THE DESIGN THINKER PROFILE: CREATING AND VALIDATING A SCALE FOR MEASURING DESIGN THINKING CAPABILITIES DANI CHESSON A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Ph.D. in Leadership and Change Program of Antioch University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October, 2017 This is to certify that the Dissertation entitled: THE DESIGN THINKER PROFILE: CREATING AND VALIDATING A SCALE FOR MEASURING DESIGN THINKING CAPABILITIES prepared by Dani Chesson is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership and Change. Approved by: ______________________________________________________________________________ Mitchell Kusy, Ph.D., Chair date ______________________________________________________________________________ Carol Baron, Ph.D., Committee Member date ______________________________________________________________________________ Shannon Finn Connell, Ph.D., Committee Member date Copyright 2017 Dani Chesson All rights reserved Acknowledgements This study would not be possible without the generosity of the participants that gave their time. As I sat down to analyze your responses I was overwhelmed with your willingness to share your experiences. Your stories are a treasure and I am grateful for each of your contributions. I owe a great deal of gratitude to my late mother who nurtured my curiosity, encouraged me to keep reading, and taught me that education is an investment that will always pay off. For 27 years, I had the privilege of being your one and only daughter. While our time together was short the quality of your parenting is evident in all that I have done and will do. It is has been the privilege of a lifetime to have been educated at institutions that fostered my curiosity and to have been guided by educators that nurtured my potential. To the faculty at State University of New York Farmingdale, particularly, Dr. William Steedle—Thank you for creating a nurturing yet rigorous learning environment. My time at Farmingdale is a time of my life I remember fondly. My training as a designer has been the foundation for all of the learning that followed and for that I am grateful. To the faculty at the McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte – What a wonderful learning community you all have created! Thank you for introducing me to leadership and organization development literature, which sparked a passion in me for research. To Dr. John Bennett—Thank you for setting the bar high and never allowing me to pass along anything that was less than my best work. Working with you has been such a joy. To Dr. Karen Geiger—Thank you for all the long chats and for introducing me to the Antioch learning community. You guided me to a place where my curiosity and crazy ideas could grow. To Dr. Don Addison—Those long discussions to plan out my research path finally paid off. Thank you for all of your guidance, encouragement, and patience. To Dr. Laurien Alexandre and Dr. Al Guskin—I am grateful that you both had the courage to make the vision of the Antioch Ph.D. Program a reality. It is a privilege to be part of this learning community. To Dr. Tony Lingham—Thank you for helping me tap into my roots as a designer and encouraging me to follow my passion. To Dr. James Gaskin—Thank you for your generosity in sharing your knowledge of factor analysis. Statwiki and your how-to videos allowed me to develop a deeper understanding of my methodology. i How wonderful to have been guided by a dissertation committee that never let me lose sight of my potential. Thank you for being the dream team of dissertation committees. To Dr. Mitch Kusy my dissertation chair— From my admission interview to the last edits of my dissertation you have walked this journey with me. Thank you for your enthusiasm, encouragement, and most of all thanks for agreeing to worry a little extra so that I could focus my energies on my research. Working with you has been an absolute delight! To my methodologist Dr. Carol Baron—You have helped me to learn that my creative side and my analytical side can coexist. Thank you for instilling the love of research in me. To Dr. Shannon Connell—Your research was the catalyst that fueled my research. Thank you for pushing me to dig deeper and anchor my ideas. Most of all thank you for saying, “yes” to the complete stranger who invited you to join her committee. For all of my life I will remember those who took care of me during this long tiring journey of endurance. Thank you for worrying with me, hoping with me, and for cheering me on. I am lucky to have such a faithful tribe. To Cohort 13—Each of you has challenged my thinking and shown me a perspective of the world I would have never known had our paths never crossed. Thank you for expanding my view of the world. I would not have survived this journey without you. To Ashley Benson—Thank you for coming to the rescue the many times I needed you during data collection, I am forever grateful. To Dr. Leatrice Oram—An introvert and an extrovert walk into a Ph.D. program. One of them talked constantly and the other listened constantly. They discovered a shared love of wine and a friendship was born. Thank you for listening. And thank you for helping me see the world through the eyes of an introvert. Most of all thank you for creating a little space for me in your cocoon. To Maria Dezenberg—Through the fun time, the hard time, and the “what the heck is this” times you’ve been my friend, my confidant, and my sister. I am forever grateful to have you in my life. To Robin Duncan—Thank you for always knowing when I need taking care of and when I just need a good kick in the you-know-what. You are a wicked good friend. To Dr. Amy Climer—Thank you for sharing your work and being so generous with your time. I look forward to our continued collaborations. To my editor Dr. Norman Dale—Thank you for your patience and guidance in getting my dissertation in tip-top shape. To Nan and Brad Chesson—To the coolest in-laws a girl could ask for . thank you for the love, the support, the encouragement, and most of all thank you for Greg. ii To Dr. Charles Brent Chesson—Thank you for setting the bar high. I finally caught up to my favorite little brother. What will we do now that we are both not in school?! To my friend Bianca Harvey—From high school to Ph.D. and all the adventures in between, thank you for being my friend. Even though life continues to take us in different directions we will never be more than a text message a way. To my friend Amy Hillis—You have been a consistent presence through this journey, not ever complaining of my absence instead gently checking in, encouraging me to keep moving forward, and never being shy to tell me to put down the reading and pick up a glass of wine. To Redd and Chloe my beloved dachshunds without whom this journey would have been very lonely. Chloe—thank you for waking up with me at 4 am every morning and sitting with me while I worked. Redd—thank you for teaching me to never underestimate the underdog and for always reminding me to break for mealtime. To my husband Greg—Thank you for your unwavering belief that I can do anything. It had to be you, because only you have the right mix of courage and crazy to be on this grand adventure with me. This research would not be possible without your love, sacrifice, and support. I love you more than Redd loves cheese! To all the little ones, especially the two that I have been blessed to have in my life, Tallulah Grace Henning and Cooper William Hillis, may you always be courageous in pursuing your dreams. iii Dedication To the visionaries who commit their lives to the pursuit of knowledge and the advancement of humanity, I offer my deepest gratitude. To the visionaries of the past thank you for your work without which current research would not be possible. The visionaries of the present thank you for the camaraderie and may we stay strong for the work ahead. To the visionaries of the future keep going, don’t stop, the world needs you. iv Abstract This study developed a scale for assessing design thinking capabilities in individuals. Many organizations today are turning to design thinking to tackle the complex challenges they face. As organizations move toward adopting this way of working the need to develop design thinking capabilities in individuals becomes imperative. The capabilities needed for engaging in design thinking are skills that we all have to some varying degree, but we do not all use them to their full potential when solving problems. The scale developed in this study measures the degree to which an individual uses design thinking capabilities when engaged in problem solving. The research process involved a two-phase mixed methods design. In Phase 1, 536 individuals responded to an online survey. The data collected were analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. A new scale was developed that identified the three core capabilities needed to engage in design thinking: Solution Optimism, Visual Expression, and Collaborative Discovery. In Phase 2, 10 respondents from Phase 1 were selected to participate in follow-up interviews. Findings from the second phase of the study indicated the scale was perceived to accurately measure the use of design thinking capabilities in individuals when engaged in problem solving.