The world is changing, and so are the demands on the Design industry, on businesses, and society as a whole. Design fundamentally, is about change as it responds to the external environment to identify opportunities to create new design activities and outcomes. Consequently, Design (in theory and practice) tends to elevate its role as a catalyst for change, influencing strategic decisions, producing clear visions, shared beliefs, and values, and the models, methods and tools to innovate with an emphasis on a systemic, whole-system interpretation of sustainable development. Why is it that Design professionals and Design academics don’t exchange on their knowledge for a common good? In this paper, therefore, a central objective is to build an argument for why the value of Design in business, and its economics thinking and approach in management, needs a common purpose systems view to tackle this century’s technological, ethical, social and ecological challenges. In the end Design is seen as complex, while the designers advocate for specific capabilities to innovate by making things simple and better. To achieve a common ground, we refer to Donella Meadows’ definition of a system and to the literature on the Design industry. We use her model to draw a simple form that brings together all parts of design activity, practice or theory in order to develop a collective vision and help the understanding of the Design industry’s purpose, ethics, and responsibility for a life-centred future.

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