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SPRINGER BRIEFS IN APPLIED SCIENCES AND
TECHNOLOGY · POLIMI SPRINGER BRIEFS

Martina Rossi

Human
Resource Design
Steering
Human-centered
Innovation within
Organisations
SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology

PoliMI SpringerBriefs

Editorial Board
Barbara Pernici, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
Stefano Della Torre, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
Bianca M. Colosimo, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
Tiziano Faravelli, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
Roberto Paolucci, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
Silvia Piardi, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
More information about this subseries at http://www.springer.com/series/11159
http://www.polimi.it
Martina Rossi

Human Resource Design

Steering Human-centered Innovation within
Organisations
Martina Rossi
Department of Design
Politecnico di Milano
Milan, Italy

ISSN 2191-530X ISSN 2191-5318 (electronic)

SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology
ISSN 2282-2577 ISSN 2282-2585 (electronic)
PoliMI SpringerBriefs
ISBN 978-3-030-87611-1 ISBN 978-3-030-87612-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87612-8

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a Edo
Foreword by Luca Solari

One of the most contentious areas in the research on the connection between strategic
HRM and performance concerns the identification of the specific mechanisms
through which HR practices may have an impact on behaviours by individuals.
The prevalence of a ‘black box’ approach raises dilemmas when we move from
research to practical applications. Is it enough to provide high-performance work
systems? Do organizations need to communicate them in a specific way? What
about the nature of the person–organization pre-existing relation? Does perceived
authenticity by managers play a role?
Many of these important questions are not addressed adequately by academic
research with the important consequence of not helping HR practitioners in
developing a sound body of evidence-based approaches to the design of HR practices.
Martina Rossi leverages her academic research as a former Ph.D. student in service
design, coupled with an extensive practical experience helping companies as a consul-
tant (and in fact action researcher), to provide a framework which pushes service
design in the HR field to a new level, which she defines as human resource design.
It should be noticed that this apparently minimal shift in the formal definition of
the field is in itself an agenda for change both in HR and in service design. Martina
makes it clear that the nature of HR practices makes them significantly different from
other services. Employees are not simply customers to the HR practice, they need to
be engaged by them, and they heavily interact with them through time. Moreover,
those practices have far-reaching consequences on their well-being, engagement,
personal gratification and health. In an analogy to the famous statement by Marshall
McLuhan, it appears as if ‘the management is the design’.
The corner point of her approach is rooted in the firm belief that collaboration
and participation are key aspects for a successful design or redesign of any practices
which have an impact on employees.
While it could be easy to think of her proposal as a too ambitious effort to make
a change in a relatively stable HR field, her intuition of the need of a novel role, that
of the human resource designer should inspire any chief HR officer to challenge the
status quo. We confer too much power to the rational nature of HR practices, and we
expect them to work on the basis of their formal features. However, our experience as

vii
viii Foreword by Luca Solari

inhabitants of organizations (and maybe scholars as well) points to the many factors
which interact to shape our behaviours. We tend to under-evaluate them. and we
resort to a very narrow view of design.
A more effective road to the future of our organizations is to realize that they are
themselves social and collective realities emerging from a collective design process
which requires new skills and competencies. Martina Rossi identifies the path. It is
our role to embark in the journey.

Luca Solari
Professor of Human Resource Management
Università degli Studi di Milano
Milan, Italy
Foreword by Anna Meroni: Designing
as Well-being

Since the nineties, cultural and positive psychology started to study humans in their
real-life contexts and to interpret their behaviours in virtuous and development situ-
ations, rather than in pathological ones (Inghilleri 2014). In their explanation, the
quality of our subjective experience, the ‘way we feel’, has been interpreted as related
to several causes, including the culture and the context we live: in fact, it is connected
to our past, to the present experience and the ability to connect the latter with purposes
and projects (ibidem).
Creativity is recognized as a phenomenon resulting from the interaction of the
individual with the context. It is influenced by multiple factors, such as personality,
culture and society, and it is enhanced by collaboration and group interaction, so much
so that the greatest innovators are known to work not in isolation but in community.
Scholars of psychology recognize the importance of collaboration in creativity for
several reasons: combination of expertise, divergent thinking and sharing of methods,
engaging of individuals that ‘feel like they are part of something greater than them-
selves, by sharing a same objective or ideal’ (Gaggioli et al. 2014, p. 54). Moreover,
they speak about ‘networked flow’, a state in which the actions of the individuals and
those of the group are in balance, so that a sense of social presence is established,
the general performance is positively influenced and there is the generation of new
knowledge and ideas (ibidem). Subjective experiences of the individuals are good
from both a cognitive and an emotional point of view, and they are in a state in which
all the psychic energy is invested in the ongoing practice, and experience a state of
competence, self-determination, meaning and well-being (Inghilleri 2014).
In the same way that the collaborative nature of creativity come as no surprise to
psychologists, it is a cornerstone of the practice and thinking of designers, hence of
so-called ‘design thinking’. Edward De Bono in 1967 began to publish his famous
series of thoughts, methods and tools for ‘training’ creativity, arguing that ‘lateral
thinking’ (the process of using information to produce creativity) is not a talent, but
can be deliberately learned and applied to generate new ideas, being them ‘the stuff
the of change and progress in every field from science to art, from politics to personal
happiness’ (De Bono 1970, p. 7).

ix
x Foreword by Anna Meroni: Designing as Well-being

It is worth noting that De Bono mentioned happiness as a result of the application

of creativity. Well-being and personal happiness are thus mentioned in relation to
creativity as an experience of a collective creative process and as a result of the ideas
generated through it.
Let us start from here to understand the connection of design and in particular
design thinking as a methodology and service design as an approach to artefacts, with
human resource management, the effective and efficient management of people in
organizations. Indeed, we can take from here that creativity, collaboration and well-
being are claimed principles of today’s management culture as well as hallmarks of a
well-crafted design practice. Yet, two additional building blocks can be considered to
understand this relationship: they come from Ezio Manzini and Richard Buchanan.
Manzini, in his well-known essay ‘Design. When Everybody Design’ (2015),
distinguishes between ‘diffuse design’ (performed by everybody) and ‘expert design’
(performed by those who have been trained as designers). His argument is that, since
design is today recognized by an increasing number of people as a way of thinking
and behaving applicable to many different situations and problems, its meaning is
becoming wider and often misunderstood. Design, as a combination of critical sense,
creativity and practical sense to imagining something that does not yet exist, is a way
of acting based on a capability peculiar to humans. Thus, everybody designs for
problem-solving or for making sense of things through the social construction of
meaning (Manzini 2015). In other words, everybody is endowed with the ability
to design and, to a certain extent, does so. This ability can be therefore trained to
mastery for the benefit of the individuals and the system in which they are.
Buchanan, in an essay published in 2015 on the journal She Ji, reflects on the
connection of design with the management culture: he highlights that the major
theories of management in the twentieth century can be regarded as a theory of
design, so that ‘the product to be designed is not an artifact or a customer service but
the organization’ (p. 8). Moreover, he mentions the ‘organizational culture reform’
movement, in which designers are more and more involved to turn the concepts
and methods of design towards addressing the problems of organizational culture.
Actually, management has become an extension of the application of design thinking,
because the role of design in our lives is to create environments within which ‘human
intent can move forward in interaction, forming human meaning in the reach toward
satisfaction and fulfilment of the original intent’ (p. 18). Organizations are in fact
environments, in which design can act to generate true experiences in people’s life,
facilitating practical action, intellectual understanding and emotional engagement.
Buchanan, thus, concludes that design should provide for the quality of experience
for all of those served by the organization, including employees as the best way to
reform organizational culture.
The work of Martina Rossi on human resource design lies in the intersection of
these worlds of thinking and doing and has started from the intuition of a problem,
on the one side, and of an opportunity, on the other.
The problem originates from the phenomenological observation and the profes-
sional experience of the author on the adoption and mis-adoption of design thinking
in companies: within the mentioned plural meanings of design as problem-solving,
Foreword by Anna Meroni: Designing as Well-being xi

sense-making and creative collaboration practice, the purpose of its adoption goes
often lost in translation and is unclear and ill-defined. This is not a minor problem
indeed, as it can bring about unwonted effects of disillusion for a team, and ineffective
or useless ideas for a company.
The opportunity originates precisely in this misuse and in the understanding that
there is indeed a great room for design in the reform of organizational culture,
considering that everybody designs, design skills and creativity can be learned and
developed and this can bring individual and collective well-being.
Thus, Rossi first disambiguates the understanding of the use of service design
as set of methods and tools applied to that particular field of services that is the
human resource management in order to generate better solutions. Then, she comes
to the definition of human resource design (and designer) as a practice and approach
aimed at the well-being of employees, achieved through new and conscious ways
of working together, and therefore at understanding how and why to work together,
beyond what is produced.
Needless to say, a key ingredient of this way of designing and using design in
organizations is co-design. So much has been done and discussed in the last two
decades about co-design and participatory practices that it is beyond the scope of
this study to review the work done. However, it is worth mentioning that these
collaborative design practices have been progressively adopted in different fields
and, again, with different purposes: from understanding the problem to imagining
the solution, from involving people to creating awareness on different topics. It is
certainly true that collective creativity practices are considered promising for dealing
with the complexity of our age in a more effective way, considering multiple and
diverse voices and designing spaces of participation and collaboration. But it is also
true, and even more relevant to this topic, that effective collaboration in participatory
activities with different social actors can lead to a collective state of mind in which
individual intentions harmonize with those of the group, as we have learnt from
psychology. Furthermore, we are discovering that subjective well-being is related to
a belief in interpersonal relationships and to the capacity to activate and bring people
together around an idea and resolve a problem, as the so-called creative communities
(Meroni 2007) teach us. This purposeful collaboration, which co-design can soundly
support with its array of strategies, methods and tools, also leads to the development
of a sense of belonging, self-determination and intrinsic motivation to do things with
others. It is a practice of well-being as well as a form of upskilling and empowerment.
Building on these arguments, we may extend to (certain) collaborative practices
in companies the term ‘infrastructuring’ coined and used by the Scandinavian school
of participatory design (Hillgren et al. 2011). It means an approach to innovation that,
differently from project-based design, is aimed at providing a permanent ‘infrastruc-
ture’ of conversation and exchange between stakeholders, enabling them to act and
create connections from which opportunities may arise. If we replace stakeholders
with employees, we see that the concept is still valid and we better see the role
of a company to facilitate, guide and create the conditions for this ‘conversation’
to take place. We also understand how professional designers, ‘expert designers’
in the words of Manzini (2015), could play a role using, in particular, a service
xii Foreword by Anna Meroni: Designing as Well-being

design approach that combines co-design methods with a focus on behaviours and
interactions between people. We can say that this is the professional domain of
the human resource designers, whose profile is inherently interdisciplinary, as they
have to combine design, psychology and management skills. The ‘virtues’ that Steen
(2013) argues are distinctive for a participatory designer, cooperation, curiosity and
creativity, and are transformed into skills to allow other people to flourish, using
their talents, thus promoting their well-being and helping to create a better working
environment. This happens when designers share power, i.e. do ‘empowerment’, and
delegate agency to ‘users’.
Hence, from an organizational point of view, the human resource design is a
design activity that can make employees aware of the organization in which they are,
of the relationships they have with the others and of their role, power, capability and
opportunities. From an emotional point of view, it uses design as practice of well-
being for a whole organization, by leveraging the power of collaborative creativity, the
diffuse design capability of individuals and the professional skills of a new designer
profile.
Returning to the terminology of psychologists, the aim of a human resource
designer is to facilitate the realization of so-called ‘optimal experiences for an entire
community, i.e. flows of consciousness (Csikszentmihalyi 1990) in which individ-
uals are in a position to understand the circumstances they are experiencing, to be
able to cope with the challenge set before them, to experience positive emotions,
to feel motivated and engaged (Inghilleri 2014). Following Seligman (2002), these
are also the ingredients of a good life and therefore of what he defines as authentic
happiness.
I believe that having clearly understood and framed this application and evolution
of design into a theoretical and operational tool is a truly valuable contribution to
the better adoption of design thinking in companies. In fact, it provides company
managers with insights to understand and decide whether, how and why to introduce
design thinking initiatives in the organization and their consequences. It helps to
understand that, under certain conditions, employee empowerment and team building
can go hand in hand with the production of good ideas that can turn into innovations,
but that the two are different and must be consciously managed with different method-
ologies. It also disambiguates the goal of applying service design to the production
of human resource management solutions, i.e. design for HR, from its adoption as a
means of fostering positive and constructive collaboration between employees, i.e.
the human resource design.
Rossi finally defines a new job profile, which already had a manifestation in
practice, but was not yet identified and conceptualized in theory. The human resource
designer, in fact, can be seen as one of the various specifications of the service
designer profile: however, it has the peculiarity of not only dealing with a specific
field of application, human resources precisely, but interweaving design skills with
behavioural sciences, management and psychology. It is a profile, by now, shaped
through the experience on the field. Of course, it would require signature training
and enters into the wider debate on the evolution of the designer job and education.
The kind and balance of so-called hard and soft skills are obviously discussed, yet
Foreword by Anna Meroni: Designing as Well-being xiii

one of the key features of this profile is the capability to enable others to do, to let
them flourish in their selves and talents. We have seen that this is a key capability of
all participants in co-design practices, yet it is something that has to become truly
hallmark of a HR designer, whose role is orchestrating and facilitating the creative
collaboration of employees to achieve personal and collective well-being, because
designing is an act of well-being.

