Designing for self-leadership

This paper argues generative tools can be used not only as ‘a language for co-creation aimed at the collective creativity’ as stated by pioneer E.B. Sanders (2000), but as ‘a visual making-language for self-dialogue and value clarification’, paving the way to self-leadership. In a Danish bank this ‘making-language’, was offered banking customers, who wanted to change their ‘money-behaviour’. They created visual ‘hand-made’ strategies which proved to be strongly self-persuasive: six weeks later the participants had changed their behaviour - and in accordance with their new strategies. Additionally they stated they felt increasingly empowered by taking action and leadership. Designing for self-leadership meet with an increasing need for identifying our values and ‘voices’ and becoming self-leading (Covey, 2005, Drucker, 2000). This need aligns with the recent discovery within cognition and neuro-science, that we actually can change inappro-priate thinking patterns and habitual ways of acting (Manz & Neck, 1992, 1999, Seligman, 1998, Damasio, 1999, Pinker, 1999). Designing is paving the way.