On dispute resolution clauses, and design thinking: part 5 of 6.¹

[Sales professionals, contract negotiators, and legal managers: this series is for you.]

In the last installment [https://lnkd.in/g9hUpWQH], we discussed some practical considerations when considering the contents of a dispute resolution clause.

In this installment, we will finally discuss design thinking.²

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So what is design thinking, anyway?

Since I am not a subject matter expert, I will leave it to folks like Francis Goh, CCXP, Digital Innovation. Delivered., Garrett Weiner, or Peter Connor to weigh in.

Or maybe we'll ask ChatGPT, who³ says:

"Design thinking is a human-centered approach to problem-solving that involves empathy, experimentation, and iteration. It is a mindset and a set of practices that help designers and non-designers alike to tackle complex problems and create innovative solutions. The process usually starts with understanding the needs and experiences of the people you're trying to design for, then rapidly prototyping and testing different ideas until arriving at a solution that meets their needs in a meaningful way.

Design thinking is often used in a variety of fields such as product design, user experience (UX) design, service design, and more. Its popularity has grown in recent years, partly because of its focus on the end-user, which can lead to more customer-friendly and successful products, services, and experiences."

(Pretty, pretty, pretty good.)⁴

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Ok, so now you're thinking: well and good, but I don't see how this is relevant to dispute resolution clauses and contracts!

Well, this is how I apply design thinking to my contracts-related work:

I ask questions.

Lots and lots of questions.

I ask even more questions about the answers I get.

I ask the folks I'm working with to ask more questions.

There are no stupid questions.

If a question makes me look stupid or unknowledgeable - I don't care.

And when the contract is being drafted, amended, or negotiated - it has to address these questions and answers, and the issues and concerns that they uncover.

And I do so because the process of questioning, and iterating, leads to better and more innovative solutions, beyond just the "usual" ways of doing things.

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In the next, and final⁵ installment, I will finally discuss how design thinking can be applied to dispute resolution clauses and contractual clauses in general, and how you can use design thinking to deal with your contracts more effectively.