Reflection Paper

This was actually my first time using the coursera interface. At first, I was really hesitant to

use it since I am thinking that it wont be user-friendly. But upon starting the Week 1 of the course, I was really astonished on the teaching approach they are using. Concise but full of handful information. Week 1 comprised of a brief introduction to Design thinking and what are the stories that was inspired from it. They say that today innovation is everyone's business. Whether you are a manager in a global corporation, an entrepreneur starting up, in a government role, or a teacher in an elementary school, everyone is expected to get lean -- to do better with less. And that is why we all need design thinking. At every level in every kind of organization, design thinking provides the tools you need to become an innovative thinker and uncover creative opportunities that are there -- you're just not seeing them yet.

The second week is something about the physics of Innovation. It turns out that design

thinking is not only about process and tools, it is about people as well: about you as a design thinker and about the people you want to create value for and with. And so, before jumping into the process of using design thinking to generate and test ideas, what you should do is to first focus on your mindset, and look at whether your mind is prepared to both see and act on opportunity when it shows up in your world. They presented stories of two very capable managers, George and Geoff, and how their differing mindsets affect their ability to lead innovation and growth.

The third week is more an in-depth view of what is inside design thinking process where

the idea generation was tackled. I correlated it to what agile methodology is. It has identifying what is the root cause of the problem, researching about possible solutions to it, providing concepts and establishing a profound solution based on existing data. This was shown in the story of Chris Cartter where he saw an opportunity to use social networks to enhance his reputation by giving a hand to people on adopting healthier lifestyle choices resulting to an opening to their consciousness on their current situation.

The fourth week is the accumulation of what was taught so far. Having generated all of

these innovative ideas, what should be the next step? The design thinking process now helps us to take the many ideas we have generated and figure out how to determine which ones are likely to produce the specific kinds of outcomes we want, whether these take the form of improved nutrition for the elderly, healthier lifestyle choices or even more “hot leads” emanating from your trade shows. The story is about the activities of an IBM team working closely with experience marketing agency George P. Johnson as they develop and test ideas for a revolutionary approach to trade show participation. Their process begins by asking "what wows?". This question brings together the customer and business cases supporting new concepts. Typically, the “wow” zone occurs at the intersection of three criteria: 1) somebody wants it, 2) we can create and deliver it, and 3) doing so has the potential to produce the outcomes desired. Then one should ask "what works?" and conduct small experiments to test if the assumptions are accurate. Moreover, it is the diversity of perspectives and experience that brings with it the potential for real innovation, since also brings with it at the same time the potential for tremendous conflict in groups. One of the best kept secrets about design thinking, according to them, is its power as a collaboration tool.And to quote “Design thinking builds these possibilities into every step of the process. If only we can reduce our own discomfort and anxiety enough to allow the intrigue of discovering to take over. You know it's a wonderful paradox, that same ambiguity that makes us so anxious and uncomfortable, it turns out, also has the potential to unleash a level of energy we rarely experience when presented with a finished product.” In this last video, I had appreciated the importance of the taking risks. Of course, you should know all the details that backs the opportunity and run a simulation/plan to your mind if it is worth it.

