Upstream: The Most Powerful Place to Create Change is Before the Problem is Defined

A reflection inspired by a conversation with Nathan Shedroff, founder of the Design MBA program at California College of the Arts, who joined my classroom as a guest lecturer.

Nearly 20 years ago, Nathan Shedroff founded the Design MBA program at CCA on a premise: "The future of design is business, and the future of business is sustainable business." What was a provocation then is an imperative now.

Nathan came into my Strategic Management: The Art of Decision Making course and expanded what my students thought was possible. We explored how strategy is formed, delivered, and evaluated — and he brought dimensions that sharpened the conversation considerably. Here are the key takeaways.

The diamond before the double diamond.

While the double-diamond framework is well known, Nathan reframed something we'd been exploring all semester: the diamond that precedes it — the one that determines whether the right problem is even being solved.

Many designers feel friction and frustration in their roles not because they lack skill, but because they're operating downstream of where their judgment is most needed. Getting upstream of problem definition isn't a soft skill. It's a strategic position.

Qualitative intelligence is a competitive moat.

In a business world dominated by metrics, the ability to extract meaning from messy human signals — what Nathan called being a "cognitive integrator" — is undervalued and undersupplied.

Numbers tell you what is happening. Human-centered inquiry tells you why people make the decisions they do. A product team, for example, can see in their data that users are dropping off at checkout, but it takes qualitative intelligence to surface that the real friction isn't the interface, it's that customers don't trust the return policy. That's where strategy actually lives, and it's a capability most organizations don't know they're missing until the gap is expensive.

My students heard this as validation. Their instinct toward qualitative research isn't a liability in a metrics-driven world. It's a differentiator.

Every spring when I teach this course, I leave with sharper questions about my own work in health innovation and venture building — and a deeper appreciation for the leaders I get to bring into the room.

If you're a founder, venture accelerator, or program leader wrestling with where design and strategy intersect, I'd love to make an introduction.