This thesis explores the friction between strategic design and business contexts. This friction has been experienced by the author and later echoed by many other designers in interviews and conversations. While organizations increasingly recognize the need for creative approaches to tackle complex challenges, the integration of strategic design remains difficult in practice. To better understand this phenomenon, two research questions were posed: RQ 1: Why does strategic design often struggle to become integrated in organizations? And RQ 2: What can be done to make strategic design work within organizational realities?

To answer these questions, the thesis combined a literature review, a qualitative research approach, and a design intervention. The literature review revealed that strategic designers operates through a distinct reasoning style: the abduction-2 logic. This allows designers to reframe problems and navigate complex, ‘wicked’ problems. This way of thinking can expand the problem-solving arsenal of organizations. However, models such as the CK-theory and the IDER model highlight that innovation can not be embedded unless an organizational context itself evolves. This insight reframes the role of the strategic designer: not as someone who brings the innovation, but as the innovation itself.

The interviews revealed that designers often struggle to position themselves within rigid structures and face misconceptions about the nature and value of their work. Four recurring tensions were identified: rigidity vs. flexibility, misunderstood vs. recognized, evidence vs. intuition, and exclusive vs. inclusive. Each was linked to an underlying value, trust, respect, empathy, and equality, which form the foundation for successful collaboration between design and business.

Based on these insights, a design intervention was developed: an interactive workshop with provotypes, designed to trigger reflection and dialogue at a strategic level. The goal was not to transfer knowledge, but to create space for mutual understanding, reflection and reframing. Two validation sessions showed that the workshop evoked rich and reflective conversations, but also revealed a lack of shared understanding of strategic design. As a result, the concept was redesigned into a three-part workshop series: starting with building shared understanding, followed by reflection through provotypes, and ending with translating insights into action.

This thesis contributes to the field by repositioning the designer as an additional strategic force: the innovation itself. It also emphasizes the importance of organizational readiness. Practically, it offers a tool for strategic designers and business professionals to meet as equals. Ultimately, making strategic design work means looking beyond tools or roles, and focusing instead on openness, shared values, the co-creation new ways of working.