Explore DesignShifts
Here, you’ll find the DesignShifts we’re exploring both in theory and in practice. Each topic explores Shifting the posture, power, perspective, practice, and the purpose of design.
DesignShift: From Control to Creativity
I know I am not alone when I say that 2025 has already felt like an entire year compressed into two months. A relentless stream of new political narratives and policies threaten human rights. AI tools emerge at a dizzying pace, promising efficiency while simultaneously jeopardizing jobs. Layoffs are rampant, grocery prices continue to soar.
Uncertainty feels like the only constant. How do we bring back control?
In the slow study course We Will Dance With Mountains: VUNJA! Bayo Akomolafe says: “We are living in a time of blurred boundaries, broken binaries, and beleaguered borders. A time of Al, coups, climate chaos, cancellation myths, declining trust, and frightening heat. We will have to think within the storm, within the tensions, within the ripples. There's no place to stand; the world is moving, and we must move with it.”
His quote made me realize that if we want to try to navigate a world that feels frightening and uncertain, we have to let go of control and lean into creativity.
DesignShift: From control to creativity
DesignShift: From Play to Win to Play to Play
“We're not playing to win, we're playing to play. And ultimately, playing is fun. Perfectionism gets in the way of fun. A more skillful goal might be to find comfort in the process.”
- Rick Ruben
DesignShift: From Answers to Questions
How many times have you been in a conversation that’s started with a question, and ended with: “Huh, I don’t know the answer. Let me Google that (or ask ChatGPT).” We grab our phones. Find AN answer. And feeling like we’ve gotten what we needed, it’s the end of the discussion. Next topic. Moving on. The internet has given us so much when it comes to access to information. Answers to nearly every question we could ever imagine are at our fingertips.
However, lately I’ve started to realize that the thing we need is not answers, but rather opportunities to be with the questions.
DesignShift: From Performing to Process
If creativity becomes about clicking a button to turn our work into reality, haven’t we lost what creating is all about? The PROCESS of bringing something to life… The trial and errors… The unstructured play… The mistakes that turn into unexpected solutions…
DesignShift: From performing to process.
A while ago, I heard someone say that they like how AI can help them bring their ideas to life instantly. I remember thinking that this person is either overworked or does not like the creative process.
If we want to skip the making part of “making” something, do we really want to make or do we just want to "make it"?
Let’s shift together
No one knows it all. Together we know a lot. See a Shift that aligns with your current work or passion? What to co-write a shift or host a collaboration session? I would love to connect.