Anna Meroni
Professor of Service Design, Department of Design
Politecnico di Milano
Milan, Italy

References
Buchanan R (2015) Worlds in the making: design, management, and the reform of organizational
culture. She ji (1), Autumn. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sheji.2015.09.003
Csíkszentmihályi M (1990) Flow: the psychology of optimal experience. Harper and Row, New
York
De Bono E (1970) Lateral thinking. A textbook of creativity. Penguin Books
Gaggioli A, Milani L, Mazzoni E, Riva G (2014) Positive change and networked flow: from creative
individuals to creative networks. In: Inghilleri P, Riva G, Riva E (Eds) Enabling positive change:
flow and complexity in daily experience. De Gruyter Open, Warsaw/Berlin
Hillgren PA, Seravalli A, Emilson A (2011) Prototyping and infrastructuring in design for social
innovation. Codesign 7(3–4):169–183
Inghilleri P (2014) Phenomenology of positive change: social growth. In Inghilleri P, Riva G, Riva
E (Eds) Enabling positive change: flow and complexity in daily experience. De Gruyter Open,
Warsaw/Berlin
Manzini E (2015) Design, when everybody design. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
Meroni A (ed) (2007) Creative communities. People inventing sustainable ways of living. Edizioni
Polidesign
Seligman MEP (2002) Authentic happiness: using the new positive psychology to realize your
potential for lasting fulfillment. Free Press, New York
Steen M (2012) Virtues in participatory design: cooperation, curiosity, creativity, empowerment
and reflexivity. Sci Eng Ethics September 2013 19(3):945–962
Preface

Acknowledgements

The research that is narrated in this book gave me the opportunity to meet people
who have enriched me immeasurably and this alone would be enough to repay all
the effort and work I have put into it.
First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor Anna Meroni, an inexhaustible
source of knowledge and inspiration on every front. Her generosity and elegant and
patient manners that have accompanied every suggestion and opinion have gently
guided my research, always leaving room for my sometimes clumsy intuitions.
I cannot thank enough all my colleagues at POLIMI DESIS Lab, a team of tireless
women, researchers driven by a passion that I have never encountered in anyone else.
They have allowed me to concentrate on my research, freeing me from other thoughts
without ever burdening me, and for this, I am immensely grateful to them all:
Daniela Selloni, for believing in me from day one and never ceasing to do
so, spurring me on with a unique energy and her wise advice. In moments of
discouragement, her voice echoed in my head, shouting ‘Courage!’.
Marta Corubolo, for always reassuring me and involving me in interesting projects
for my research.
Chiara Galeazzi, for her pragmatism, her smiles and her precious advice in any
field.
Daniela Sangiorgi, for her rigorousness in research; she taught me to give order
and scientificity to my thoughts.
Stefana Broadbent, for her attention to the human factor; she made me discover
the social sciences, representing the anthropological counterpart with which every
designer should be confronted.
Together with them, all the people who have animated and lived in our office for
some time and who have shared this journey with me: Ana, Pamela, Marta, Chiara,
Filipe, Maíra, Vanessa, Monika and Andrea.
I would like to thank Claudia Nicolai, for hosting me at HPI d.school and
welcoming me as a member of her team, trusting me from the start, sharing her

xv
xvi Preface

contacts with me and offering me many opportunities for experimentation. I have

learnt a lot from our discussions, and much of her input has shaped the substantial
components of my research.
Together with her, I would like to thank the whole team of researchers at the
d.school who welcomed me as a family and contributed to my reflections, always
providing me with stimuli of the highest quality: Benedikt, Marie, Karen, Mana,
Udit, Andrea, Christian, Sherif, Jentz and all the others. As well as being colleagues,
they have above all been friends and have made me feel at home.
My colleagues of the XXXII cycle of Ph.D. with whom I shared joys and sorrows
and the MiniFARB girls: Carmen, Francesca, Silvia, Vanessa and Ilaria. The Mini-
FARB project was born as a job, but it has also naturally turned into a mutual help
group, which has created friendships that I can no longer do without.
The most heartfelt thanks go to Serena Leonardi. Above all, she is a dear friend,
the best partner one can have, the person with whom I have most pleasure in working
and with whom I have maintained a constant dialogue of comparison and reflection.
Each of our passionate chats enlightens me, and I can say without doubt that this
book is also a little bit hers. Together with her, I would also like to thank Marianna
Carbone, who followed us and shared our passion, enriching our reflections with joy.
My colleagues and friends from Service Design Drinks Milan: Chiara Leonardi,
Luca Molinari, Marihum Pernía and Claudia Pollina, for having supported and
understood me. I love this project as much as I love each of them.
Luca Nascimben, an enlightened HR professional who has believed in my work
and continues to trust me. I thank him for putting his experience at my disposal and
involving me in so many interesting projects.
Pierpaolo Peretti Griva and all the people at MIDA, who continue to be a source
of stimulation and knowledge and who have supported the research.
Valentina Auricchio, for helping me in various experiments and always being
available, attentive and generous towards me.
All the people who in some way gravitated around me during these three years and
consciously or unconsciously were a great stimulus, in particular Marta Mainieri,
Silvia Toffolon, Luca Solari, Enrico Girotti and all the people who enthusiastically
participated in the numerous interviews and projects.
Finally, my closest friends, the family I have chosen. To put up with me, to
always make my life lighter and to make me laugh. Caterina, Silvia, Bianca, Susanna,
Costanza, Laura, Debora, Camilla, Margherita, Michele, Fabio and all the others.
I thank Mattia, for filling our present with joy and for making me dream about
the future.
But above all, my parents. For always leaving me free to choose and for giving
me lessons in love every day.
Preface xvii

Abstract

This book aims at investigating how service design could be applied to guide human
resource management of private organisations within processes of organisational
change. In particular, it focuses on internal collaborative practices that make use of
design tools and methods.
In the last decades, much attention has been focused on investigating the effective-
ness of service design and design thinking in increasing innovation in the solutions
produced by the design process and delivered to the market.
Less exploration instead has been addressed towards understanding how the
design process both influences and is influenced by the way the people involved
interact, behave and grow. All these aspects regard what happens internally to the
organisation, and namely to people, when they undergo such processes.
In doing so, the book faces the demand of human resource management functions
to adapt to recent transformations that organisations are facing.
This demand is increasing due to the major changes that the labour market is
undergoing and that are affecting the employee–organisation relationship. Those
changes are driven by many global forces such as: increasing level of diversity in
the workforce; the diffusion of digital technologies in all aspects of work; and the
evolving expectations of the younger generation on the experience of work and more.
As a consequence of these changes, interactions among workers and between
workers and organisations are transforming, spawning a series of inquiries that
concern the ways in which those interactions should occur and develop in the most
advantageous manner, for both the company and the employees.
Private organisations therefore express a greater demand for consultancies for
solutions and interventions aimed at innovating the way employees work. This
request is often considered as a ‘design thinking’ issue and tackled without
a structured practice specifically dedicated to redesigning internal behavioural
dynamics.
The book proposes a framework that defines a dedicated course of action, based
on design features, aimed at supporting private organisations in facing internal
transformations. The framework represents guidance to undertake projects related
to organisational change, which mainly appeal to human resource management
departments.
Moreover, the book envisions a set of new skills required for the so-called human
resource designer, who is the professional specialist who guides such processes of
transformation.

Introduction

This book develops and evolves from the results of the Ph.D. research carried out by
the author.
xviii Preface

It is narrated through a structure that starts with the two main bodies of background
knowledge needed to introduce the entire story.
In particular, the first paragraphs introduce the notion of human resource design
in comparison with service design for human resources. This paragraph sets the
foundation upon which the entire book develops. The second paragraph provides an
overview of the main interpretations given to the design thinking practices in the
literature with regard to the relevant connotations in applying those practices within
the human resource management field.
Given this preliminary body of knowledge, the subsequent chapters deep dive into
the two main disciplinary fields involved, offering the two different perspectives on
the topic of ‘collaborative design practices’ within organisations.
Chapter 2 indeed includes a first exploration of ‘collaborative design prac-
tices’ through the lens of the design discipline, elaborated downstream of a set
of interviews and observational studies.
The analysis continues with Chap. 3 which is instead looking at the topic from
the HR management side and therefore includes the perspectives of HR managers
that investigated the impact of collaborative design practices in human resources.
A better exploration of the group dynamics instilled by collaboration is provided
by the paragraph that analyses the group development model of Tuckman (1965),
comparing it to the most relevant group models. The issue of collaboration is then
inspected as a way of learning; therefore, I introduce the concept of ‘teaming as a
learning’ experience and the correlations with innovation processes such as design
thinking. To complete the HR perspective on design, I touch the topic of behavioural
design as a discipline that can support organisational change, and finally, I provide
some experiments and applications of service design for human resources.
The core part of the book is dedicated to three different experiments where
I developed and tested the features that would compose the final human resource
design framework.
The experiments, which I called ‘projects’, are followed by a paragraph that
summarizes the lessons learnt and includes the discussion of those features, which
leads to the development of the final version of the framework.
The proposal of the human resource design framework is the result of the
iterations of the experiments and subsequent reflections upon them. It is presented
following the stages of the design process (proposed in an extended version) divided
through ‘content’ and ‘context’ level. Each stage of the process is described with
dedicated tools to be used and indications about specific behaviours that the facilitator
needs to perform according to the group status. The ‘context’ indications also include
information about the configuration of the group and specific stakeholders to involve
at each stage. The second paragraph of this chapter provides a proposal of skillset for
the professional that could lead a human resource design project and act according to
the framework. The skillset of the so-called human resource designer includes some
skills which are typical of the service designer, enriched with other competences
coming from change management and psychology fields of knowledge.
Preface xix

The book ends with a chapter of conclusions which includes further development
in research and possible implications of the findings in the field of education and
practice.

Milan, Italy Martina Rossi

Reference
Tuckman BW (1965) Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychol Bull 63:384–399
Contents

1 Reframing the Role of Design Within Private Organisations . . . . . . . . 1

1.1 The Difference Between Service Design for Human
Resources and Human Resource Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 ‘Rethinking Design Thinking’. An Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2 The Design Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.1 Blurred Understanding and Applications of Design Thinking
in Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2 A Compass of Variables in Collaborative Design Practices . . . . . . . . 26
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3 The HR Management Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.1 What HR Managers Look for in Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.2 Service Design for Human Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
3.3 The Tuckman Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3.4 Teaming as Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
3.5 Design as Agent of Behaviour Change in Organisational
Contexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4 Experimenting Human Resource Design in Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4.1 Project n.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
4.2 Project n.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
4.3 Project n.3a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
4.4 Project n.3b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
4.5 Lessons Learnt and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
5 Proposal for a Human Resource Design Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
5.1 The Rise of the Human Resource Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

xxi
xxii Contents

6 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
6.1 From Project Teams to the Entire Organisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
6.2 From Short-Term Intervention to Long-Term Strategies . . . . . . . . . . 134
6.3 Impact Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
6.4 Implications in Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
6.5 Implications in Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Chapter 1
Reframing the Role of Design Within
Private Organisations

Abstract The first paragraph (1.1) regards the definition of Human Resource Design
compared with Service Design for Human Resources and sets the foundation upon
which the entire book develops. It discloses the difference between Service Design for
Human Resources and Human Resource Design over three main dimensions which
regard: (i) the ‘place’ of design within the organisation, (ii) the designer-client rela-
tionship and (iii) the level of ‘humanization’ of the organisation. In brief, Service
Design for HR focuses on defining ‘what’ might be designed to fulfil whatever
need related to the employee journey, and therefore new services. Human Resource
Design instead relates to ‘how’ employees might behave. The second paragraph (1.2)
provides an overview of the main interpretations given to the Design Thinking prac-
tices in the literature regarding the relevant connotations in applying those practices
within the Human Resource Management field. The different connotations that have
been given to design thinking fall into three main clusters: (i) the democratization
of the design mindset, including all the theories that refer to the cognitive side of
the design process; (ii) design thinking as a strategic asset, which companies can
leverage in order to have a competitive market advantage; (iii) design thinking for
collaboration and codesign, where DT is seen mainly as a vehicle to foster collab-
oration and ignite new dynamics of work with diverse stakeholders. Those three
main connotations on one hand contribute to a general confusion and foster multiple
interpretations, and on the other hand they underpin new research paths.

