Dealing with design Challenges

When I think back to my childhood, I can see how significant it was in the development of my beliefs and principles as a designer. My experience of growing up on a small farm in Suffolk taught me the benefits of hard work and resourcefulness. Farming is a 24/7 profession that must react and adapt to the seasons and weather. Things happen that are out of your control, but you take responsibility, find solutions and deal with them. You don’t have a choice. I find design and construction similar; challenges are inevitable but it’s how you deal with them that defines the success of a project.

3 ways people react when projects throw up inevitable challenges

When I’m part of a large hotel or retail project team, it always fascinates me how people react when an inevitable problem arises. Broadly speaking, it seems to split into three camps – the ‘it’s not our fault, you fix it’; ‘it’s not our fault, but we’ll help you think of a solution’ and ‘okay, we have a problem, let’s all roll-up our sleeves and solve it’. Needless to say, it’s the people in camp three that I most closely align with and it’s those people that I most respect and enjoy working with. 

Human nature, team dynamics and organisational culture determine attitudes to challenge

But why are some project challenges met with such resistance? Much of the answer is found in human nature, but there is a significant proportion of ‘not my fault’ that comes down to team dynamics and culture. On a project team, there are representatives from multiple organisations, each of which have their own organisational directive. If their company culture fosters blame and punishment, it’s difficult for the representative to actively take responsibility for their part in a problem or challenge. Problems also arise in larger teams when people think ‘someone else will do that’, which comes down to poorly defined roles and expectations at the beginning of a project.

Creative problem solving can happen in a safe and supportive environment

There’s a lot that can be done to promote an atmosphere of openness and collaboration within a project team. When people feel safe, supported and genuinely part of something bigger, they’re much more likely to step up when things get tough. It's the ‘let’s solve it together’ culture that I encourage everyone at Sibley Grove to embrace – I want the team to thrive on the challenges that a project can throw up and use them as a way of deepening creative problem solving and collaboration. It’s these life skills that help us to bring circular design principles to life. When a client has a very specific desire, how can we make that happen whilst being true to our design principles. It’s sometimes a challenge, but one the team and I approach with relish – some of our best design work is born out of solving a ‘problem’.

Good design is about the process, not just the outcome

At Sibley Grove, we encourage a spirit of collaboration not only in the Studio and with our peers, but with our clients too. A designer’s role is not to impose upon a project, but to guide and help someone realise their own creative vision. Encouraging meaningful dialogue and really listening to a client’s wants and needs fosters in instinctive level of trust; I get to share my expertise as part of a collaborative and iterative journey together. Since the early days as a design student at Goldsmith’s, I’ve held true to mantra that good design is about the process, not the outcome. If the process is open, respectful, creative and collaborative, the outcome will inevitably take care of itself and most likely be one that satisfies everyone.

How do we solve this and how do we learn from it - fostering a ‘growth mindset’

I haven’t yet worked on a large-scale hotel or retail project that hasn’t thrown up unexpected problems. If we approach design and construction projects with the mindset that something will inevitably go wrong, I think we can create much more resilient and collaborative project teams, that will ultimately work together to get the issue resolved and the job done without anyone feeling a sense of personal failing. It’s this culture of ‘growth mindset’ or ‘how do we solve this and how do we learn from this’ that promotes an environment of creative collaboration that inevitably leads to better results.