Dr. Bernard Roth: The Heart of the Stanford d.school
Dr. Bernard Roth is the current academic director and one of the founders of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University (colloquially know as the d.school). Roth and his fellow colleagues were inspired by their observations in the changing design field, and wanted to create a sector that encompassed more than simply engineering and other typical design fields; they wanted design to be a discipline open to all, not just a highly specialized field.
Dr. Roth explains the theories and definitions behind design thinking as is different from traditional problem solving techniques in that “it’s not something you should memorize.” He describes it as not being structured in any form, nor having an exact definition, and instead as “amorphous and different.” The main principles are to not “sit around,” but to “just do it.” According to Dr. Roth, it is paramount to understand that “failing is okay, [as] we learn from it” just as we “learn from doing.” This type of thinking is a radical collaboration of expertise from different disciplines, constantly asking its thinkers to utilize empathy to generate solutions to the most complex problems in the world; it is an ever-developing relationship between technology, business, and human values. It is a ‘show don’t tell process’ where one is encouraged to express one’s ideas, and, as Dr. Roth says, “make something concrete, not abstract.” Design thinking is a process that is under constant development, and year-to-year the field grows.
At the core of the d.school and the concept of design thinking as a whole is how individuals function on every level. Dr. Roth had been teaching courses about people’s relationships with themselves and their life for years, and decided to put his teaching into writing. Roth “had a sabbatical and put what [he] was teaching into a book” called The Achievement Habit: Stop Wishing, Start Doing, and Take Command of Your Life. This book further highlights the relevance of design thinking in every individual’s day-to-day life, and how it can be implemented to promote achievement as a habit.
In the process of creating the d.school, certain disagreements erupted that left scars. If Dr. Roth had the chance to change something in the early days, he says he would want to rectify these disagreements instead of leaving them as blemishes on the school’s foundation: “[I would] be more concerned about people getting along.” This truly showcases Dr. Roth’s exemplary kind nature, as once more displayed is his statement that despite his other, obviously grand accomplishments, he considers his greatest accomplishments to be his good relationships with family, friends, and students.
What is perhaps the most refreshing thing to note about Dr. Roth is that he does not want to be remembered in a hundred years from now, claiming in fact just the opposite: “I probably want to be forgotten in a hundred years from now.” Dr. Roth believes that if he was to be remembered, people would not be doing what they should be, and what is at the heart of the d.school; innovating and creating.