1.1 The Difference Between Service Design for Human

Resources and Human Resource Design

This paragraph lays the fundamental premises of the entire research project. It is a
cornerstone of understanding the topic and the consequent formulation of a correct
research question.
The research question concerns how service design could support practices
that aim to achieve change within private organisations, leveraging employee
collaboration.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 1

M. Rossi, Human Resource Design, PoliMI SpringerBriefs,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87612-8_1
2 1 Reframing the Role of Design Within Private Organisations

It took me extensive and confused, often controversial, reflections to come up

with the revealing intuition of the difference between two connected but different
concepts, which are Service Design for Human Resources (SD for HR) and what I
will call from now on Human Resource Design (HRD).
Even if the formulation of the concept of Human Resource Design represents the
result of the entire investigation and therefore the last step in chronological order,
understanding this concept and the distinction with SD for HR is propaedeutic to a
correct interpretation of the following passages.
Throughout the book indeed, I will uncover all the steps undertaken to frame and
elaborate this notion.
Today’s organisations are increasingly taking advantage of approaches that are
typical of the design field, applying them to a range of continuously expanding area
of innovation spanning management, policy making and social engagement.
Within this context, where everybody can access the ‘tools for designing’ (Manzini
2015), there is an increasing need to find rigorous ways of acting for design prac-
titioners to remain consistent and impactful through their interventions (Junginger
and Sangiorgi 2009).
The focus of this research are private organisations that use, in various ‘places’
within their structure (Junginger 2009), design methods and tools that are included in
the broader spectrum of ‘design thinking’ (Kolko 2015) with the explicit or implicit
aim of rethinking their way of working.
Within this chapter and the entire research, I will refer to ‘design’ per the specific
domains of service design (SD) and design thinking (DT) and I will specify when
pointing to one of the two in particular.
While research discourses of service design and design thinking are taken from
different roots, practitioners use these notions with very similar connotations, often
subtending blurry meanings. Understanding those blurry meanings is also part of
my investigation and will be extensively discussed in paragraph 3.1. The definition
that I intend to convey when I will mention ‘collaborative design practices’ within
organisations includes both SD and DT without distinguishing their specific seman-
tics. This is because, at least for the first part of the investigation, I did not want
to exclude relevant cases just because of the labels given, often without relevant
thought. Therefore, I framed my definition of ‘collaborative design practice’ when
it displays the following features:
• it makes use of methods and tools that refer to the design discipline;
• it implies collaboration among different stakeholders;
• it involves a guidance role played by a trained designer or a facilitator that uses
design artifices.
In the last decades, design has caught the attention of stakeholders in various
areas of private organisations. R&D, Marketing and Innovation departments have
understood the value of adopting service design to innovate products and services
for quite some time. Still, just recently there have been other business functions
asking for design interventions.
1.1 The Difference Between Service Design for Human Resources … 3

One of these emergent areas is Human Resources (HR), which is increasingly

looking at design to develop innovative services to respond to the emerging needs of
a new typology of worker.
Significant changes in contemporary society of the last decades such as demo-
graphic transformations, the diffusion of a wide range of new technologies in all
aspects of work, and the development of a new meaning of work for younger gener-
ations (Bersin by Deloitte 2016; World Economic Forum 2018) have led to the
development of new worker behaviours, in their relationship with their employer
and interaction with peers. With this demand, companies try to direct their innova-
tion capacity to internal users and clients rather than tackling external challenges.
Therefore, the emerging needs of employees in organisations are related to the evolu-
tion (ibidem) of the working environment and of economic and working processes,
which inevitably entail a transformation within the organisations themselves.
This mutability of the workplace according to the changes of the context to evolve
have seen one of its major manifestations during the COVID-19 pandemic. This
disruptive phenomenon is currently reconfiguring the pillars of work in contempo-
rary society and it’s object of studies for many scholars. According to the studies,
there are multiple aspects that are contributing to reshape the world of “work” given
the pandemic situation. They include but are not limited to: social life and people
relations, working routines, infrastructures, mobility, security, policy frameworks,
emotional wellbeing and more (Kane et al. 2021; Kaushik 2020).
However, the transformative power of design in this sense is meant as an ‘implicit
agent of change’ of the organisational culture and directly connected with product (or
service, in our case) development (Deserti and Rizzo 2014; Junginger 2008; Sanders
2009).
Hence, if we consider service design ‘at the service’ of Human Resource Manage-
ment, we refer to the activity of designing services to manage the functional processes
within the Human Resource department’s scope. Those processes, which are asso-
ciated with very specific responsibilities within the HR function, are still siloed
and also considered by the suppliers as separate markets. There exist indeed tools for
increasing productivity and collaboration that range from engagement and feedbacks
solutions, to performance management or wellbeing solutions. This is a demonstra-
tion that the focus on the end-to-end employee journey is still new since they address
punctual issues only (Bersin by Deloitte 2017).
Within this perimeter, I will talk about Service Design for Human Resources.
The preposition ‘for’ underpins an activity that is addressed to creating a ‘plat-
form’ or a ‘system’ that is enabling a ‘multiplicity of interactions’, as it has been
formulated by Meroni and Sangiorgi in their concept of ‘Design for Services’ (2011).
For example, when we talk about redesigning the process that a company follows in
order to recruit new talents and, by doing so, the experience of the new candidates,
the physical and digital touchpoints that characterize it and the interactions among
them, we are under the scope of service design for HR.
In this regard, HR can be considered as just another field of application of service
design that, in its implementation, doesn’t imply any relevant innovation besides
specificities of the subject area.
4 1 Reframing the Role of Design Within Private Organisations

It is instead revolutionary when design encounters the domain of organisa-

tional change, and therefore implies a series of substantial differences with the
abovementioned definition.
Those differences are to be found at least in three dimensions of an organisation,
which I identified as: (i) the ‘place’ in the organisation (Junginger 2009; Schmiedgen
et al. 2015), (ii) the designer-client relationship (Yu and Sangiorgi 2018) and (iii) the
level of ‘humanization’ (Augsten et al. 2018).
The first dimension is about the ‘place’ (Junginger 2009) in the organisation,
which refers to the level of depth of design practices in the organisation. They have
been classified with reference to design thinking by Junginger (2009) in her essay
‘Design in the Organization: Parts and Wholes’ and then reclaimed in the report issued
by the Design Thinking Research Team at the Hasso-Plattner-Institute (HPI) ‘Parts
Without a Whole?: The Current State of Design Thinking Practice in Organizations’
(Schmiedgen et al. 2015), where the authors mapped out the current state of the
design thinking practices in different kinds of organisations according to the scheme
originally proposed by Junginger.
The four archetypical places of design in an own elaboration taking elements from
both the abovementioned sources can be resumed as follows:
• Periphery: in this configuration, design is considered as an add-on resource that
can be booked on demand for a specific need and then dismissed. Here the need
typically deals with traditional design problems of form, communication and
function. Junginger (2009) makes the example of a company that needs to redesign
its logo and hires an external design consultant to produce one. In the adaptation
of Schmiedgen et al. (2015), this is the case where design thinking consultants are
hired just for developing a design thinking project (or a workshop). In this case,
design has no continuous presence in the organisation, therefore it doesn’t have
any effect in changing the organisational framework.
• Somewhere: design is part of a specific organisational function such as marketing,
UX or R&D departments. In this situation, the professional in-house designers
are seen by the rest of the organisation as the ‘creative staff’ and a significant
trench can be perceived between them and the remainder of the organisation. It
is therefore clear that design has no relevance in the organisation overall, but it
is rather constrained to specific products and services without envisioning any
departmental impact or organisational strategy.
• Core: design has a central position in the organisation and therefore has access
to its leadership and strategy levels. The ‘objects of design’ become organisation-
wide, for example corporate identity. Here, design questions vision and purpose,
resources, structures, and procedures of the organisation and integrates products
and services “into a coherent whole” (Junginger 2009). In this position “design
begins to shape aspects of the organisation and has a potential to transform”
(ibidem).
• Intrinsic: design is an established practice and mindset; it can be considered as
part of the company culture. It is an approach to solving those ‘wicked prob-
lems’ (Buchanan 1992) that go beyond the design realm. Hence, “managing and
1.1 The Difference Between Service Design for Human Resources … 5

designing are no longer treated as different organisational realms” (Junginger

2009), but they are instead integrated. The organisation can be considered as
resilient because it is able to adapt according to the external market and internal
needs (Fig. 1.1).
The second dimension to consider when understanding the difference between
Service Design for HR and Human Resource Design is to be found in the designer-
client relationship (Yu and Sangiorgi 2018). This element is somehow linked to the
localization of design in the organisation because it is a consequence of the desired
impact that the company intends to achieve when looking for design interventions.
Designing for or with the internal staff of an organisation might be assimilated to
the idea of designing for or with a specific kind of client, because employees are a
kind of client.
The three typologies of client-partner relationships are appointed by Yu and
Sangiorgi (2018) to be:
• Delivering: within this relationship, the client plays the passive role of the
commissioner, providing a brief and then receiving the designers’ output. There
is no intervention of the client in developing the solution.
• Partnering: here, the client codesigns with the designers. During collaborative
sessions, clients are providing their organisational perspective about the designers’
work and are engaged with them in the project. This configuration implies an
alignment of the stakeholders where the “objects of change also become human
actors” (Aricò 2018, p. 64)
• Facilitating: this relationship entails a more educational role for the people of an
organisation. It is about transferring design capabilities in order to enable learners
to apply design methods to their own context. The designers become coaches that
train employees to change their routines.
The third important dimension to consider is the level of ‘humanization’ of
an organisation. The concept of ‘humanization in organisations’ was proposed by

Fig. 1.1 Own adaptation of the concepts developed by Junginger (2009) and (Schmiedgen et al.
2015)
6 1 Reframing the Role of Design Within Private Organisations

Augsten et al. at the ServDes—Service Design and Innovation Conference held in

Milan in June 2018.
The authors built upon the extension of the human-centeredness principle of
design, addressing it towards the creation of a more humanistic organisational
environment rather than just the delivery of more desirable products/services for
end-users. In their own words: “Internal humanizing might result in, for example,
employees working flexible hours, input on and control over the details and scope of
each project, and advancement opportunities. Meanwhile, external humanizing can
resemble speaking the customer’s language and providing services when and how
the customer wants them” (ibidem) (Fig. 1.2).
As mentioned, when talking about Service Design for HR, we refer to the areas of
application of the Human Resource Management department (recruiting, onboarding,
learning, performance management and more). Among all those areas, there is a
transversal goal, which is often managed by one specific team within HR, which is
the wellbeing of the employees.
Wellbeing is one of the norms of a human-centered organisation identified by
the International Organization for Standardizations (ISO 27500:2016) which also
includes: “capitalizing on individual differences as a strength in the organisation;
making usability and accessibility part of the organisational strategy; ensuring health,
safety, and wellbeing; valuing personnel and creating meaningful work; being open
and trustworthy; acting in a socially responsible way; and adopting a total systems
approach within the organisation” (ibidem). When Service Design for HR is applied
to achieve the wellbeing of people working in an organisation, it can generate solu-
tions where design principles contribute to building a positive and collaborative
company culture among its population, being the human resources the population
of the organisation. Wellbeing covers the overall way people work and live in the
organisation and beyond, tapping into a more holistic approach to the employee
experience, which is in this conceptualization reframed and elevated to what in a
recent report by Deloitte Insights (Bersin by Deloitte 2019) has been called ‘human
experience’. “Human experience builds upon the foundation of the employee expe-
rience, but extends beyond work processes to focus on the meaning of work itself,
thereby targeting the most personal question that can exist in the workplace: am I
making the difference?” (ibidem, pp. 48–49) (Fig. 1.3).
When design enters this domain, it aims to shape the ‘how’ more than the ‘what’
of the organisational practices.
To make an example, just like Service Design (SD) for HR applied to (re)designing
the recruiting journey can envision a service that helps recruiters to identify and select
the best candidates on the job market, SD for HR applied to increase wellbeing

Fig. 1.2 A ‘Copernican

revolution’ of the
human-centeredness
principle of design. Own
elaboration
1.1 The Difference Between Service Design for Human Resources … 7

Fig. 1.3 “When experience is bottom-up and personal, it becomes focused on human experience”
(Bersin by Deloitte 2019)

can mean reformulating routines of day-by-day tasks, questioning and reshaping

employee behaviours. In the latter case, the solution can include design elements as
enablers of new routines: there, behavioural design comes into play and there is a
shift to what I define as Human Resource Design (HRD).
HRD, in fact, implies a course of action that focuses on new ways of working
together and ‘how’ employees might behave. SD for HR instead focuses on defining
‘what’ might be designed to fulfil any need related to the employee journey, and
therefore new services.
SD for HR and HRD are not to be seen as alternatives but rather different intensities
of integration of design with Human Resource Management.
The three dimensions of analysis described above offer a first direction to forming
the intensity gradient.
In general, we can say that lower levels of integration of design in organisations
qualify the realm of SD for HR. By contrast, higher levels qualify HRD.
In this regard, HRD appears as the stretch of SD for HR toward organisational
change. Nevertheless, in my definition, HRD set its main focus around human beings
and their behaviours rather than organisational structures. In this sense, HRD builds
on the ‘experiential nature’ of design (Elsbach and Stigliani 2018), focusing on
the learning experience that design, and specifically codesign, offers more than the
content produced as output of the process. The experience becomes the content of
the design activity in a way. Hence, HRD aims to shape new forms of interaction
among people inside organisations. Those interactions should be ideally empowered
by favourable organisational structures but could transcend from them (Fig. 1.4).
8 1 Reframing the Role of Design Within Private Organisations

