EP 33 Solving Problems Through Design Thinking

On today’s episode we interview Hannah Berson, Founder and CEO of the Design Thinking Consultancy, SALT Collaboratory. Design Thinking is a human-centered approach to creative problem solving. Hannah introduces us to Design Thinking and to MURAL, an online tool that allows people from all over the world to collaborate in a creative, productive and engaging way. Hannah shares an enlightening story of how a real company used Design Thinking in solving how to bring their employees back to work. We are certain you will enjoy discovering how Design Thinking is imperative in today’s world to effectively team from anywhere.What is design thinking?Design thinking is a disciplined approach leaders use when they are trying to creatively solve problems. The types of problems businesses face today are too complex, and today’s leadership teams need to come up with creative solutions.“If I had an hour to solve the problem, I'd spend the first 55 minutes figuring out what the problem is, because I'd only need five minutes for the solution.” - Albert Einstein3 Step Problem Solving Process with Design Thinking#1 Understand the Problem from the Perspective of the People Who are Experiencing ItBy spending more time on this important step, you can get a really clear definition of what the problem actually is versus what you originally thought it was. #2 Propose Three Possible SolutionsBy following a formatted process, team members are encouraged to develop three solutions. #3 Humbly Test the Solution Instead of rushing to provide a solution, the design thinking approach focuses on taking one solution and offering it as a prototype. DESIGN THINKING TOOLSTool #1 Use of Expert FacilitatorsTool #2 Use of Mural or Similar TechnologyWays Companies Plan to Go Back to Work: A Design Thinking ExampleOne of the most recent complex problems that companies are currently faced with is creating a plan to return to work. Should they stay fully remote? Create a Hybrid Plan? Or start going back to the office full time now? In applying Design Thinking, the first thing companies should do now is listen to their staff. Companies can leverage surveys to understand what their staff wants from work in the future. Design Thinking Exercises to Support Your Back to Work PlanWhat’s On Your Radar?One way to survey your staff is to use an exercise Hannah calls, “What’s on your radar?” Exercise. In this exercise, each person is given an unfilled outline of a radar that is divided into several labeled pie pieces, such as Career Development, Work Life Balance, Tools and Technology, Team Connections, etc. In breakout rooms, each person fills-in the pie pieces with elements they want in the future. For example, in the work/life balance area, one person might say that they want to eat dinner at home with their family every day. As the leader, you can drop into the breakout rooms to listen to what they are saying. After listening to these breakout rooms, you can create a consolidated radar that visually displays everyone’s cares and future hopes across the entire spectrum. Buy-A-FeatureAnother way that companies can discover feedback through design thinking is a tool called Buy-A-Feature. With this tool, you can create a storefront with three aisles, each titled as either Technology, Real Estate, and People. Each participant is given money that they can spend however they want in the store. For example, some people can spend their money on certain items such as a nice office in the Real Estate Aisle, or an outdoor gym at work, etc. During this exercise, people begin to understand cost vs. wants and can have an ideation session that best informs leadership on future implementation strategies.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.