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Who are we doing "it" for, what do they really want, and what does good look like?My definition of de
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August 6 · Issue #36 · View online
Feeding the Passion for Transformation: Be it Talent, Culture, Work or HR
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Who are we doing “it” for, what do they really want, and what does good look like? My definition of design thinking in a nutshell. Design thinking has been long considered to be at the cross-roads of innovation around desirability for people, technical feasibility, and vitality for business. Or as Andrew Razeghi recommends: “try to solve a problem instead of trying to innovate.” Generally, design thinking is an approach that encourages organizations to focus on the people they’re creating XYZ for - which in turn, is meant to guide better products, services, and processes. Over the past 50 odd years, via iterations in cognitive science, furniture design, architecture, anthropology, sustainability to software - these three simple questions of “who is it for”, “what do they really want” and “what does good look like?”- have led to great leaps in the three key areas of innovation. Respectively, when these three simple questions were not asked, innovations tended to flop.
Why? Because this design process helps create focus around real pressing needs to help “solve the problems right in front of our noses” by viewing the issues at hand via the glasses of the ones most effected by the challenges. Thus, the design-thinking methodology has led to many in-vitro observations, customer interviews and Post-It splattered workshop walls. More recently though, design thinking has been reduced to an essential Fix-For-All tool-kit via design canvases, personas, customer experience journeys, to generate a quick output based on assumptions one has about a particular users needs rather than gaining an actual real understanding of those needs. In other words: talking about customers - not actually to them. Another problematic development has been designing around current individual symptoms or irritations - rather than what might be most helpful for achieving a particular end-in-mind on a broader issue or challenge. Which means we miss out on what good really can look like. So, like my friend, Mike Hruska says “If we want to do things differently, we need to start thinking differently.” Which is why I want to bring the focus back on the principles of design-thinking and how they can really support the learning and understanding necessary to build better organizations/products/services and outcomes. |
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Don't just throw ideas at a wall - figure out what makes them actually stick!
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MC Kinsey Podcast & Which 50 Podcasts: The power of design-thinking
An interview with the authors, Jennifer Kilian and Hugo Sarrazin, of the McKinsey research around Building a Design-driven culture. They dive into the four elements of a design driven culture: really understanding the customer, bringing empathy to the organization, designing in real-time and acting quickly. This interview can be helpful to guide the discussion on the why’s to the how’s. An additional (perhaps ironic) viewpoint from Editor in Chief Andrew Birmingham talks with Michael Buckley, managing director of Accenture Interactive, and Joe Cincotta managing director of Thinking Group, to discuss design thinking and why it may be key to organizational realignment on the Which 50 podcast. |
Design thinking origin story plus some of the people who made it all happen - Jo Szczepanska
Wowzers - if you want the background on Design thinking in a timeline with origins, history, key players and what-not, this is the go-to article. A very insightful handbook that is a good foundation before starting on the path down into design-thinking.
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The Designer Who Changed Airbnb's Entire Strategy - Interview with Rebecca Sinclair
Snow White and Business Strategy? You better believe it. This is an insight look at how Airbnb used design thinking at all levels of the organization to disrupt itself, expand its product offering and to better ensure a more lasting product-market fit. What is the principle at the core? The human moments that matter.
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Designing Good Digital Innovation - Dr. Steffen Walz
Why should we embrace designing good digital innovation for the networked society? This essay is a plea to stop thinking about digital design only technically - and instead to revert back to the human-centric foundations and consider beyond tech in “light of the unexpected convergences the digital transformation causes and will cause, where boundaries are blurring between hitherto separate lifestyles, industries and media.” My friend Prof. Walz is an active gestalter of co-creation in practice. (How? See here). |
Designing equality How design thinking can help tackle gender bias in the workplace
To the point of design-thinking beyond technology. This article examines how elements of design thinking can be and have been used in three key areas of female advancement: hiring, retention, and leadership. The intention: address implicit bias more head-on. The article ends with 5 simple but important recommendations for leaders.
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Future-Proofing: Towards Giant Steps For Learning Innovation - Mike Hruska & Daniel McCoy
“What will it look like to thrive in rapid change and ultimately drive it, not just survive it?” Truly to thrive - not only survive? My friend, fellow iVentiv alumni, technologist and learning rogue, Mike Hruska and Daniel McCoy take to the floor traditional learning approaches to highlight how to think differently in adaptive learning fosters successful innovation and practice. (Side note: I cheered loudly on a plane whilst reading the 10 adaptive learning organizational guiding principles. My neighbour was startled - but once you read through, I am sure you will cheer too!) |
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Putting the customer at the center of innovation and demanding broader involvement into solution generation are not only the new reality - this is where the new opportunities and potential to learn, transform and grow truly lie. Which is in a word: awesome. A special shout of of appreciation for the great case-study talks over the past couple of weeks to Derek Whiteside, Director of Mobile & Web for Oregon State University, Adam Menter, Sr. Business Architect at Autodesk, Mandy Chooi, HR consultant and faculty at THNK School of Creative Leadership, Linda Hahner, founder Out of the Blue design, and, of course, Mike Hruska, CEO Problem Solutions. You guys are the magic changing the world! Is design-doing up your alley and you want to have a deeper discussion on how it can work for you and your organization? I would love to dive in with you to see where I can best support you! Until next time - all of my very best regards, Liz
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Elizabeth Lembke, Transforming Talent Consulting: www.transformingtalent.co and www.transformingtalent.de
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