Contrasting Design Thinking and True Innovation: A Study of Eastern Innovation in the Age of AI
Introduction.
The rapid development of AI technology is bringing about major changes in our society and the way we work. Traditional innovation creation methods are facing new challenges in the AI age, and their effectiveness is being reevaluated. At the same time, the AI era demands more essential innovation that leverages the inherent abilities and sensitivities of humans.
This report compares and analyzes Design Thinking and enmono’s True Innovation from the perspective of “required capabilities” in the age of AI, and clarifies their respective characteristics and differences. In particular, we will focus on the oriental source of innovation possessed by True Innovation and discuss its effectiveness in the age of AI, in order to explore how to utilize it for more effective innovation creation.
Overview of Design Thinking and True Innovation
Design thinking
Design Thinking is a method that applies the thinking process used by designers in the process of design to problem solving and innovation creation 1. It is characterized by a user-centered approach and aims to create products and services that satisfy user needs by repeating the process of empathy, problem definition, idea generation, prototyping, and verification 2. It has been systematized by IDEO and others, and is being introduced by companies and educational institutions around the world 1.
True innovation
True Innovation is a method of innovation advocated by enmono, Inc. that aims to help individuals discover what they truly want to do through thorough self-disclosure and in-depth dialogue, and then turn this into a business reality 3. It is characterized by workshops that incorporate mindfulness meditation and dialogue in a psychologically safe environment to draw out participants’ potential and promote the creation of innovation 3. enmono offers this method in a seminar called “zenschool” to develop innovative human resources 5.
Skills Needed in the AI Era
As AI permeates society, human jobs are expected to change dramatically. Since AI is particularly good at “jobs with correct answers” and “processing large amounts of data,” many tasks traditionally performed by humans may be replaced by AI 6.
Under these circumstances, what is required of humans are abilities that cannot be replaced by AI. Specifically, these abilities include the following
● The ability to feel: the ability to sharpen one’s senses and understand human emotions and needs that cannot be captured by AI.
● Ability to ask questions: the ability to deeply observe a situation and discover the essential issues.
● Involvement: The ability to share an awareness of a problem, involve others through empathy and cooperation, and encourage action.
Eastern Thought and Innovation
True Innovation is strongly influenced by Eastern thought, including mindfulness meditation 3. Eastern thought has long emphasized states of mind and inner growth, and the idea that deepening self-awareness and enhancing intuition can lead to new ideas and creativity 8.
In the age of AI, this Eastern approach will play an important role in innovation creation. AI excels at logical thinking and data analysis, but is not good at human sensibilities, emotions, and intuition. Therefore, by exploring one’s own inner self and adjusting one’s state of mind based on Eastern thought, it is possible to nurture human-like ideas and creativity that cannot be created by AI.
True Innovation superimposes the transformation of the innovator’s mind on the process of the Ten Ox-Herding pictures, which has a tradition of more than 800 years, and uses it as a reference for the process of creating innovation.
Skills Needed in the AI Era
As AI permeates society, human jobs are expected to change dramatically. Since AI is particularly good at “jobs with correct answers” and “processing large amounts of data,” many tasks traditionally performed by humans may be replaced by AI.
Under these circumstances, what is required of humans are abilities that cannot be replaced by AI. Specifically, the following abilities are required.
● The ability to feel: the ability to sharpen one’s senses and understand human emotions and needs that cannot be captured by AI.
● Ability to formulate questions: the ability to observe a situation in depth and discover the essential issues.
● Involvement: The ability to share an awareness of a problem, involve others through empathy and cooperation, and encourage action.
When AI is introduced, first of all, “Work that has the right answers” will be easier to delegate to AI, and tasks that utilize memory and rational thinking skills will be in large supply.
In addition, the “The power of creation” such as creating and designing will also become a field in which AI excels, and the unique creation that humans have been responsible for will become relatively saturated.
When this happens, the paradox is that even our cherished humanistic creations are about to lose their scarcity.
What this diagram emphasizes, however, is that beyond that, the “The ability of sensing” and “Ability of raising a question” will become the new bottlenecks in the AI age. These have been important to the East in the past,
The ability to sharpen one’s sensitivity, discover problems that no one has yet noticed, and ask the right questions — this ability cannot be easily replaced by AI. This is why the “The ability of sensing” and “Ability of raising a question” are becoming rarer and more valuable in the world.
It is also important to share these questions and issues with many people, to think together, and to have the “The power of engaging” them in action. This is supported by mindfulness and the concept of network weaving, which brings people together, and through which we can move people’s hearts and build new cooperative relationships.
And jobs that can demonstrate these scarce abilities will easily increase in unit price from the perspective of supply and demand balance. In other words, the more AI takes on jobs with correct answers and more creation, the more “The ability of sensing,” “Ability of raising a question,” and “The power of engaging” will become more valuable jobs in society.