Fig. 1.4 The difference

between Service Design for
Human Resources and
Human Resource Design.
Own elaboration

In this perspective, HRD relates with organisational cultures because when design
involves behaviours, it affects norms, values, and assumptions (Schein 2010).
Many authors have investigated the mutual and reciprocal impact of design culture
and organisational culture on each other, drawing different frameworks to depict this
connection (Junginger and Sangiorgi 2009; Sanders 2009; Deserti and Rizzo 2014;
Elsbach and Stigliani 2018).
Junginger and Sangiorgi (2009) built upon the framework developed by Rousseau
(1995) that framed the levels of culture as concentric circles with fundamental
assumptions of organisations at the centre and products and artifacts at the periphery.
Junginger and Sangiorgi (2009) differentiate three depths of interventions that
service design can reach in an organisation, where the deepest one is ‘organisa-
tional transformation’ and the service design project implies to question fundamental
assumptions.
In the same direction, Sanders (2009) also provided a model for co-creation in
product development where she locates tools, methods and methodologies at the
highest and most superficial point of a pyramid, while placing at the foundations
mindset and culture. Both these models suggest considering the artifacts, products,
services or tools to design them, as the result, the tangible manifestation of a culture.
Product development in this sense can either express or require concurrent organ-
isational changes. To this regard, organisational change is framed to be product or
service-driven.
In support of the concept above, Elsbach and Stigliani (2018) also acknowledged:
“the role of physical artifacts and emotional experiences [are] signals of the existence
of a design thinking culture. Nevertheless, these cultural signals represent only the
tip of the iceberg of more profound changes brought about inside an organisation by
the introduction of design thinking tools at the level of behaviours, perceptions, and
mind-set”.
In their review on empirical studies, the authors recognized that organisational
culture influences in a reciprocal matter the use of design thinking tools, identifying
specific cultures as more favourable to use design thinking tools. In their own words:
“we found that cultures that were defined by values, norms, and assumptions, such
as collaboration and experimentation, supported the use of specific design thinking
tools (e.g., tools of prototyping, cocreation, and customer journey mapping), while
1.1 The Difference Between Service Design for Human Resources … 9

contrasting cultures defined by productivity, performance, and siloed specialization

impeded the use of these tools” (ibidem, p.6).
A relevant contribution going towards this direction is given by Deserti and
Rizzo (2014) who argue that “new product development, and new internal processes
produced the occasion for the change”. The need for change is seen as a natural
consequence of product development where design represents an “implicit agent of
change” (ibidem, p.41).
This model suggests that the design potential is expressed towards the innovation
of products and services to be delivered to the external market. This can also imply the
creation of new tools and methodologies, which can gradually impact the creation of
new processes, therefore penetrating the fundamental assumptions of the company
culture. Even if in these models, design can reach the deepest foundations of a
company culture, the final aim of the design activity is always directed towards the
outside, or rather, towards the development of a new product/service, while internal
changes are just consequences. In this view, we can state that the design focus goes
from the core to the periphery (see Fig. 1.1).
While discourses in DT and SD are focusing on the transformative power of
design as ‘implicit agent of change’, the contribution given by this study explores
the possibility of introducing design elements as explicit agents of change. In this
view, design would address its potential toward the inside of the organisation, in
a framework where tools, methods and artifacts are functional to improve inner
processes and practices instead of the opposite. According to this concept, the design
focus would go from the periphery to the core of the organisation in order to change
the norms, values, and assumptions and shape a more welcoming culture for design
(thinking) to be adopted (Manzini 2016; Elsbach and Stigliani 2018).
This kind of design intervention (HRD) can be seen as a preliminary action, a
precondition, to offering innovative products and services on the market. If we could
use design tools to explicitly foster a human-centered and collaborative culture,
defined by “flexibility and the free flows of ideas between different functional groups”
(ibidem), products and services for the external market would become the natural
consequences while new internal practices would be the implicit agent of change of
innovative artifacts.
As a root from the research point of view, my contribution in defining Human
Resource Design builds upon the research agenda recently published by Elsbach and
Stigliani (2018) about the connection of design thinking and organisational culture.
In particular, I would like to call attention to the main points of the agenda that this
research aims to address, listed below:
“Future research might consider how best to move from cultures with these values
to cultures that value a user focus, collaboration, experimentation, and risk taking
(which tend to support the use of design thinking tools).
[…] most of the studies in our review also suggest a project-focused avenue for
cultural change. However, few of these studies examined the use of design thinking
projects as a direct means to changing culture.
[…] Thus, future research may need to explore how using design thinking at the
project level is an effective means to change the overall culture of an organisation.
10 1 Reframing the Role of Design Within Private Organisations

[…] researchers might explore how our current understanding of organisational

culture change could be extended by using an experiential learning lens.
[…] future studies may attempt to reveal whether some design thinking tools are
more likely than others to facilitate agreements about solutions and organisational
problems. In addition, future scholars could investigate whether some specific aspects
of the experiential nature of design thinking tools (e.g. holistic sensorial engagement,
emotional involvement) facilitate collective cognitive work.”
(Elsbach and Stigliani 2018).
In the last years in the world of practice, design consultancies are increasingly
asked to undertake projects in the HR field and, at the same time, consultancies
that traditionally worked in the area of Human Resources, training and coaching,
are integrating and expanding their competencies with design expertise. Some of
those consultancies are, but not limited to: Openknowledge (Italy), Methodos (Italy,
France and Germany), PeopleRise (Italy), MIDA (Italy), HR Pepper (Germany), AJ
& Smart (Germany).

1.2 ‘Rethinking Design Thinking’. An Interpretation

This study initially originated from the purpose of investigating private organisations’
understanding of the application of design thinking (DT). This first body of research
was ignited by intuition, as a design researcher and practitioner in the field, of a
lack of focus and misinterpretation of the usefulness and value of design thinking
within the company practices, including the intercourse with the service design (SD)
domain. As scholars report: “in research, discourses of SD and DT have different
roots. In practice, they are often introduced simultaneously and follow the same
purpose: humanizing products, services, and processes.” (Augsten et al. 2018).
The general lack of clarity is seen by many authors, especially from the design
discipline, as a threat to the professionalism of the design practice (Muratovski 2015),
because, when applied without solid understanding and experience, it could result as
merely an ineffective set of magic tricks and tools that, after an ‘initial excitement’,
suffers from construct collapse (Hirsch and Levin 1999).
This paragraph aims at helping organize the knowledge about the topic, connoting
design thinking according to three specific clusters. These connotations are not to be
considered exhaustive of the entire panorama, but they are the ones that better apply
to the organisational change arena within the private sector.
Design thinking as the democratization of the design mindset.
The first appearance and relevant contribution of design in the realm of cognitive
sciences and psychology has to be attributed to Herbert Simon with his book The
Science of the Artificial (1969). Simon argues that design can be applied to solve
problems of any kind, ascribing to designers the creative problem-solving ability to
face problems and envision the future by “transform[ing] existing conditions into
preferred ones” (p.4). In his formulation indeed, design refers to the knowledge
1.2 ‘Rethinking Design Thinking’. An Interpretation 11

subtending all the fields concerning what ‘ought to be’ as opposed to the sciences
that study ‘what is’.
Another milestone in understanding the nature of the cognitive side of the design
process has been placed by Bryan Lawson (1980) who proposed the framework of
‘how designers think’, leveraging the author’s belief that we all can learn how to
design and improve our creative ability by nurturing it. Later on, he supported his
thoughts defining the designers’ cognitive style as ‘thinking by doing’ (2004; 2006),
a learning process that happens while tackling and solving a problem.
Another scholar that advocated the same cognitive ability is Peter Rowe (1987): he
provided the first analysis on design thinking arguing that problem-solving itself is the
process through which solutions are shaped. On the same line, Cross (1982) framed
this solution-focused problem-solving approach for the first time as a ‘designerly way
of knowing’, initiating from this contribution on a vivid ongoing discussion about
what defines a designer from the way s/he thinks and works, invoking both cognitive
and practical competences of professionals who design. His reflections went on
throughout years of observations and collections of case studies that culminated in
his book inherently titled Design Thinking (2011).
With regard to ill-defined problems, a major contribution has been provided by
Richard Buchanan in 1992, when for the first time he used the term ‘wicked problems’
to identify those problems for which the design thinking approach can help to provide
a solution.
The abovementioned authors attempted to ‘standardize’ and define the way in
which designers think and act. The underlying idea is to make the design process
closer to a course of action that can be transferred and trained.
In recent times, the ‘tools for designing’ have become more accessible and, in
general, the design discipline has become more acknowledged and appreciated by
communities and organisations of various kinds, enlarging the spectrum of people
acting or pretending to act as designers (Manzini 2015).
This phenomenon touched predominantly on the construct of ‘Design Thinking’,
which was made popular worldwide also thanks to the IDEO consultancy firm and
its founders and top managers.
IDEO overtly declares to consult through design thinking and the portfolio of
the firm provides cases of application of the approach in several industries. Besides
that, IDEO also contributed to the distribution of the tools and methods they use and
design, therefore becoming a reference point for many practitioners and consultan-
cies. Most of their resources are available with open access on their website, therefore
underpinning a form of ‘democratization’ of the methods and tools for designing,
but at the same time eliciting the diffusion of an approach that can be subject to risky
distortions.
In the same direction in 2013 David Kelley, the founder of IDEO and creator
of the Stanford d.school, together with his brother Tom Kelley, published a book
called Creative Confidence where they sustained the belief that everyone is creative.
Therefore, to unleash the creative potential inside any individual and innovate the
way to approach problems, they developed and made available a series of strategies
and principles.
12 1 Reframing the Role of Design Within Private Organisations

As it happened for the tools, the design thinking process itself also underwent
diverse articulations.
Most agree on defining it as an alternation of divergent and convergent phases,
where divergence means broader possibilities of solutions and convergence indicates
selecting and pursuing one concept (Brown 2009). This dimension of design thinking
is commonly represented as a ‘double diamond’ made of two subsequent pair of
divergent and convergent stages. Here, the distinction is between a first ‘diamond’
embodying the problem definition and a second one framing a concept for a solution.
Those ‘diamonds’ compose a process that is likewise articulated in four stages:
discover, define, develop and deliver (Design Council 2014).
Another important dimension that has been highlighted in the process formulation
is iteration, on which Brown (2008) has built his formula characterised by the three
macro-steps: inspiration, ideation and implementation.
The model proposed by Stanford d.school retraced the features above, shifting
the focus on user-centricity and prototyping. This time the steps are five: empathize,
define, ideate, prototype and test (d.school 2015).
Every one of these formulations focuses on a peculiarity of the approach, without
going against the other models but instead complementing them and highlighting a
different attribute.
The mere fact that the concept of design thinking is broad and blurred, gives room
to many different interpretations. Consultancies and agencies indeed use to refer to
one or another model according to their preference and relevance with their activity,
while adapting tools and techniques to their own convenience. This hunger for design
thinking and its popularity together with the confusion that surrounds it, makes the
world of practice an interesting ground for research to investigate and analyse the
attributes of those practices.
Lucy Kimbell (2011; 2012), underpins the concept that design thinking is still
untheorized and unstudied and she requests further explorations in the world of
practice, that can be summarized as follows:
• In order to shift from the discourse of design thinking as individual cognition, we
need to research design as a set of practices in a situated context, in action.
• In a world where everybody designs (Manzini 2015) there is the need to understand
if designers are special and why.
• Since the activity of design now includes a series of other stakeholders, we need
to enrich our research field with other studies such as anthropology, sociology,
history and science and technology.

Design thinking as a strategic asset.

