radical way, not extreme (Ehrenfeld 2004).
The incremental approach, which operates inside of the same system, looking for efficiency; and, the radical approach, which tries to establish new visions, parameters and lenses for a new system or mind set (Manzini 2005).
Sustainability and unsustainability are not just two sides of the same coin. Unsustainability is measurable; it can be managed and incrementally reduced. Creating sustainability is not the same as reducing unsustainability." (Ehrenfeld 2004:2).
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Research view
Change the level of perception through interventions that introduce a new paradigm
Understanding the Natural Capital as the limit of action
Act within the INPUTS of a system rather then uniquely on its OUTPUTS
Intervene at more effective scales to create sustainability
Key points
Margarida Monteiro de Barros SENSU conversations
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Research view
THOUGHTS & IDEAS
LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION & ACTIVITIES
THOUGHTS & IDEAS
LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION & ACTIVITIES
INTERVENTIONS
CREATING SUSTAINABILITY
Based on David Bohm’s essays On Creativity, 2000
Provoke a rapid transformation in the familiar pattern of doing things Paradigm Change (Bohm D. (ed: Nichol L., 2000)
CHANGE LEVEL OF PERCEPTION
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Research view
Market SystemOrganisational System
ProductsServices
Products & Services Systems
Outputs
Economic SystemSocial SystemPolitical System
Human System (Ethos + values system)
Natural system
Organisational System
Products
Human System
The proposal is to:
focus also on the INPUTSNeeds a shift in perspective to be EVOLUTIONARY rather than revolutionary
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Research view
Where to intervene?
9. Numbers (subsidies, taxes, standards)
8. Material stocks and flows
7. Regulating negative feedback loops
6. Driving positive feedback loops
5. Information flows
4. The rules of the system (incentives, punishment, constraints)
3. The power of self-organization
2. The goals of the system
1. The mindset or paradigm
Creating sustainability
Donella H. Meadows - Places to Intervene in a System, Whole Earth Magazine: Winter 1997
Only then we have an effective intervention towards sustainability
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Margarida Monteiro de Barros FAUTL conversation February 2012
HOW THE RESEARCH WAS DEVELOPED?
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Approach to research
How Design Thinking can be used to incorporate and implement interventions that enable transformations from unsustainable practice to practices to create sustainability?
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Approach to research
“Often thought of in terms of design deliverables such as sketches and prototypes, design thinking*** is perhaps more readily identified with the thought process associated with the creation of such things than with the deliverables themselves.”
(Wylant, 2009:4).
Make sense of things in a context is the main cognitive device portrayed by the term design thinking .The challenge for design towards sustainability lies in doing this before anything actually exists:“Requires an understanding of how design decisions, and thus design manifestations, will fit within larger streams of consideration”
(Wylant, 2009:5).
Research Question: approach Design Thinking
February 2012Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
***Often mistaken with Deep Dives Techniques (following the Horwath, R., 2009 book)
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Approach to research
Design Thinking explained
Design 1.0 Artefacts Communication & Attributes
Design 2.0 Products & Services
Design 3.0 Organizational transformation - bounded by the organisation and business strategy
Design 4.0 Social Transformation
- Complex, Not bounded
Van Patter, G. K. 2009, Novembro
Design = Problem solver
Processes, skills
and competencies
related to tangible
results
Processes, skills
and competencies
related to non-
tangible results
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Approach to research
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
“…challenges that organizations have to face,
communities have to face can not be solved by
creating more products, services, experiences even
from a human-centric approach. Creating products is
usually the solution to solve problems that humans
in the XXI century don´t have”
VanPatter, G.K., 2009, March – free translation
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Margarida Monteiro de Barros FAUTL conversation February 2012
output
REDUCING UN-SUSTAINABILITY
CREATING SUSTAINABILIDADE
Visions of societies we want to haveValues-systems we want to sustain
Different outputs = different systems to sustain different life-styles
input
Sustainability general focus
Challenge to this research: HELP ON INTERVENE, IMPLEMENT OR RE-DIRECT THE VALUES-SYSTEMCalls for DESIGN THINKING characteristics
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Approach to research
constructivist grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2003)
qualitative research context that aims to evolve an understanding of how people see, perceive, describe their wellbeing, welfare, and ideas of desirable futures (Denzin and Lincoln, 2003)
Understand the Hows Tos of sustainability
data collection utilised a multi-method approach (Robson 2002:270) using storytelling, games and other techniques
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Approach to research
Grounded Theory also use as a methodology: represents the possibility of looking at data with no objective, and construct the research path along the research journey.
