Mauro Porcini

On the other side, though, we have this instinct to protect the status quo because it's linked to our instinct to be safe.

So every time there is change...

Change is inevitable, but we resist to change as human beings because, again, it's a form of self-defense.

It's a paradox because the best self-defense is actually to change and evolve and adapt.

So we live in this paradox.

So these fears that humans, designers, had for technology are perfectly humans, once again.

They are part of our nature.

We need to learn, I think, as innovators to embrace change, to embrace changes in technology, in the world around us, and see them as incredible opportunities.

And this is really, really important if we want to innovate in the best possible way.

Several years ago in the Harvard Business Review, you stated that design and innovation are exactly the same thing.

Do you still feel that way?

I profoundly believe that design and innovation are the same thing.

You know, designers start always in the same way, understanding people, their needs, their wants, their dreams, and then creating a solution for those needs and those wants.

The solution is innovative by definition because it changes the status quo.

It modifies something that was already existing and evolving into something different or eventually creates something from scratch that didn't exist before.

So by definition, an act of design is an act of innovation.

There is no design without innovation.

You argue that human-centered innovation is not optional.

It is the only sustainable competitive advantage in a world where barriers to entry have collapsed.

Is human-centered design now less about philosophy and more about survival?