The second connotation to highlight deals with the introduction of design thinking
within organisations as a way to foster innovation and gain competitive advan-
tage over the competitors (Martin 2009). In the last decades, we have witnessed
an increasing adoption of methods and tools coming from the design discipline to
foster innovation, falling into the more general spectrum of ‘design thinking’ (Kolko
1.2 ‘Rethinking Design Thinking’. An Interpretation 13

2015; Politecnico di Milano 2018). This is also demonstrated by the numerous acqui-
sitions of design expertise within organisations that did not count design as an asset
within their structure before. The acquisitions are being carried out by organisations
of different types, including both companies that are delivering products or services
on the market and consultancy agencies that are offering their support to those compa-
nies (Muratovski 2015; Politecnico di Milano 2018; Engström 2017; Schmiedgen
et al. 2015). The strategies to build internal capabilities in design are also varied: they
include recruiting of external expertise on design, training employed staff, business
acquisition of design boutiques or the creation of dedicated in-house teams entitled
as ambassadors of the design expertise (Muratovski 2015).
A relevant perspective on the possible role of design thinking in value creation
has been given by Katarina Wetter Edman (2009). The author built upon the concept
of service-dominant logic (SDL) (Vargo and Lush 2004) that emphasizes the role
of services as the basis of economic exchange where goods are just a distribution
mechanism for service provision. The service-dominant logic perspective configures
a conceptualization of services as value creators rather than a category of market
offerings as a replacement of products (Foglieni et al. 2018).
Wetter Edman (2009) draws her analysis by researching overlapping notions
between service-dominant logic (which belongs to business and management
domains) and design thinking (a concept originated from design studies). She found
that there were not so many overlaps, and therefore she concluded that SDL and DT
are to be considered as complementary rather than alternatives.
She acknowledges that “Design Thinking is rooted in practice and experience-
based descriptions and has difficulties reaching managerial and strategic levels”
(ibidem, p. 209), but at the same time there is a continuous interest in under-
standing “how the business/management perspective of service and design disciplines
perspective of service are related and possibly could merge” (ibidem, p. 210).
Some representative examples are given by the ‘service design logic’ concept
introduced by Cautela and Zurlo (2009). The book Service Design Thinking (Stick-
dorn and Schneider 2012) combines design and marketing principles in order to
improve customer experience and the interactions between service providers and
customers that in the book Service Design for Business (Reason et al. 2015) are
proposed by the influent consultancy Livework.
Other authors from the management realm advocate the need to better understand
the managerial implications of design thinking when elevated to a strategic level in
organisation.
Among the critical thinkers, Nussbaum (2011) affirms design thinking to be a
failed experiment in business, arguing that companies packaged it as a linear process,
without addressing the messiness which was the peculiar and intrinsic component of
it: “in order to appeal to the business culture of process, it was denuded of the mess,
the conflict, failure, emotions, and looping circularity that is part and parcel of the
creative process” he stated (ibidem).
Coyle (2017) reclaims Nussbaum’s thoughts arguing that what companies are not
likely to buy is design thinking as something fuzzy like a ‘mindset’. Some others,
like Vassallo (2017), invoke not to become slaves of user-centricity seen as “asking
14 1 Reframing the Role of Design Within Private Organisations

users what they want and then trying to give it to them” but rather fostering to build
evidence-based solutions, making use of data instead of solely empathy.
Micheli et al. (2018) in a recent article, unfold a research agenda for further
research on design thinking where organisational design represents one of the para-
graphs. In particular, they see organisational design as a necessary condition for
successful design thinking. In order for this to happen, it entails change in the organ-
isation’s culture, structure and policies to the point of requiring a paradigm shift in
strategic vision (Collins 2013).
Adding onto the Micheli et al. (2018) research agenda, I outline the following
open point that guides further investigation:
• Design research needs to explore ways of initiating or igniting real ‘change by
design’ (Brown 2009) with the aim of reaching organisation culture, structure and
policies that can ultimately inspire innovation.

Design thinking for collaboration and codesign.

The integration of diverse perspectives from within and outside the organisation is
considered a central aspect of design thinking (Carlgren et al. 2016). At the individual
level, the ability and propensity to work with people from different disciplines has
been identified as a fundamental attribute of a ‘design thinker’ (Brown 2009).
The collaboration domain represents the connection with the third connotation of
design thinking, which frames the scope of this research.
The pervasion of collaborative practices and bottom-up approaches have been
already initiated and often established in social contexts (Manzini 2015; Manzini and
Staszowski 2013) but just recently, they have been starting to enter organisations,
trying to hack their hierarchical models.
This tendency is fostered by the fact that private organisations are experimenting
with new structural models, designing faster, more flexible and effective processes
that could react to the generally increased rate of change in society (Bersin by Deloitte
2016). An example of the changing paradigms in how organisations work is repre-
sented by the ‘agile’ movement. Agile was originally conceived as a software devel-
opment iterative model characterized by iteration and experimentation as well as a
clear focus on user requirements (Beck et al. 2001), therefore owning intrinsically
shared principles with design thinking (Carlgren et al. 2016; Liedtka 2015).
Agile is increasingly being adapted to be the guiding model for handling diverse
projects within organisations. The approach implies that for every iteration, a cross-
functional team is formed, which is revolutionary for any siloed organisational
setting.
Obviously, in order to put the agile model into practice, there is the need to invest
in the formation of teams and make sure they work. The concept of teaming and
how to create effective teams is deeply explored by Edmondson (2012) who also
states how the concept of effective teaming is closely related to business interests
like productivity.
Another direction that organisations are undertaking are ‘flat management
systems’ which could be represented by the concept of ‘holacracy’ (Robertson 2015).
1.2 ‘Rethinking Design Thinking’. An Interpretation 15

Holacracy refers to a form of decentralized management and organisational gover-

nance, where the traditional hierarchical structure is flattened down. The idea of
holacracy is today being adopted by many organisations in different forms and at
different levels of ‘flatness’ (Martin 2015) questioning the pyramidal leadership
model.
Diverse authors claim that flat management is becoming popular not just for
efficiency reasons, but predominantly for the more democratic working environment
that they constitute, which is perceived to be equal, transparent and built on shared
accountabilities (James 2012). This contributes to ultimately leading to less turnover
while attracting and retaining talents.
These alternative organisational models are inevitably outlining new configura-
tions of the interactions among people working within organisations that need to be
redesigned and then adopted.
The last paragraph outlined the managerial perspective on the power of design
thinking to enhance collaboration as a by-product of its adoption. However, collabora-
tive approaches have been extensively discussed by design scholars under the notion
of codesign and the participatory approach. A recent contribution on the topic, the
book Massive Codesign (Meroni et al. 2018) provides an overview of evolution and
the state of the art of codesign today, starting with a reflection on the popularity that
it has garnered in the last decade which contributed to extending and blurring its
boundaries.
Codesign has been studied as an activity of collaborative design within various
contexts, and deeply analysed in approaches, methods, tools and implications
(Sanders and Stappers 2008; 2013; 2014).
Within the formulation of the concept of codesign, the influence of the Scandina-
vian approach by the school of thinking of prof. Ehn, is of particular significance here,
since the role of the user shifts from being ‘subject of study’ to being a ‘partner’ of
design. With this regard, this connotation of codesign matches with how the concept
of ‘partnering’ was later defined: a form of client-designer relationship where the
client takes part in the design activity. In a Human Resource Design project indeed, the
client identifies also with the user, therefore utterly representing a form of codesign
(see paragraph 1.1 for a deeper explanation of Human Resource Design).
Moreover, the conceptualization originally offered by Ehn (1988) started from
studying participatory practices within organisations as a form of ‘democratization
at work’, in which people affected by design were entitled to have a voice in the
process.
Nowadays, codesign is depicted by the scholars from the Scandinavian schools
as a way of ‘infrastructuring’ a design process in order to facilitate collaboration
within different actors throughout the entire design thinking process (Bjögvinsson
et al. 2012). Hence, focusing on the realm of organisations, codesign still maintains
its value of ‘democratization’ because it implies the inclusion of an extended number
of stakeholders in the design process which directly affects the organisations’ models
of governance (Selloni and Corubolo 2017).
With all these considerations, I want to point out that even if collaboration is insis-
tently mentioned as an underlying attribute of design thinking, literature is still scarce
16 1 Reframing the Role of Design Within Private Organisations

in developing specific methodologies, frameworks and tools that directly address

design toward increasing collaboration within private organisations.
Hence, drawing from the research agenda shaped by Elsbach and Stigliani (2018),
the contribution of this study should tap into:
• Exploration of the experiential nature of design thinking processes to improve our
understanding of how they enhance collaboration within organisations (p. 28).

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Chapter 2
The Design Perspective

Abstract This chapter of the book contains a first exploration of those defined as
‘collaborative design practices’ within private organisations obtained through a set
of interviews and observational studies carried out with different kinds of stake-
holders within private organisations. The first round of interviews outlined in the
first Sect. 2.1 a set of different interpretations and applications of design thinking
in the world of practice. Those have been clustered in what have been called ‘areas
of blur’. They refer to: (i) the goal of the activities, (ii) their subject-matter and
(iii) their impact. Section 2.2 showcases a series of observations of collaborative
design practices. Those observations composed and informed a comparative anal-
ysis that was carried out through the identification of a set of variables. The variables
refer to specific characteristics of the practices such as: (i) goal of the activities, (ii)
variety of participants, (iii) style of guidance and (iv) process design. The observa-
tions highlighted correlations between those variables that have been organised in a
compass. The compass represents a navigation tool that could support who organises
collaborative design practices.

2.1 Blurred Understanding and Applications of Design

Thinking in Practice1

The preliminary study aimed at generating a first understanding of the current adop-
tion of ‘design thinking’ practices in the industry. I hereby use the term ‘design
thinking’ as an umbrella that embraces a number of activities that companies label
in this way, and that I defined as ‘collaborative design practices’ in Sect. 1.1, such
as: ‘service design workshop’, ‘codesign’, ‘hackathon’, ‘bootcamp’ and more.
As a start, I didn’t want to narrow down too much the analysis, considering just
what was overtly titled as design thinking, because I knew that the popularity of these

1 This paragraph is based on the paper “Rossi, M. (2017). ‘Design Doing’: what if we put more design
into design thinking? Proceedings of 4D Designing Development Developing Design Conference.
Kaunas, September 2017. ISBN: 978-609-02-1364-3, pp. 315–325 https://www.ebooks.ktu.lt/eb/
1404/4d-designing-development-developing-design-conference-proceedings/”.
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 19
M. Rossi, Human Resource Design, PoliMI SpringerBriefs,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87612-8_2
20 2 The Design Perspective

activities contributed to the use of a plethora of attractive titles to define them, but
they often result to be very similar in purpose and course of action.
I therefore planned a round of interviews to a set of private organisations that I
identified to be experimenting with design thinking in Italy.
Concurrently to this research, the ‘Design Thinking for Business’ observatory
was launched by the School of Business of Politecnico di Milano. The observatory
is a research activity that aims at collecting data and insights from the world of
practitioners on a specific topic. The two studies can be considered as complimentary
because the qualitative information I was gathering were enriching the quantitative
data provided by the observatory (Politecnico di Milano 2018, 2019).
The interviews have been carried out between March and May 2017 with a duration
of around 1 h each.
The interviews followed a semi-structured schema aimed at investigating three
main aspects: (i) the level of adoption of design thinking (including critical situ-
ations), (ii) the role played by design and designers in the process, (iii) different
purposes and interpretations given to the approach (Table 2.1).

Table 2.1 Interviews scheme

Interviewee name Affiliation Business type Acronym
Giuseppe Attoma CEO e Senior Design Strategist Design agency G.A
at Attoma
Pietro Curtolillo Customer Experience Design Company (Telco) P.C
Manager at Vodafone Italy
Enrico Girotti Head of Design at H-Farm in Design agency E.G
HIC
Bruno Gori Clinical Research Physician at Company (Pharma) B.G
Lilly
Franco Guidi Founder and CEO at Other consultancy F.G
Lombardini22
Stefano Grisenti Project Manager ‘Vision’ at Company (Retail) S.G
Leroy Merlin
Gianluca Loparco Digital Transformation Service Design agency G.L
Line Leader at Deloitte Digital
Pierpaolo Peretti Griva Partner, Coach e HR Consultant Other consultancy P.P
at Mida
Fabio Salierno Head of the Experience Design Company (Finance) F.S
Lab at Intesa Sanpaolo
Lidia Tralli Service Design Lead at Fjord Design Agency L.T
2.1 Blurred Understanding and Applications of Design Thinking … 21

This first set of interviews resulted in a series of insights which are below
synthetized and labelled as ‘areas of blur’ in the field of collaborative design practices.

‘Areas of blur’
The following paragraphs outline four initial issues drew from the contributions of
ten practitioners in lead positions, that shared the experience with design thinking
within in their organisations.
Those issues have been defined as ‘areas of blur’ of the practice, that supplement
the literature gaps outlined in Sect. 1.2 with evidences from the field.
The ‘areas of blur’ are clusters of the main qualitative insights that I got from the
interviews which where pinpointing uncertain or ambiguous aspects of the design
thinking practice.
Those, together with the results of the observational studies, represented a starting
point to delineate a narrower perimeter and choose a specific perspective to adopt
for the subsequent phases of the research.
Goal: ‘problem-solving’ or ‘creative confidence’?