The objective: not to formulate a theory neither arriving to a framework, but to understand sustainability form others peoples´ eyes
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Approach to research
Maps re-present the world by providing versions of truth for human minds to apprehend. In turn, minds represent the world too, internally as cognitive maps.” (Montello, D. R., 2002:283)
“The recognition that map design is about the design of human cognition might be termed intuitive map psychology.”
(Montello, D. R., 2002:283) This research, does not have the intention of portraying the cognitive connections, it aims to express deep thoughts, ideas, values and motivations of people
Cognition includes perception, learning, memory, thinking, reasoning and problem-solving, and communication
(Montello, D. R., 2002).
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Dialogues
The use of Dialogues is of central importance to approach, collect and analyse data within this research
REALITY = A COLLECTION OF CONCEPTS, MEMORIES AND
REFLEXES COLORED BY OUR PERSONAL NEEDS, FEARS, AND
DESIRES
OUR INTERPRETATIONS ARE LIMITED AND DISTORTED BY THE
BOUNDARIES OF LANGUAGE AND THE HABITS OF OUR HISTORY,
SEX AND CULTURE
Bohm et al. 1991
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Dialogues
Dialogues are ideal for sensitive issues; such as when personal,thoughts and ideas are asked to be shared 21)(from Gordon, 1999:21)
Dialogues essence is learning, being learning an unfolding process of creative participation between peers
“It is not a technique for problem solving or conflict resolution(…) it is, as (we have) emphasized, primarily a means of exploring the field of thought.”
(Bohm, et al., 1991)
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Dialogues across research
the concept of dialogue was central to all stages of the researchthrough a variety of usages of dialogues
dialogue as a philosophy –Bohm (2000) main ideas;
dialogue as a method - capturing personal visions and knowledge: conversations, narratives and storytelling to ‘extract’ meaning (Yiannis, 2000:4);
dialogue as a process – a collection of personal journeys and experiences on the practical side of sustainability to transfer knowledge (Denning, S., 2006) and helped to understand and explain complexity (Brown, J.S., 2006);
dialogue as a concept - the construction of a framework that provides cultural change (Yiannis 2000) and transformational change (Denning, S., 2006);
dialogue as a guide for different decisions - promoting strategic organisational reorientation/radical change by facilitating frame-breaking (Greenwood and Hinings, 1993)
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Dialogues
Stories are an “institutional memory system of organizations” (from Yiannis 2000:19)
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Dialogues & Games
Experts (10) were asked to participate in a game that helped lead them to conversations describing what they really felt toward sustainability
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Dialogues & Games
Experts (10) were asked to participate in a game that helped lead them to conversations describing what they really felt toward sustainability
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Results
Experts’ dialogues
What was found was a surprising level of agreement on:• what comprised core sustainability values and
motivations, both for self and for the organisation.
• two key points emerged from these early conversations:
1. the importance of individuals to drive sustainability and the subsequent need for empowerment and accountability;
2. the value-system of individuals - their beliefs and motivations - as a key issue in effectively incorporating ecological thinking in daily life and work
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Experts’
Organisations’
Underlines the importance of collecting ways by which such values are placed in action
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Organisations’ dialogues
Six organisations represented a range of company size and industrial sectors: food, architecture, leisure and tourism, cosmetics and financial services
Develop dialogues about the foundation business’ values and how these are translated in their strategies, structures, systems (e.g. communication systems), processes and outputs
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
DialoguesStories were collect from a range of Organisations (6) done through face-to-face conversations following a „guide“
Organisations arquitype elements – Greenwood and Hinings, 1993
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
the map of collecting data & analyse it
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
the map of collecting data & analyse it
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Organisations’ dialogues
What emerged from the analysis of data provided:
• an understanding of how organisations expressed their values [also emphasized by the experts as a key point]
• and how these values framed their outputs across the whole organisation as well as across the business cycle.
• This provided a picture of how to create interventions to achieve radically different [away from ‘business as usual’] outputs.
Underline the main key aspects of INNOVATION under a different PARADIGM
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
InnovationInnovation, as suggested by De Bono (1995) should challenge what people know and should explore the different dimensions of performance at the organisational level (Drucker, P., 1988).
and this is what these organisations where doing - challenging the current
business VALUE-SYSTEM and the
PLACE of PEOPLE
Beyond market demands
…as if the market demands governs activity, the potential to create sustainability will be limited to what people know today (Inspiered by De Bono, 72)
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Innovation
Looking at innovation to provoke learning loop in response to competition and market needs[Inspired by design management methodology used by the Spanish innovation consultancy CN, Barcelona]
Traditional innovation: operates under the same cultural paradigm
Innovation suggested by data analise: create an evolutionary fractal leap
Brea
king
par
adig
m
Creating evolutionary LEAP of behavioural
This is the view of innovation for Sustainability from this research perspective: To provokes a paradigm change, embedding a sustainability culture that can frame potential futures
Evolutionary Fractal Leaps: defies the view of chronological events and are provoked by turbulence (Nottale, L., 2007:206).
