The shift in culture from cooperation to collaboration is a new frontier for many organisations. This is driven by an appetite for innovation against a backdrop of industry-wide disruption.
As organisations grow they are conditioned to reduce risk to favour efficiency. Typically spreadsheets with projections or examples of industry ‘best practice’ are used as the default when tackling a business problem or new opportunity. These reference points of success don’t always provide a competitive advantage as organisations find they are treading the same trusted path with the same results as before.
At a time with so much noise and choice for customers the pressure is on for organisations to move fast in a smart manner to gain an edge. Knowing where to start is a common friction point.
In our work we encourage teams to travel upstream whether related to the decision process or to discover the root cause of a business challenge. An organisation is most agile and susceptible to change at the top of the decision making process, prior to a line of code or an allocation of resources.
This is where the discipline of Human-Centered Design (HCD) comes in. Future-focussed organisations understand that Design is more than a craft. It is a capability, and a powerful one at that. It is a capability that can transform the way an organisation thinks and acts to connect, understand, and serve their audience. It can be used to frame the narrative to help teams quickly understand the context of the products and services that they are working on.
Teams are starting to embrace design-led processes to un-pack problems before any serious investment in technology. The role of a Facilitator is key to guide conversations to enable cross-functional teams to collaborate to make decisions. A skilled Facilitator is able to read the room (real or remote) and guide conversations like a Maestro.
A great introduction to the process of HCD to get teams to work in this manner are Design Sprints. The Design Sprint was popularised by Google. It has been embraced by some of the biggest global organisations (see case study) for a range of real and sometimes speculative business problems.
What are Design Sprints you may be asking? The Design Sprint is a problem-solving framework that incorporates Design Thinking methods, as well as principles of Lean. It is a mechanism to bring your team together to get on the same page and drive to a unified goal in a short space of time; popularised in 5-days or less. Within this timeframe you bring in relevant stakeholders in and connected to the business to understand the problem to produce a tangible solution for testing with customers. As a consequence of the program the team creates a collective knowledge-bank to invest in a prototype as well as a backlog of insights for future reference.
Watching the energy sizzle from people who often have never worked together never gets old. The Design Sprint is not just a process, it is a catalyst to bring people together to co-create. It does work, and the results from a cultural perspective are invaluable. The rollercoaster of emotions a team experiences by being together in a condensed amount of time forges relationships that go beyond the Design Sprint.
There is no perfect time to convince stakeholders to try something different with the promise of better results. It is really about mitigating risk. In business terms, new is risky and can result in uncertainty. However, for many it isn’t such a steep proposition. Don’t be surprised if the ‘many’ are your competitors. They are prepared to invest the time to understand the root of the issue, listen to their team, learn from their customers, and explore opportunities that don’t start with the solution in mind. Upon success, this often spreads throughout the organisation and the results are astonishing. Not just in the outputs, savings and learnings, but the positive effect on company culture.
The pressure is on to invest in making things that people want, as opposed to the traditional ‘top-down’ mindset of forcing or hoping people will want your things. Like any introduction of a new framework, to yield true value from a Human-Centered Design program companies must think long term. This way of working isn’t just a process, it is a mindset change and ultimately a method to build an inclusive, engaged, and collaborative culture.
More Space for Light is an Innovation and Strategy Consultancy. Our design-led approach to solving business problems helps leaders and teams overcome constraints related to product, service, or process. So you can quickly identify risks, gain alignment and focus for action. Our goal is to empower your teams to do their best work and set the prerequisites for success.
We never expect people to go from 0-100 mph that is why we have designed 60 and 90 minute training experiences. These are designed to help teams experience this way of working to ensure they have the confidence to proceed. For more information about our design programs and training get in touch, start@morespacelight.com.au.