The approach proposed by design thinking embeds two peculiar aspects: one is
related with the collaborative way of doing things, while the other one focuses on a
specific methodology aimed at shaping innovative products/services.
These two complementary aspects generate different interests by the functional
departments inside a company: people working with human resources are highly
attracted by design thinking as a new way of making employees collaborate cross-
departments, while people working with the releases of new products/services (R&D,
Marketing, Innovation etc.) are interested in the design and innovation proposition
of the approach (Fig. 2.1).
These different interpretations often cause some confusion on the objective of
the adoption of design thinking, finally making everyone not fully satisfied with the
result. As G.A. states: “for a consultancy, it happens many times that requests come
from different departments of the client company that share the same budget. In those
cases, you have to make compromises that weaken the success of the consultancy
activity because interests are not aligned and often conflictual”.
The collaborative aspect sometimes is so evident that there are companies that
uses the term ‘design thinking’ to identify the way the employees internally work
and interact. An example is given by F.G., who even added ‘design thinking’ as a
pay-off in his company name: “we have added design thinking to our brand from the
beginning because that has always been our way of working”.
But the higher level of application of design for human resources purposes is
represented by P.P. He works for a consultancy firm that offers services to the HR
departments inside companies. He got fascinated by design thinking and service
design, so he started to gradually introduce them within the consultancy and today
they are completely embedded inside their activities: “what was really attractive for
Human Resources was the humanisation of the process of design thinking…before
that there were other methodologies for problem-solving purposes coming from
22 2 The Design Perspective

Fig. 2.1 Design thinking within private organisations

total quality management, but those were engineering approaches, which were not
interesting for HR.”
Moreover, the idea of a more human-centric process for designing and delivering
products and services makes implicitly people happier with their workplace (Kolko
2015).
P.P. is aware of the ‘design-specific’ aim of those methodologies, but he
consciously uses them for training purposes: “in our DNA there is the strong belief
that a project is an experience of learning”.
This is a concept that has been supported by many authors that studied experiential
learning related with project-team dynamics and also design thinking in specific
(Beckman and Barry 2007; Edmondson 2012).
Subject-matter: framing the scope

The most recognized feature of design thinking seems to be fostering the generation
of new innovative ideas. What is not that common, or trendy instead is: what for?
In many cases the definition of the brief on which to start the idea generation is a
very fast and marginal step: “people inside companies tend to simplify the design
thinking process, defining it as a way to find innovative ideas or experiencing a new
way to collaborate, without understanding that it is just a part of the entire process”
claimed E.G.
In order to reinforce the importance of defining meaningful problems to solve,
E.G. reframed the way his team works with the client during the brief definition.
Within the various format of application of design thinking that usually starts
from a defined brief, E.G. used to introduce a pre-session of codesign with the client
2.1 Blurred Understanding and Applications of Design Thinking … 23

uniquely dedicated to shape the brief and understanding the specific problem to be
solved.
Also F.S. had to deal with the same concern. He claimed that he was really inspired
by a talk he attended within an international conference: “I was impressed by the
speaker showing an extension of the traditional double-diamond graph, adding two
smaller double-diamond at the beginning and at the end of the process. There I
founded the visual explanation of the way we are working in our team, indeed we
dedicate a lot of time doing research to define a relevant brief.”
G.A. gave a specific definition to this practice: “It’s a collaborative mediation of
the need. I talk about mediation because it deals with helping the decision-makers to
decide to make a conscious choice and to decide for one direction, that will be pursued
in an effective and measurable way. My proposal would be: let’s start applying the
design thinking methods to understand the problem we want to solve, instead of
using them to produce more solutions”.
This concept can be linked to the definition of “innovation of meaning” expressed
by Verganti (2017): “a novel vision that redefines the problem worth addressing. It
takes innovation one level higher—not only a new how but especially a new why: it
proposes a new reason why people use something. A new value proposition, i.e., a
novel interpretation of what is relevant and meaningful in a market. A new direction.”
Impact: measurements and adoption

Almost all the interviewees highlighted as one of the biggest challenges of the design
thinking approach the lack of measurement features.
There are some consultancies that are trying to find a solution to this issue in order
to comply with business needs, as G.L. stated: “The major difficulties we usually face
with clients are related with measuring and assuring effectiveness of these activities:
companies are increasingly asking rapidity and quick win solutions that can have a
clear impact on the business level. Companies often struggle to evaluate the impact of
this discipline within the organisation: it is indeed a transversal discipline, therefore
the variables that influences it are various and they influence different metrics, both
quantitative and qualitative which can be related either to business or to the user
experience.”
This issue can probably be extended to the service design practice or design in
general and it is not limited to consultancy: indeed, it is often raised by specific
structures inside the companies. F.S. in fact, who is the head of the Service Design
team within a big Italian banking and insurance company, points out the lack of
specific KPIs to evaluate service design.
With regards to this topic, the most repeated argument about the integration of
design in business environment is that designers lack basic business competences
and language.
A contribution on this subject comes from P.C.: “The hardliner approach in a
designer doesn’t work. What is working is simplicity and pragmatism. Designers
inside companies have to face two clients: one is the end-user and the other one is
the company itself. I position myself in the middle. I think that designers don’t know
24 2 The Design Perspective

how to argue effectively the benefits of design within a company. We are missing the
profile of a designer who also own business competences.”
This is really a major issue, raised even during the Advisory Board of the course in
Product Service System Design at Politecnico di Milano (2016), which was composed
by professors, practitioners and researchers in the field of service design.
The other issue with impact, beside measurements, deals with the adoption in
the long term of the ‘design thinking’ approach. All interviewees agreed that after
a design thinking workshop, beyond some scepticism, there is overall a relevant
dose of excitement and optimism. The problem is that often those feelings slowly
decrease over time when employees come back to their desk and need to carry out
their ordinary day-to-day activities.
P.P. identified this weakness in the practice of the competitors, therefore he built
their distinctive asset on that: “we guarantee to lead and accompany the change
within the organisation, going beyond the experiential formula of the hackathon
used by many competitors, which is really impressive on the emotional level, but has
less impact on the organisation itself. Sometimes these activities generate even the
opposite effect because people produce a lot of material that unlikely enters inside
the organisation, causing frustration in people who participated.”
Even in the experience of P.C. the biggest challenge of design thinking in organ-
isations is “to give continuity to these activities. In order to give continuity, the
motivational component is crucial and to achieve it we would need a cultural change,
which is the most difficult challenge.”
For E.G. this issue is crucial for his team and solving it is one of his main mission.
Therefore, he started to make different integrations to the process they usually follow.
He divided the process in: PRE-DURING-POST.
• The PRE phase is intended to co-design the initial brief with a core team of the
client side;
• The DURING phase is dedicated to the workshop itself, based on the agreed brief
and aimed at reframing it in 4 more detailed and focused ones. This phase involves
a larger group inside the company;
• The POST phase is a program of guidance and review with the client throughout
the development of the projects responding to the briefs. This program ends with
the development of raw prototypes that will be presented to the management board
(Fig. 2.2).
This new format represents for E.G. a first attempt in trying to come out of the
process with tangible outcomes and finally answer to the client question: “How do
we quantify the return of investment?”.

Lessons Learnt
As said, these issues represent a starting point for further investigations, research and
experimentation in order to guide a new course of action.
In general, it can be said that most of the reported weaknesses brings back to
reinforce some of the core premises of the design practice, which have probably been
oversimplified in order to meet the business constraints (Nussbaum 2011). Starting
2.1 Blurred Understanding and Applications of Design Thinking … 25

Fig. 2.2 New process workflow according to E.G

from the four issues depicted above, we could envision four initial directions to be
further explored.
• First of all, it is important to understand the authentic need that drives a company
to look for design thinking and, consequently, what is the ‘kind of design thinking’
that suits it (Politecnico di Milano 2018). If it is true that companies are adopting
design thinking for different purposes, as also the results of the observatory reports
(Politecnico di Milano 2018), then probably there is the need to shape different
processes to suit diverse purposes and communicate them properly to all
people involved. In this perspective, I believe that the community of designers
should address this demand by rigorously studying effective ‘designerly’ course
of actions.
• Secondly, it would be fruitful to dedicate enough time to frame the specific scope
of any design thinking activity. This might require more time than looking for
solutions. In order to do so, as design researchers we need to investigate a strategy
to guide internal stakeholders towards a process of problem framing which can
bring about the formulation of a meaningful challenge and, at the same time, can
engage the stakeholders in an activity that can turn out to be frustrating.
• Thirdly, there is the need to find ways to assess the business potential of the
solutions or at least find convincing motivations about why they can’t be
measured. If from one side it is true that designers need to learn how to speak
the business language, it is also true that “organisations that ‘get’ design use
emotional language (words that concern desires, aspirations, engagement, and
experience) to describe products and users” (Kolko 2015), therefore they don’t
need quantitative evidences.
• Lastly, what would push design thinking a step forward is a further comprehension
of how the intervention of design and designers could go beyond envisioning
and planning, therefore addressing the phase of adoption of the solutions so
conceived. In this hypothesis it is also to be investigated who is the professional
or professionals that lead this phase and the range of skills that those profiles need
to own.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
thereon, must certainly tend to its prolongation. He gave Mass
therefore a stone bottle of the distilled liquor of sulphur, and taught
him also how to prepare this oil from burnt sulphur. And he ordered
him at every meal to take two drops of it in his first draught of beer;
and not lightly to exceed that; two drops, he thought, contained
enough of the fumes for a sufficient dose. This was in the year 1600;
and now, says Helmont, in 1641, the old man still walks about the
streets of Brussels. And what is still better, (quodque augustius est,)
in all these forty years, he has never been confined by any illness,
except that by a fall upon the ice he once broke his leg near the
knee; and he has constantly been free from fever, remaining a
slender and lean man, and always poor.

Jan Mass had nearly reached his hundredth year when this was
written, and it is no wonder that Van Helmont, who upon a fantastic
analogy had really prescribed an efficient tonic, should have
accounted by the virtue of his prescription for the health and vigour,
which a strong constitution had retained to that extraordinary age.
There is no reason for doubting the truth of his statement; but if Van
Helmont relied upon his theory, he must have made further
experiments; it is probable therefore that he either distrusted his own
hypothesis, or found upon subsequent trials that the result
disappointed him.

Van Helmont's works were collected and edited by his son Francis
Mercurius, who styles himself Philosophus per Unum in quo Omnia
Eremita peregrinans, and who dedicated the collection as a
holocaust to the ineffable Hebrew Name. The Vita Authoris which he
prefixed to it relates to his own life, not to his father's, and little can
be learnt from it, except that he is the more mystical and least
intelligible of the two. The most curious circumstances concerning
the father are what he has himself communicated in the treatise
entitled his Confession, into which the writer of his life in Aikin's
Biography seems not to have looked, nor indeed into any of his
works, the articles in that as in our other Biographies, being
generally compiled from compilations, so as to present the most
superficial information, with the least possible trouble to the writer
and the least possible profit to the reader,—skimming for him not the
cream of knowledge, but the scum.

Dr. Dove used to say that whoever wrote the life of an author without
carefully perusing his works acted as iniquitously as a Judge who
should pronounce sentence in a cause without hearing the evidence;
nay he maintained, the case was even worse, because there was an
even chance that the Judge might deliver a right sentence, but it was
impossible that a life so composed should be otherwise than
grievously imperfect, if not grossly erroneous. For all the ordinary
business of the medical profession he thought it sufficient that a
practitioner should thoroughly understand the practice of his art, and
proceed empirically: God help the patients, he would say, if it were
not so! and indeed without God's help they would fare badly at the
best. But he was of opinion that no one could take a lively and at the
same time a worthy interest in any art or science without as it were
identifying himself with it, and seeking to make himself well
acquainted with its history: a Physician therefore, according to his
way of thinking ought to be as curious concerning the writings of his
more eminent predecessors, and as well read in the most illustrious
of them, as a general in the wars of Hannibal, Cæsar, the Black
Prince, the Prince of Parma, Gustavus Adolphus, and Marlborough.
How carefully he had perused Van Helmont was shown by the little
landmarks whereby after an interval of—alas how many years,—I
have followed him through the volume,—haud passibus æquis.

CHAPTER CLXXXVII.

VAN HELMONT'S WORKS, AND CERTAIN SPECIALITIES IN HIS LIFE.

 Voilà mon conte.—Je ne sçay s'il est vray; mais, je l'ay ainsi ouy conter.—Possible
que cela est faux, possible que non.—Je m'en rapporte à ce qui en est. Il ne sera pas
damné qui le croira, ou décroira.

BRANTÔME.

“The works of Van Helmont,” Dr. Aikin says, “are now only consulted
as curiosities; but with much error and jargon, they contain many
shrewd remarks, and curious speculations.”

How little would any reader suppose from this account of them, or
indeed from any thing which Dr. Aikin has said concerning this once
celebrated person, that Van Helmont might as fitly be classed among
enthusiasts as among physicians, and with philosophers as with
either; and that like most enthusiasts it is sometimes not easy to
determine whether he was deceived himself or intended to deceive
others.

