Two inquiry-based approaches to sustainable value: Positive design and integrative thinking

Abstract

Because it involves the interests of multiple stakeholders, sustainable value is a “wicked problem” that evades definitive formulation and clear solutions. Traditional approaches to problem-solving emphasize formulation of the problem followed by analysis and solution development. However, these approaches are inadequate for solving such problems because of they are so difficult to define. Two ways of approaching wicked problems are discussed: positive design and integrative thinking. Both are more appropriate than linear “formulate-then-solve” approaches, because they emphasize careful reflection and framing, focus on understanding the system as a whole and the needs of its users, and learning. In design, the focus is on deeply understanding users and attempting trial solutions as a means of framing the problem; in integrative thinking, the focus is on exploring the problem by inquiring into the mental models of stakeholders. Tata Motors’ decision to locate its plant in West Bengal was a wicked problem that involved the interests of many stakeholders, and is presented to illustrate the two methods. The failure of this plant location project was extremely costly to Tata and to West Bengal, and it is argued that the decision process would have benefited from either positive design or integrative thinking.

Citation

Dunne, D. (2010), "Two inquiry-based approaches to sustainable value: Positive design and integrative thinking", Thatchenkery, T., Cooperrider, D.L. and Avital, M. (Ed.) Positive Design and Appreciative Construction: From Sustainable Development to Sustainable Value (Advances in Appreciative Inquiry, Vol. 3), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 195-214. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1475-9152(2010)0000003015