Assignment   outline:

Select   one   of   the   four   design   thinking   tools   presented   in   the   course   (listed   below)   that   you   are

interested   in   applying   to   a   challenge   of   your   choice.

Tools:

1. Visualization   (Module   1)

2. Storytelling   (Module   2)

3. Mind   Mapping   (Module   3)

4. Learning   Launch   (Module   4)

Reflection

Challenge

I  work  in  a  training  team  where  we  often  get  requests  for  ‘training’  through  a  portal  that  includes   an  intake  form.  These  requests  are  often  for  us  to  ‘tell’  people  about  something  and  usually  in   the  form  of  a  powerpoint  deck  that  isn’t  always  about  the  audience  learning  anything.  This  is   usually  because  the  requester  is  a  manager  of  sorts  that  goes  to  a  lot  of  meetings  where  decks   are  shared  and  thinks  that  this  is  the  only  course  of  action.  They  usually  don’t  know  what  we   can  offer  and  what  the  best  form  of  communicating  their  message  out  would  be.  This  means  we   need  to  articulate  why  what  they  want  isn’t  always  training  and  if  it  is,  why  powerpoint  isn’t   always  the  best  way  to  communicate  their  message  for  the  best  outcome.  We  then  need  to  work   with  them  to  make  sure  they  understand  and  agree  on  other  methods.

Selection

For  this  problem,  I  could  have  picked  either  visualisation  or  storytelling.  Visualisation  would   have  been  able  to  convey  whether  training  was  the  best  solution  for  their  needs  in  the  form  of  a   process  map,  but  I  felt  like  it  wouldn’t  have  conveyed  why  powerpoint  wasn’t  always  best.  By   looking  at  the  powerpoint  issue,  requesters  would  see  us  more  as  experts  in  what  we  do  and   then  hopefully  would  take  our  judgement  on  whether  training  was  required.   Therefore,  I  chose  to  implement  storytelling.  I  don’t  want  to  tell  my  stakeholders  that  what  they   want  is  wrong  because  that  will  only  annoy  them.  Plus,  they  may  be  inclined  to  dig  their  heels  in   and  demand  that  we  provide  this  ‘training’.  However,  I  do  want  to  convey  the  idea  that   powerpoint  isn’t  always  the  best  option.  Plus,  I  want  to  do  this  in  a  logical  way  and  that’s  what   storytelling  is  all  about.  If  I  can  create  a  cause  that  ignites  the  idea  that  powerpoint  isn’t  the  right   option  early  on,  it  will  be  easier  for  me  to  sell  the  right  solution  later.

Application

To  implement  my  storytelling  idea,  we  created  a  video  with  background  uplifting  music  to  help   convey  our  positive  message.  It  links  text  and  smaller  videos  of  people  doing  those  activities  so   people  can  put  themselves  in  those  shoes.  This  video  starts  off  by  setting  the  scene.  We   introduce  the  idea  of  how  we  learn  to  walk,  learn  to  talk  and  learn  to  ride  a  bike.  And  then  I   make  my  point  that  all  of  which  are  definitely  without  powerpoint.  And  yet  we  still  learn.  This   provides  a  great  ‘A-Ha!’  moment  that  people  can  get  on  board  with  so  when  we  continue  and   say  that  this  is  why  we  don’t  always  train  our  call  centre  agents  this  way,  people  are  already

onboard  with  the  idea.  I  could  include  an  interactive  element  where  I  get  the  audience  to  take   part  in  compiling  an  internet  based  mind  map  about  the  best  training  that  they’ve  ever  been  part   of  before  we  then  explore  all  the  different  options  we  have  for  training.  I’d  then  conclude  with  a   call  to  action  that  we  can  work  with  stakeholders  to  find  the  best  option  so  make  sure  that  they   start  the  discussion.   We  attached  this  to  the  portal  where  our  training  intake  form  was  so  that  requesters  would  be   able  to  see  this  first  before  making  the  request  in  the  hope  that  they  wouldn't  specify  how  they   wanted  the  training  to  be  delivered  so  that  we  could  have  that  detailed  conversation  with  them   instead.

Insight

By  doing  this  we  saw  fewer  people  requesting  powerpoint  decks  because  they  knew  we  could   offer  more  and  often  they  would  advise  that  they’d  leave  the  delivery  option  up  to  us  to  decide   as  the  experts.   This  also  meant  that  if  we  thought  that  ‘training’  wasn’t  the  right  solution,  we’d  be  able  to  make  a   recommendation  for  alternative  methods  that  had  less  resistance  from  the  requester.   This  could  include  improving  or  providing  job  aids,  identifying  cultural,  motivational  or   environmental  differences  that  needed  to  be  resolved  in  other  ways  or  sending  simple   communications  instead.

Approach

If  I  was  to  look  at  this  problem  again,  I  think  I  would  look  more  broadly  at  the  problem.  There  is  a   risk  that  our  storytelling  tool  misses  some  people  who  don’t  have  time  or  who  don’t  see  the   value  in  watching  the  video  first.  Therefore,  I  would  book  meetings  with  our  senior  leadership   team  and  main  stakeholders  to  deliver  the  video  message  in  a  ‘Ted  Talk’  style  that  had  more   moments  of  reflection  for  the  audience.  This  way  I  could  expand  even  more  into  the  benefits  in  a   way  that  culturally,  people  are  now  used  to.  This  would  in  effect  work  as  my  ‘big  bang’  and  then   people  would  still  have  the  smaller  video  to  refer  back  to  when  they  came  to  making  requests.   This  may  also  mean  that  more  people  referred  back  to  the  video  which  would  reduce  the  risk  of   our  message  being  missed  by  some  people.   In  my  ‘Ted  Talk’  I  could  still  link  into  how  they  learnt  to  talk,  walk  and  ride  a  bike  but  I  could  go   further.  I  could  start  this  by  looking  at  powerpoint  presentations  in  schools  and  when  they  felt   like  they  worked.  For  example,  copying  diagrams  from  the  presentation  or  memorising  times   tables  and  history  dates.  I  could  then  expand  into  when  people  feel  like  they  hate  powerpoint   style  learning  in  theory  tests  and  work  compliance  CBTs  and  then  look  at  how  we  can  change   things.  This  could  be  with  more  bitesize  microlearning,  using  online  learning  options,  utilizing   independent  study  time,  flipping  classroom  time  to  mean  they  condense  learning  after   independent  study  or  they  have  access  to  recorded  sessions  that  they  can  view  in  their  own

time.  The  options  are  more  than  having  a  classroom  full  of  people  viewing  a  powerpoint  deck   and  by  linking  examples  to  things  that  they  commonly  know  and  have  done  before,  the   message  is  easier  to  understand.  Plus,  the  wider  audience  means  that  more  people  are  also   aware.