He was born at Brussels in the year 1577, and of noble family. In his
Treatise entitled Tumulus Pestis (to which strange title a stranger1
explanation is annexed) he gives a sketch of his own history, saying,
“imitemini, si quid forte boni in eâ occurrerit.” He was a devourer of
books, and digested into common places for his own use, whatever
he thought most remarkable in them, so that few exceeded him in
diligence, but most, he says, in judgement. At the age of seventeen,
he was appointed by the Professors Thomas Fyenus, Gerard de
Velleers, and Stornius, to read surgical lectures in the Medical
College at Louvain. Eheu, he exclaims, præsumsi docere, quæ ipse
nesciebam! and his presumption was increased because the
Professors of their own accord appointed him to this Lectureship,
attended to hear him, and were the Censors of what he delivered.
The writers from whom he compiled his discourses were Holerius,
Tagaultius, Guido, Vigo, Ægineta, and “the whole tribe of Arabian
authors.” But then he began, and in good time, to marvel at his own
temerity and inconsiderateness in thinking that by mere reading, he
could be qualified to teach what could be learnt only by seeing, and
by operating, and by long practice, and by careful observation: and
this distrust in himself was increased when he discovered that the
Professors could give him no further light than books had done.
However at the age of twenty-two he was created Doctor of Medicine
in the same University.
1 Lector, titulus quem legis, terror lugubris, foribus affixus,
intus mortem, mortis genus, et hominum
nunciat flagrum. Sta, et inquire, quid hoc?
Mirare. Quid sibi vult
Tumuli Epigraphe Pestis?
Sub anatome abii, non obii; quamdiu malesuada invidia
Momi, et hominum ignara cupido,
me fovebunt.
Ergo heic
Non funus, non cadaver, non mors, non sceleton
non luctus, non contagium.
ÆTERNO DA GLORIAM
Quod Pestis jam desiit, sub Anatomes proprio supplicio.

Very soon he began to repent that he, who was by birth noble,
should have been the first of his family to choose the medical
profession, and this against the will of his mother, and without the
knowledge of his other relations. “I lamented, he says, with tears the
sin of my disobedience, and regretted the time and labour which had
been thus vainly expended: and often with a sorrowful heart I
intreated the Lord that he would be pleased to lead me to a vocation
not of my own choice, but in which I might best perform his will; and I
made a vow that to whatever way of life he might call me, I would
follow it, and do my utmost endeavour therein to serve him. Then, as
if I had tasted of the forbidden fruit, I discovered my own nakedness.
I saw that there was neither truth nor knowledge in my putative
learning; and thought it cruel to derive money from the sufferings of
others; and unfitting that an art founded upon charity, and conferred
upon the condition of exercising compassion, should be converted
into a means of lucre.”
These reflections were promoted if not induced by his having caught
a disorder which as it is not mentionable in polite circles, may be
described by intimating that the symptom from which it derives its
name is alleviated by what Johnson defines tearing or rubbing with
the nails. It was communicated to him by a young lady's glove, into
which in a evil minute of sportive gallantry he had insinuated his
hand. The physicians treated him, secundum artem, in entire
ignorance of the disease; they bled him to cool the liver, and they
purged him to carry off the torrid choler and the salt phlegm, they
repeated this clearance again and again, till from a hale strong and
active man they had reduced him to extreme leanness and debility
without in the slightest degree abating the cutaneous disease. He
then persuaded himself that the humours which the Galenists were
so triumphantly expelling from his poor carcase had not preexisted
there in that state but were produced by the action of their drugs.
Some one cured him easily by brimstone, and this is said to have
made him feelingly perceive the inefficiency of the scholastic practice
which he had hitherto pursued.

In this state of mind he made over his inheritance to a widowed

sister, who stood in need of it, gave up his profession, and left his
own country with an intention of never returning to it. The world was
all before him, and he began his travels with as little fore-knowledge
whither he was going, and as little fore-thought of what he should do,
as Adam himself when the gate of Paradise was closed upon him;
but he went with the hope that God would direct his course by His
good pleasure to some good end. It so happened that he who had
renounced the profession of medicine as founded on delusion and
imposture was thrown into the way of practising it, by falling in
company with a man who had no learning, but who understood the
practical part of chemistry, or pyrotechny, as he calls it. The new
world which Columbus discovered did not open a wider or more
alluring field to ambition and rapacity than this science presented to
Van Helmont's enthusiastic and enquiring mind. “Then” says he,
“when by means of fire I beheld the penetrale, the inward or secret
part of certain bodies, I comprehended the separations of many,
which were not then taught in books, and some of which are still
unknown.” He pursued his experiments with increasing ardour, and
in the course of two years acquired such reputation by the cures
which he performed, that because of his reputation he was sent for
by the Elector of Cologne. Then indeed he became more ashamed
of his late and learned ignorance, and renouncing all books because
they sung only the same cuckoo note, perceived that he profited
more by fire, and by conceptions acquired in praying. “And then,”
says he, “I clearly knew that I had missed the entrance of true
philosophy, on all sides obstacles and obscurities and difficulties
appeared, which neither labour, nor time, nor vigils, nor expenditure
of money could overcome and disperse, but only the mere goodness
of God. Neither women, nor social meetings deprived me then of
even a single hour, but continual labour and watching were the
thieves of my time; for I willingly cured the poor and those of mean
estate, being more moved by human compassion, and a moral love
of giving, than by pure universal charity reflected in the Fountain of
Life.”

INTERCHAPTER XX.

ST. PANTALEON OF NICOMEDIA IN BITHYNIA—HIS HISTORY, AND SOME

FURTHER PARTICULARS NOT TO BE FOUND ELSEWHERE.

Non dicea le cose senza il quia;

Che il dritto distingueva dal mancino,
E dicea pane al pane, e vino al vino.
BERTOLDO.
This Interchapter is dedicated to St. Pantaleon, of Nicomedia in
Bithynia, student in medicine and practitioner in miracles, whose
martyrdom is commemorated by the Church of Rome, on the 27th of
July.

Sancte Pantaleon, ora pro nobis!

This I say to be on the safe side; though between ourselves reader,

Nicephorus, and Usuardus, and Vincentius and St. Antoninus
(notwithstanding his sanctity) have written so many lies concerning
him, that it is very doubtful whether there ever was such a person,
and still more doubtful whether there be such a Saint. However the
body which is venerated under his name, is just as venerable as if it
had really belonged to him, and works miracles as well.

It is a tradition in Corsica that when St. Pantaleon was beheaded,

the executioner's sword was converted into a wax taper, and the
weapons of all his attendants into snuffers, and that the head rose
from the block and sung. In honour of this miracle the Corsicans as
late as the year 1775 used to have their swords consecrated, or
charmed,—by laying them on the altar while a mass was performed
to St. Pantaleon.

But what have I, who am writing in January instead of July, and who
am no papist, and who have the happiness of living in a protestant
country, and was baptized moreover by a right old English name,—
what have I to do with St. Pantaleon? Simply this, my new
pantaloons are just come home, and that they derive their name
from the aforesaid Saint is as certain,—as that it was high time I
should have a new pair.

St. Pantaleon though the tutelary Saint of Oporto (which city

boasteth of his relics) was in more especial fashion at Venice: and so
many of the grave Venetians were in consequence named after him,
that the other Italians called them generally Pantaloni in derision,—
as an Irishman is called Pat, and as Sawney is with us synonymous
with Scotchman, or Taffy for a son of Cadwallader and votary of St.
David and his leek. Now the Venetians wore long small clothes;
these as being the national dress were called Pantaloni also; and
when the trunk-hose of Elizabeth's days went out of fashion, we
received them from France, with the name of pantaloons.

Pantaloons then as of Venetian and Magnifico parentage, and under

the patronage of an eminent Saint, are doubtless an honourable
garb. They are also of honourable extraction, being clearly of the
Braccæ family. For it is this part of our dress by which we are more
particularly distinguished from the Oriental and inferior nations and
also from the abominable Romans whom our ancestors, Heaven be
praised! subdued. Under the miserable reign of Honorius and
Arcadius, these Lords of the World thought proper to expel the
Braccarii, or breeches-makers, from their capitals, and to prohibit the
use of this garment, thinking it a thing unworthy that the Romans
should wear the habit of Barbarians:—and truly it was not fit that so
effeminate a race should wear the breeches.

The Pantaloons are of this good Gothic family. The fashion having
been disused for more than a century was re-introduced some five
and twenty years ago, and still prevails so much—that I who like to
go with the stream, and am therefore content to have fashions thrust
upon me, have just received a new pair from London.

The coming of a box from the Great City is an event which is always
looked to by the juveniles of this family with some degree of
impatience. In the present case there was especial cause for such
joyful expectation, for the package was to contain no less a treasure
than the story of the Lioness and the Exeter Mail, with appropriate
engravings representing the whole of that remarkable history, and
those engravings emblazoned in appropriate colours. This adventure
had excited an extraordinary degree of interest among us when it
was related in the newspapers: and no sooner had a book upon the
subject been advertised, than the young ones one and all were in an
uproar, and tumultuously petitioned that I would send for it,—to
which, thinking the prayer of the petitioners reasonable, I graciously
assented. And moreover there was expected among other things
ejusdem generis, one of those very few perquisites which the all-
annihilating hand of Modern Reform has not retrenched in our public
offices,—an Almanac or Pocket-Book for the year, curiously bound
and gilt, three only being made up in this magnificent manner for
three magnificent personages, from one of whom this was a present
to my lawful Governess. Poor Mr. Bankes! the very hairs of his wig
will stand erect,

Like quills upon the fretful porcupine,

when he reads of this flagrant misapplication of public money; and

Mr. Whitbread would have founded a motion upon it, had he survived
the battle of Waterloo.

There are few things in which so many vexatious delays are

continually occurring, and so many rascally frauds are systematically
practised, as in the carriage of parcels. It is indeed much to be
wished that Government could take into its hands the conveyance of
goods as well as letters, for in this country whatever is done by
Government is done punctually and honourably;—what corruption
there is lies among the people themselves, among whom honesty is
certainly less general than it was half a century ago. Three or four
days elapsed on each of which the box ought to have arrived. Will it
come to day Papa? was the morning question: why does not it
come? was the complaint at noon; and when will it come? was the
query at night. But in childhood the delay of hope is only the
prolongation of enjoyment; and through life indeed, hope if it be of
the right kind, is the best food of happiness. “The House of Hope,”
says Hafiz, “is built upon a weak foundation.” If it be so, I say, the
fault is in the builder: Build it upon a Rock, and it will stand.

Expectata dies,—long looked for, at length it came. The box was

brought into the parlour, the ripping-chissel was produced, the nails
were easily forced, the cover was lifted, and the paper which lay
beneath it was removed. There's the pantaloons! was the first
exclamation. The clothes being taken out, there appeared below a
paper parcel, secured with string. As I never encourage any undue
impatience, the string was deliberately and carefully untied. Behold,
the splendid Pocket-Book, and the history of the Lioness and the
Exeter Mail,—had been forgotten!

O St. Peter! St. Peter!

“Pray, Sir,” says the Reader, “as I perceive you are a person who
have a reason for every thing you say, may I ask wherefore you call
upon St. Peter on this occasion.”

You may Sir.

A reason there is and a valid one. But what that reason is, I shall
leave the commentators to discover; observing only, for the sake of
lessening their difficulty, that the Peter upon whom I have called is
not St. Peter of Verona, he having been an Inquisitor, one of the
Devil's Saints, and therefore in no condition at this time to help any
body who invokes him.

“Well Papa, you must write about them, and they must come in the
next parcel,” said the children. Job never behaved better, who was a
scriptural Epictetus; nor Epictetus who was a heathen Job.

I kissed the little philosophers; and gave them the Bellman's verses,
which happened to come in the box, with horrific cuts of the Marriage
at Cana, the Ascension and other portions of gospel history, and the
Bellman himself,—so it was not altogether a blank. We agreed that
the disappointment should be an adjourned pleasure, and then I
turned to inspect the pantaloons.

I cannot approve the colour. It hath too much of the purple; not that
imperial die by which ranks were discriminated at Constantinople,
nor the more sober tint which Episcopacy affecteth. Nor is it the
bloom of the plum;—still less can it be said to resemble the purple
light of love. No! it is rather a hue brushed from the raven's wing, a
black purple; not Night and Aurora meeting, which would make the
darkness blush; but Erebus and Ultramarine.
Doubtless it hath been selected for me because of its alamodality,—
a good and pregnant word, on the fitness of which some German
whose name appears to be erroneously as well as uncouthly written
Geamoenus, is said to have composed a dissertation. Be pleased
Mr. Todd to insert it in the interleaved copy of your dictionary!

Thankful I am that they are not like Jean de Bart's full dress
breeches; for when that famous sailor went to court he is said to
have worn breeches of cloth of gold, most uncomfortably as well as
splendidly lined with cloth of silver.

He would never have worn them had he read Lampridius, and seen
the opinion of the Emperor Alexander Severus as by that historian
recorded: “in lineâ autem aurum mitti etiam dementiam judicabat,
cum asperitati adderetur rigor.”

The word breeches has, I am well aware, been deemed ineffable,

and therefore not to be written—because not to be read. But I am
encouraged to use it by the high and mighty authority of the Anti-
Jacobin Review. Mr. Stephens having in his Memoirs of Horne Tooke
used the word small-clothes is thus reprehended for it by the
indignant Censor.

