design thinking
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WHAT’S WITH THE “+ ” SIGN?
The practice of design thinking is a systematic approach to innovation: aka the creation of new value. It’s only one of the approaches I use to help organizations unlock their creative courage and develop an associative and experimental mindset that instills a culture of innovation.
While my work begins with the principles of design thinking – primarily the ability to empathize with all stakeholders – I have found that being able to draw upon tools and methods from agile and lean, systems thinking, the arts, anthropology and psychology, education and parenting, business strategy, sustainable management, and health and wellness helps move design thinking to design doing. Design doing turns ideas into tangible and relevant innovations. My role as a designer, facilitator and strategist is to orchestrate and enable this process of innovation, however it is needed.
5P’s of innovation
Because checklists can be more than clickbait.
5Ps can be applied to problems with creating new value in products and services, infrastructure, and business models.
Innovation means change. Most people don’t like change. Coaching supports the shifts, alignment and performance issues associated with innovation.
PEOPLE
Innovation requires operational rigor. A systematic approach to innovation includes outcome driven and experienced workshop and project design.
PROCESS
Prototyping a workshop space puts design thinking on its feet, which can turn employees into advocates. The value of both situational and physical context cannot be underestimated.
PLACE
Innovation can be undermined by legacy business-as-usual policy. A commitment to align 'what is said' with 'what is done' – aka values and policy – is a fast track to realizing the benefits of design thinking, and doing.
Policy
Creative courage as a guiding philosophy is supported by instilling an innovation mindset: that it is everyone’s opportunity, that discomfort is expected, invited and planned for, that multi-disciplinary teams support integration better than handoffs, and that criteria need to be established for what constitutes informed risk-taking. (h/t The Innovator’s DNA)
PHILOSOPhY
“there is an art to flying, or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
-Douglas Adams