This paper describes a Social Entrepreneurship course taught during the Fall 2014 semester at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). With most of its students identifying as either business or design majors, the course evolved into a truly transdisciplinary course. The students, both undergraduates and graduates, worked closely with one another throughout the entire semester, sharing knowledge and building solutions together to address societal problems. The educational outcomes were extremely favorable and, in some ways, surprising. While the instructor encouraged collaboration and peer learning, the extent to which students learned from one another was unanticipated. Design and business students alike gained a deep understanding of design thinking and its relationship to social entrepreneurship by sharing their perspectives both inside and outside of the physical classroom. Furthermore, their interest in extrapolating the benefits of design methods to scenarios beyond social entrepreneurship was also impressive.

Horst Rittel coined the term “wicked problems” in the 1970s to describe the complex problems associated with open societal systems. “The problems of governmental planning—and especially those of social or policy planning—are ill-defined; and they rely upon elusive political judgment for resolution” (1973). While wicked problems are by definition unique, they all share common characteristics. For instance, they are difficult to formulate, open to interpretation, and symptomatic of other problems. Furthermore, their solutions are never right or wrong, but rather better or worse (1973). They are also often “triggered by structures of social injustice, inequity and violence” (Ritchey 2011). And as such, Rittel argues that it is morally objectionable for a planner to deny the inherent wickedness of social problems or to treat wicked problems as though they were tame (1973).

Due to the interconnectedness of societal systems however, wicked problems are not reserved for governmental planners. Since commerce impacts society, businesses also continually face wicked problems. But how can businesses and their employees, untrained in and often unaware of the complexities of social issues deal with them responsibly? Design has been lauded as a panacea in addressing all types of problems. The business press, including Harvard Business Publishing, Fast Company, Bloomberg, and The Economist, has fueled this interest in design with books and articles teaching businesses how to use design to innovate and compete.

But as Bruce Nussbaum argues, standardizing the design process has supported the widespread adoption of design thinking and diluted its impact (2011). Indeed, design thinking is typically taught to business professionals in a simplistic and linear manner. The complexity of interrelated systems and social constructs is rarely highlighted in design thinking workshops and classes. And without confronting the inherently unpredictable nature of design and the undeniable need for broad stakeholder input, students and other participants are unfortunately unable to fully understand and appreciate design’s full potential.

Teaching design methods within the context of Social Entrepreneurship however, provides tremendous opportunity to teach design thinking more effectively. Actively engaging with design methodologies to tackle complex social issues provides a firsthand experience that fosters a deep appreciation of the power of a design-oriented approach to problem solving. Such experiences are not only missing from typical corporate design thinking workshops, but also traditional academic environments.