Design Thinking and Salsa Dancing at Stanford

Design Thinking and Salsa Dancing at Stanford University

PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA – Ballroom dancing is space planning for two, set to music. There are moments where that challenge can make even the most accomplished people uncomfortable… and that was exactly the idea.

Kathryn Segovia teaches in the Stanford University d.Leadership program and needed something both fun and jarring for her students. “We wanted our students to become more comfortable guiding others through discomfort and risk taking.”

That risk came in the form of salsa lessons from Arthur Murray.

Alex Doan, Arthur Murray Redwood City Supervisor, and Christie Thompson, Arthur Murray Live Training Manager, met with Segovia for their special dance lesson assignment. Their job was to take these d.school students out of their comfort zones, and into a new learning environment.

With the mutlitasking, creativity, and many communication parallels of salsa dancing, this surprise visit from Alex and Christie fit the culture of the d.school community. “Our highly immersive program starts with creative transdisciplinary individuals, and adds unique design methodologies, a hands-on approach, a depth in design thinking, and a rigorous approach to problem solving to produce extraordinary results” according to the school’s website.

“Christie and Alex were wonderful instructors and helped us complete our mission of putting our innovation leadership students in a posture of experiential learning” says Segovia. “This was truly an experience we couldn’t have delivered as a teaching team without help from Arthur Murray and their great team.” For more on this topic, check out Katia Kanevskaya: Arthur Murray Consultant. You might also enjoy Dance At Any Age.

Exploring Stanford’s d.Leadership Program

Stanford University�s d.School, founded in 2007, is the premier global institute teaching design thinking, a collaborative, human-driven approach to solving messy problems. In a time when there is hunger for innovation everywhere, we think our primary responsibility is to help prepare a generation of innovators to rise with the challenges of our times. The d.Leadership course at Stanford University�s d.School exists to partner cream of the crop Stanford graduate students trained in design thinking methodologies (or, as we call them, �d.leaders�) with project teams tackling sticky challenges across a diverse spectrum of organizational contexts.

Final Thought

Learning how to lead and follow in partner dancing can be risky. Walking into a dance studio can have all the calming properties of singing karaoke, or presenting a proposal to a group of investors. Creating change in an organization can be just as challenging.

The reality is that the excitement, anxiety, and heart palpitations are good for you.

Confidence on the dance floor can’t build, unless you challenge it. The d.Leadership team embodies that philosophy whole heartedly. You can’t change the status quo if you stay comfortable.

So, whether your goal is to create a global conservation initiative, or to change your own social growth strategy – let’s take a page out of the d.Leadership school, cue the music, and be willing to get a little uncomfortable.

Click here for more information on the Stanford University d.School Program

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