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Emerging questions
what are the set of basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes?
OUTCOME requires to characterise the paradigm of Sustainability in practice
how the different dimensions of sustainability are seen in practice?
what are the different type of relationships existing internally and externally?
OUTCOME needs to enable to think differently about synergies among the different dimensions.
OUTCOME should have a framework to think beyond traditional outputs (i.e. beyond end products and services)
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Data approach
Organisations are living systems (Ricard et al, 2004; Swanson, G. A., 1995:57)
Data the approach was informed by living systems theory that recognizes both abstract systems (e.g. behaviour) and concrete systems (e.g. physical or geographic) (Bailey, 1995:85-86)
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
what are the set of basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes?
how the different dimensions of sustainability are seen in practice?
what are the different type of relationships existing?
Sustainability dimensions in literature:Elkington’s triple bottom line (1997): Society, Economics and
Environment Ehrenfeld (2004) suggested: Ethics, Human, Nature Fuad-luke (interviewed on 2005): Societal; Economics; Environmental,
Human
Data approach
The multi-method of conceptualise and cognitive mapping (Brightman and Banxia 2003)
To understand the different scales of action:eight sub-systems representing The hierarchy that is involved in a system: level of Cell, Organ, Organism, Group, Organisation, Community, Society, Supranational (Miller et al, 1995:12-15).
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Margarida Monteiro de Barros & Dr Emma L. Dewberry GECAMB conference 16 & 17 of October 2008
Data approach
PhD Journey: personal perspective
SuCo ©
Sustainable Cultures and Operations© (i.e. SuCo©: methodology for innovation for sustainability).
• 2 main approach of SuCo©• Operational part – Agreeculture© • Cultural part – Seeds of Change
• Integral part of SuCo© as a holistic methodology for innovation for Sustainability
• Can be used individually.
• Each one is composed by three key components: 1. a philosophical approach or mindset; 2. a framework; 3. a conceptual approach - process
This enables to establish steps towards a way of viewing/thinking; approaching; and acting
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
SuCo ©
Short term – On / Off Long term - Continuo
Outp
uts
Inpu
ts
Agreeculture ©
Seeds of Change
cultural transformation towards a different output(apply attitude)
Operational Re-direction towards a
different input(think according to
action)
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
SuCo © elements
Seeds of Change
Cultural part
philosophical approach - Germination
9 principles to:• re-think values and • how to re-directed future
strategies and actions
Framework:
creates different:a) ways of perceive; b) establish new connections; c) and modes of actions.
Conceptual Process:1. diagnose of current set of values 2. analise key elements that frames
reality and assumptions 3. uncover new principles4. creating interventions to generate
actions and strategies for sustainability
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
SuCo © elements
Seeds of Change
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
• Explore different scales of relationships between elements of a system by understand its “relational power“ for potential interventions – OvOlution
• Understands the system of intra and inter-relations in the business cycle – over time
philosophical approach:
SuCo © elements
AgreeCulture©
Operational part:
Framework:
Conceptual Process:
• presents the key parameters in each of sustainability’s dimension
• and how they interrelate to uncover opportunities for innovation
1. Data Collection: understanding the business chain of actors 2. Exploring Value-chains: deeply analysing values at different scales of operation 3. Creating scenarios of opportunity: exploring new actors; identifying needs; analysing contexts of use
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
SuCo © elements
AgreeCulture©
.
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Validation&Evaluation
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Validation&Evaluation
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Validation&Evaluation
Corus UK: a multi-national steel manufacture from group Tata international
Result: - Uncovering the real capacity for social adding value of Corus - Designing a sustainability strategies to implement activities to integrate social value- Create a framework with social assets at the core
Implement social assets at the core of the organisation
Speculate about the future of
EcoDesign Wales
EcoDesign Wales:a small Government funded ecodesign support agency in Wales
Result:- Uncovering internally opportunities developing and intersect interests and capacity- Create future strategic path for business development - Expose core principles responsible for organisational culture
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
Validation&Evaluation
Some results of SUCO
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
PhD Journey: personal perspective
SuCo©: methodology for innovation for Sustainability
It requires a ‘buy-in’ from all business-cycle stakeholders
SuCo© is about building capacity to Create Sustainability
Is represents the ‘softer’ side of Factor10
Develops a concept linking appropriate values and actions that enables a shift in thinking towards Factor10 outcomes.
SuCo© is a useful beginning of an on-going, and much needed, dialogue.
Margarida Monteiro de Barros Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa October 2014
Thank you
http://www.creatingsustainability.org.uk/
[email protected] Centro de Estudos de Gestão do Instituto Superior Técnico
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