Design & The Culture Of Growth

The term design can evoke many things, often evolving with the shifting cultural, social and economic landscapes. Vishal Kapoor takes us through some interesting perspectives on how design, culture, mindset, lifestyle and other aspects intersect to redefine outcomes and enable growth in the context of an experience driven economy.

- Vishal Kapoor

Culture - a derivation of the Latin word ‘colere’, a word that connotes ‘nurture’, which in itself signifies growth and change. In it, is an amalgamation of various aspects including tacit wisdom, knowledge, art, beliefs, etc. These rituals eventually become our way of life, making us a part of a larger group of similar belief systems, which we call communities. Each of these rituals has a certain way of thought, planning, and execution with a purpose.

A similar scenario is reflected when we define the organization. An organization is a social unit of people that is designed and managed to meet a need or pursue collective goals – a definition in the dictionary. Now this group of people coming together for a common goal with different behavioral, social, ideological and economic backgrounds would need to be integrated into a common notion of forwarding movement. This collective harmonious gravitation towards growth is what I would call Designed Systems.

So to begin with ‘organizations’ are possibly one of the first examples of formal design outcome. By design, I mean not just the way it looks, but more importantly, the way it works and how one differs from the other. Some organizations are bureaucratic and hierarchy driven, while some are nimble, a few others are chaotic and still, others strive for military-like precision. I am not in a position of judgment to state which is good or bad, as each of them would need something best suited to their context.

This context is where the word culture, both in the organizations’ performing markets as well as within their internal systems, would need to be aligned seamlessly. This alignment of context is my notion of Culture Design, In fact, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that design designs culture.

Design coming full circle