Solving sport’s wicked problems with design thinking

Next year, Afridun Amu hopes to represent Afghanistan in the Tokyo Olympic Games’ surfing competition. 

Amu is already the first person to compete for the landlocked, war-torn nation internationally in the sport and, in doing so, has overcome a unique set of challenges. It’s no surprise, then, that Amu is also a thought leader and coach in design thinking – a concept that enables individuals and organisations to approach complex (or ‘wicked’) problems with a different thought process to the traditional analytical or linear method of problem-solving.

To overcome wicked problems the emphasis needs to be on empathy and creativity. Empathy because the problem-solver has to get into the minds of the people they are solving the problem for. And creativity because the answer is unlikely to be fathomable using the traditional tools.

During this episode, Amu explains exactly what design thinking is (and what it’s not), and how the sports industry and other sectors can leverage this method to tackle some of the wicked problems they are facing. He describes in detail:

• What wicked problems are, and how they differ from basic problems
• Why design thinking is the best method to approach these types of challenges
• How individuals and organisations can shift their thinking, from linear and analytical to empathetic and design-oriented