“His breeches he calls small-clothes;—the first time we have seen

this bastard term, the offspring of gross ideas and disgusting
affectation in print, in any thing like a book. It is scandalous to see
men of education thus employing the most vulgar language, and
corrupting their native tongue by the introduction of illegitimate
words. But this is the age of affectation. Even our fishwomen and
milkmaids affect to blush at the only word which can express this
part of a man's dress, and lisp small-clothes with as many airs as a
would-be woman of fashion is accustomed to display. That this folly
is indebted for its birth to grossness of imagination in those who
evince it, will not admit of a doubt. From the same source arises the
ridiculous and too frequent use of a French word for a part of female
dress; as if the mere change of language could operate a change
either in the thing expressed, or in the idea annexed to the
expression! Surely, surely, English women, who are justly celebrated
for good sense and decorous manners, should rise superior to such
pityful, such paltry, such low-minded affectation.”

Here I must observe that one of these redoubtable critics is thought

to have a partiality for breeches of the Dutch make. It is said also
that he likes to cut them out for himself, and to have pockets of
capacious size, wide and deep; and a large fob, and a large
allowance of lining.

The Critic who so very much dislikes the word small-clothes, and
argues so vehemently in behalf of breeches, uses no doubt that
edition of the scriptures that is known by the name of the Breeches
Bible.1
1 The Bible here alluded to was the Genevan one, by Rowland Hall, A.D. 1560. It was
for many years the most popular one in England, and the notes were great favorites
with the religious public, insomuch so that they were attached to a copy of King
James' Translation as late as 1715. From the peculiar rendering of Genesis, iii. 7, the
Editions of this translation have been commonly known by the name of “Breeches
Bibles.”—See Cotton's Various Editions of the Bible, p. 14, and Ames and Herbert,
Ed. Dibdin, vol. iv. p. 410.

I ought to be grateful to the Anti-Jacobin Review. It assists in

teaching me my duty to my neighbour, and enabling me to live in
charity with all men. For I might perhaps think that nothing could be
so wrong-headed as Leigh Hunt, so wrong-hearted as Cobbett, so
foolish as one, so blackguard as the other, so impudently conceited
as both,—if it were not for the Anti-Jacobin. I might believe that
nothing could be so bad as the coarse, bloody and brutal spirit of the
vulgar Jacobin,—if it were not for the Anti-Jacobin.

Blessings on the man for his love of pure English! It is to be

expected that he will make great progress in it, through his familiarity
with fishwomen and milk-maids; for it implies no common degree of
familiarity with those interesting classes to talk to them about
breeches, and discover that they prefer to call them small-clothes.
But wherefore did he not instruct us by which monosyllable he would
express the female garment, “which is indeed the sister to a shirt,”—
as an old poet says, and which he hath left unnamed,—for there are
two by which it is denominated. Such a discussion would be worthy
both of his good sense, and his decorous stile.

For my part, instead of expelling the word chemise from use I would
have it fairly naturalized.

Many plans have been proposed for reducing our orthography to

some regular system, and improving our language in various ways.
Mr. Elphinstone, Mr. Pinkerton, and Mr. Spence, the founder of the
Spensean Philanthropists, have distinguished themselves in these
useful and patriotic projects, and Mr. Pytches is at present in like
manner laudably employed,—though that gentleman contents
himself with reforming what these bolder spirits would revolutionize. I
also would fain contribute to so desirable an end.

We agree that in spelling words it is proper to discard all reference to

their etymology. The political reformer would confine the attention of
the Government exclusively to what are called truly British objects;
and the philological reformers in like manner are desirous of
establishing a truly British language.

Upon this principle, I would anglicize the orthography of chemise;

and by improving upon the hint which the word would then offer in its
English appearance, we might introduce into our language a
distinction of genders—in which it has hitherto been defective. For
example,
 Hemise and Shemise.

Here without the use of an article, or any change of termination we

have the needful distinction made more perspicuously than by ó and
ń, hic and hæc, le and la, or other articles serving for no other
purpose.

Again. In letter-writing, every person knows that male and female

letters have a distinct sexual character, they should therefore be
generally distinguished thus,

Hepistle and Shepistle.

And as there is the same marked difference in the writing of the two
sexes I would propose

Penmanship and Penwomanship.

Erroneous opinions in religion being promulgated in this country by

women as well as men, the teachers of such false doctrines may be
divided into

Heresiarchs and Sheresiarchs,

so that we should speak of

the Heresy of the Quakers

the Sheresy of Joanna Southcote's people.

The troublesome affection of the diaphragm, which every person has

experienced, is upon the same principle to be called according to the
sex of the patient

Hecups or Shecups,

which upon the principle of making our language truly British is better
than the more classical form of

Hiccups and Hæccups.

In its objective use the word becomes

Hiscups or Hercups,

and in like manner Histerics should be altered into Herterics, the

complaint never being masculine.

So also instead of making such words as agreeable, comfortable,

&c. adjectives of one termination, I would propose,

Masculine agreabeau, Feminine agreabelle

comfortabeau comfortabelle
miserabeau miserabelle,
&c. &c.

These things are suggested as hints to Mr. Pytches, to be by him

perpended in his improvement of our Dictionary. I beg leave also to
point out for his critical notice the remarkable difference in the
meaning of the word misfortune, as applied to man, woman, or child:
a peculiarity for which perhaps no parallel is to be found in any other
language.

But to return from these philological speculations to the Anti-Jacobin

by whom we have been led to them, how is it that this critic, great
master as he is of the vulgar tongue, should affirm that breeches is
the only word by which this part of a man's dress can be expressed.
Had he forgotten that there was such a word as galligaskins?—to
say nothing of inexpressibles and dont-mention 'ems. Why also did
he forget pantaloons?—and thus the Chapter like a rondeau comes
round to St. Pantaleon with whom it began,

Sancte Pantaleon, ora pro nobis!

“Here is another Chapter without a heading,”—the Compositor would
have said when he came to this part of the Manuscript, if he had not
seen at a glance, that in my great consideration I had said it for him.

Yes, Mr. Compositor! Because of the matter whereon it has to treat,

we must, if you please, entitle this an

ARCH-CHAPTER.

A Frenchman once, who was not ashamed of appearing ignorant on

such a subject, asked another who with some reputation for classical
attainments had not the same rare virtue, what was the difference
between Dryads and Hamadryads; and the man of erudition gravely
replied that it was much the same as that between Bishops and
Archbishops.

I have dignified this Arch-Chapter in its designation, because it

relates to the King.

Dr. Gooch, you are hereby requested to order this book for his
Majesty's library,

C'est une rare pièce, et digne sur ma foi,

Qu'on en fasse présent au cabinet d'un roi.1

1 MOLIERE.

Dr. Gooch I have a great respect for you. At the time when there was
an intention of bringing a bill into Parliament for emancipating the
Plague from the Quarantine Laws, and allowing to the people of
Great Britain their long withheld right of having this disease as freely
as the small pox, measles and any other infectious malady, you
wrote a paper and published it in the Quarterly Review, against that
insane intention; proving its insanity so fully by matter of fact, and so
conclusively by force of reasoning, that your arguments carried
conviction with them, and put an end, for the time, to that part of the
emancipating and free trade system.

Dr. Gooch, you have also written a volume of medical treatises of

which I cannot speak more highly than by saying, sure I am that if
the excellent subject of these my reminiscences were living, he
would, for his admiration of those treatises have solicited the
pleasure and honour of your acquaintance.

Dr. Gooch, comply with this humble request of a sincere, though

unknown admirer, for the sake of your departed brother-in-physic,
who, like yourself, brought to the study of the healing art, a fertile
mind, a searching intellect and a benevolent heart. More, Dr. G. I
might say, and more I would say, but—

Should I say more, you well might censure me

(What yet I never was) a flatterer.2

2 BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER.

When the King (God bless his Majesty!) shall peruse this book and
be well-pleased therewith, if it should enter into his royal mind to call
for his Librarian, and ask of him what honour and dignity hath been
done to the author of it, for having delighted the heart of the King,
and of so many of his liege subjects, and you shall have replied unto
his Majesty, “there is nothing done for him;” then Dr. Gooch when the
King shall take it into consideration how to testify his satisfaction with
the book, and to manifest his bounty toward the author, you are
requested to bear in mind my thoughts upon this weighty matter, of
which I shall now proceed to put you in possession.

Should he generously think of conferring upon me the honour of

knighthood, or a baronetcy, or a peerage, (Lord Doncaster the title,)
or a step in the peerage, according to my station in life, of which you
Dr. Gooch can give him no information; or should he meditate the
institution of an Order of Merit for men of letters, with an intention of
nominating me among the original members, worthy as such
intentions would be of his royal goodness, I should nevertheless, for
reasons which it is not necessary to explain, deem it prudent to
decline any of these honours.

Far be it from me, Dr. Gooch, to wish that the royal apparel should
be brought which the King useth to wear, and the horse that the King
rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head; and that
this apparel and horse should be delivered to the hand of one of the
King's most noble princes, that he might array me withal; and bring
me on horseback through the streets of London, and proclaim before
me, thus shall it be done to the man whom the King delighteth to
honour! Such an exhibition would neither accord with this age, nor
with the manners of this nation, nor with my humility.

As little should I desire that his Majesty should give orders for me to
be clothed in purple, to drink in gold and to sleep upon gold, and to
ride in a chariot with bridles of gold, and to have an head-tire of fine
linen, and a chain about my neck, and to eat next the King, because
of my wisdom, and to be called the King's cousin. For purple
garments, Dr. Gooch are not among the propria quæ maribus in
England at this time; it is better to drink in glass than in gold, and to
sleep upon a feather bed than upon a golden one; the only head-tire
which I wear is my night-cap, I care not therefore for the fineness of
its materials; and I dislike for myself chains of any kind.

That his Majesty should think of sending for me to sit next him
because of my wisdom, is what he in his wisdom will not do, and
what, if he were to do, would not be agreeable to me, in mine. But
should the King desire to have me called his Cousin, accompanying
that of course with such an appanage as would be seemly for its
support, and should he notify that most gracious intention to you his
Librarian, and give order that it should be by you inserted in the
Gazette,—to the end that the secret which assuredly no sagacity can
divine, and no indiscretion will betray, should incontinently thereupon
be communicated through you to the royal ear; and that in future
editions of this work, the name of the thus honoured author should
appear with the illustrious designation, in golden letters of, “by
special command of his Majesty,
 COUSIN TO THE KING.”

A gracious mandate of this nature, Dr. Gooch, would require a

severe sacrifice from my loyal and dutiful obedience. Not that the
respectful deference which is due to the royal and noble house of
Gloucester should withhold me from accepting the proffered honour:
to that house it could be nothing derogatory; the value of their
consanguinity would rather be the more manifest, when the
designation alone, unaccompanied with rank, was thus rendered by
special command purely and singularly honourable. Still less should I
be influenced by any apprehension of being confounded in
cousinship with Olive, calling herself Princess of Cumberland.
Nevertheless let me say, Dr. Gooch, while I am free to say it,—while
I am treating of it paulo-post-futuratively, as of a possible case, not
as a question brought before me for my prompt and irrevocable
answer,—let me humbly say that I prefer the incognito even to this
title. It is not necessary, and would not be proper to enter into my
reasons for that preference; suffice it that it is my humour (speaking
be it observed respectfully, and using that word in its critical and finer
sense), that it is the idiosyncrasy of my disposition, the familiar way
in which it pleases me innocently to exercise my privilege of free will.
It is not a secret which every body knows, which nobody could help
knowing and which was the more notoriously known because of its
presumed secresy. Incognito I am and wish to be, and incognoscible
it is in my power to remain:

He deserves small trust,

Who is not privy councillor to himself,

but my secret, (being my own) is, like my life (if that were needed) at
the King's service, and at his alone;

Τοῖς κυρίοις γὰρ πάντα χρὴ δηλοῦν λόγον.3

3 SOPHOCLES.

Be pleased therefore Dr. Gooch, if his Majesty most graciously and

most considerately should ask, what may be done for the man (—
meaning me,—) whom the King delighteth to honour;—be pleased,
good Dr. Gooch, to represent that the allowance which is usually
granted to a retired Envoy, would content his wishes, make his
fortunes easy, and gladden his heart;—(Dr. Gooch you will forgive
the liberty thus taken with you!)—that “where the word of a King is,
there is power,”—that an ostensible reason for granting it may easily
be found, a sealed communication from the unknown being made
through your hands;—that many Envoys have not deserved it better,
and many secret services which have been as largely rewarded
have not afforded to the King so much satisfaction;—finally that this
instance of royal bounty will not have the effect of directing public
suspicion toward the object of that bounty, nor be likely to be barked
at by Joseph Hume, Colonel Davies, and Daniel Whittle Harvey!

CHAPTER CLXXXVIII.

FOLLY IN PRINT, REFERRED TO, BUT (N.B.) NOT EXEMPLIFIED. THE FAIR MAID
OF DONCASTER. DOUBTS CONCERNING THE AUTHENTICITY OF HER STORY.
THEVENARD, AND LOVE ON A NEW FOOTING. STARS AND GARTERS, A
MONITORY ANECDOTE FOR OUR SEX, AND A WHOLESOME NOVELTY IN
DRESS RECOMMENDED TO BOTH.

They be at hand, Sir, with stick and fiddle,

They can play a new dance, Sir, called hey, diddle, diddle.
KING CAMBYSES.