who leads design?

Is it possible to pinpoint who or what leads design? Designers are inspired by what is going on around them, it is these surroundings that lead design choices. The discovery of a new material may inspire a slew of designs that use this material. Design in colonial times was inspired by a desire to establish themselves as a respected and powerful. Design can be lead by the desire to create something new and unseen. Design is lead by a complicated and intertwined chain of events. Events that at first glance may seem un related to design, when in actuality that play a large role in design development. Like the intertwining shapes and colors of the mosaic below, factors that lead design are complicated and it is difficult to dissect exactly where a design began.