Comparison of both methods
Features of True Innovation
enmono’s True Innovation differs from traditional design thinking in the following ways
● Eastern Philosophy: Eastern philosophy, such as zazen and mindfulness, emphasizes the idea that better ideas can be generated through a state of mind 3.
● Self-disclosure: Through thorough self-disclosure, we aim to ensure psychological safety and promote free thinking and deep dialogue to generate truly innovative ideas 6.
● Utilization of Potential: We seek to create innovation by drawing out and maximizing the potential of individuals. 4.
Advantages and disadvantages of each
Design thinking
● Advantages: Higher likelihood of capturing user needs and developing products and services with high customer satisfaction 7.
● Disadvantages: may only identify superficial needs, and may not lead to real innovation 8; may be too process oriented, and may limit ideas 9.
True innovation
● Benefit: May generate more creative ideas by unlocking individual potential and motivating them 4.
● Disadvantages: Cost-effectiveness is unclear, making it difficult to implement in organizations. In addition, effectiveness may vary because it depends on the internal aspects of the individual.
Design Thinking and True Innovation in the AI Age
Design thinking
Design thinking is related to “the ability to feel” in that it emphasizes empathy for the user. In the age of AI, however, it is more important to dig deeper into user needs. Since AI makes it easy to analyze superficial needs, design thinking needs to focus on latent needs and emotions that AI cannot capture.
True innovation
True Innovation emphasizes the discovery of “what you truly want to do” through self-disclosure and dialogue. This is an effective approach for nurturing the “ability to feel,” “ability to ask questions,” and “ability to get involved,” all of which are important in the age of AI. In particular, mindfulness meditation is expected to deepen self-awareness and sharpen sensitivity. In addition, deep dialogue that ensures psychological safety is important for generating new questions and fostering empathy. Furthermore, True Innovation, which has its origins in Eastern thought, has the potential to promote inner human growth and true innovation in the age of AI.
Examples of innovation created by graduates of ‘zenschool’, which is run based on true innovation
Flying car SKYDRIVE
SKYDRIVE
Interview article about SKYDRIVE
‘Passionate about developing a flying car to provide dreams for the next generation through mobility’ Mr. Tomohiro Fukuzawa, SkyDrive Inc.
Lunar rover YAOKI
YAOKI
Interview article about YAOKI
‘The engineer who built a lunar rover on his own and was selected for a NASA project’ Shinichiro Nakajima, Daimon Co.
Conclusion.
In the age of AI, the ability to feel, ask questions, and involve others, which only humans possess, will become important. Design Thinking and True Innovation can contribute to nurturing these abilities through different approaches.
Design Thinking and True Innovation are both different approaches to innovation creation. Design Thinking is effective in developing products and services that focus on customer needs, while True Innovation is expected to draw out the potential of individuals and promote organizational culture change.
Neither approach is superior to the other, and it is important to understand the characteristics of each and use them appropriately according to your objectives.
● Design Thinking: To promote the development of products and services for the AI age by strengthening “the ability to feel” from a user-centered perspective.
● True Innovation: Develop innovative human resources who can survive in the age of AI by comprehensively developing the “ability to feel,” “ability to ask questions,” and “ability to get involved” through an emphasis on self-realization.
Works cited
1. why design thinking mass-produces garbage ideas｜Sakakibara K. — note, accessed January 24, 2025, https://note.com/studies_ceo/n/nd3c499f24052
2. What is Design Thinking? The benefits it brings to business and the thinking process｜Globis Career Notes, accessed January 24, 2025, https://mba.globis.ac.jp/careernote/1534.html
3. true innovation | ZENschool — Meditation …. , accessed January 24, 2025, https://www.zenschool.jp/trueinnovation
4. enmono ｜Our products Seminars are held at ZENschool in Kamakura｜Business realization from various types of work based on True Innovation Theory with the application of mindfulness, accessed January 24, 2025, https://www.zenschool.jp/enmono
5. exploring the reasons for design thinking criticism | Fmoon — note, accessed January 24, 2025, https://note.com/fmoon/n/na05050c7c5d6
6. what kind of human resources are needed in the age of AI? Reasons for the spread of Artificial Intelligence and the abilities needed explained — Fortuna, accessed January 28, 2025, https://fortna.co.jp/ventures/ai-era-skills-required/
7.[2025] What Talent is Needed in the AI Era? A detailed explanation of how to survive, accessed January 28, 2025, https://ai-kenkyujo.com/news/ai-jidai-jinzai/
8. “Upgrading Western Mindfulness by Fusing It with Eastern Wisdom at the Source,” Professor Stephen Murphy Shigematsu, Stanford University (conversation, June 26, 2018) — note, accessed January 28, 2025, https://note.com/zenschool/ n/n48108d6250f6
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