Coursera	
  –	
  Design	
  thinking	
  submission	
  –	
  Mind	
  mapping

1-­‐ Challenge

I	
  am	
  a	
  project	
  manager	
  in	
  an	
  investment	
  bank.	
  A	
  few	
  months	
  back,	
  I	
  was	
  assigned	
  to	
  conduct	
   an	
  efficiency	
  mission	
  along	
  with	
  four	
  other	
  people,	
  from	
  different	
  teams	
  and	
  backgrounds.	
   We	
  had	
  time	
  for	
  our	
  mission	
  and	
  had	
  decided	
  to	
  organise	
  steering	
  committees	
  on	
  a	
  monthly	
   basis	
  with	
  other	
  stakeholders,	
  sponsors	
  etc.	
  (like	
  most	
  of	
  big	
  companies	
  usually	
  do).	
   	
   But	
  after	
  our	
  first	
  meeting,	
  we	
  had	
  to	
  admit	
  it	
  did	
  not	
  go	
  as	
  smoothly	
  as	
  it	
  should	
  have	
  (or	
  at	
   least	
   as	
   we	
   had	
   expected).	
   Although	
   we	
   had	
   time	
   to	
   prepare	
   ourselves	
   and	
   organise	
   the	
   findings	
  we	
  wanted	
  to	
  present,	
  we	
  ended	
  literally	
  5	
  minutes	
  before	
  the	
  meeting	
  start,	
  and	
   we	
  could	
  feel	
  that	
  the	
  atmosphere	
  in	
  the	
  project	
  team	
  was	
  tense.

2-­‐ Selection

Hence	
  we	
  decided	
  to	
  take	
  some	
  time	
  and	
  think	
  about	
  the	
  situation	
  as	
  it	
  was.	
  We	
  needed	
  to	
   truly	
  express	
  our	
  feelings	
  and	
  perception	
  of	
  the	
  situation	
  in	
  order	
  to	
  design	
  a	
  solution	
  that	
   would	
  prevent	
  such	
  situation	
  from	
  happening	
  again.	
   	
   The	
  tool	
  that	
  seemed	
  the	
  most	
  appropriate	
  to	
  help	
  us	
  was	
  a	
  mind	
  mapping.	
  As	
  we	
  were	
  five	
   people,	
  with	
  possibly	
  (and	
  most	
  probably)	
  five	
  different	
  points	
  of	
  view,	
  we	
  wanted	
  to	
  first	
   collect	
  as	
  many	
  inputs	
  as	
  we	
  could	
  before	
  organising	
  them	
  and	
  identifying	
  insights.

3-­‐ Application

We	
  gathered	
  in	
  a	
  large	
  room	
  with	
  post-­‐it	
  notes,	
  a	
  wide	
  white	
  board	
  and	
  time	
  –	
  basically,	
  we	
   hadn’t	
  scheduled	
  any	
  limited	
  time,	
  as	
  we	
  wanted	
  to	
  cover	
  the	
  whole	
  situation	
  before	
  taking	
   up	
  the	
  project	
  again.	
   	
   For	
  a	
  few	
  minutes,	
  in	
  silence	
  and	
  individually,	
  we	
  wrote	
  on	
  notes	
  how	
  we	
  felt	
  during	
  the	
   meeting	
  preparation,	
  and	
  what	
  we	
  liked	
  or	
  disliked.	
  There	
  would	
  be	
  only	
  one	
  input	
  per	
  note,	
   and	
  it	
  could	
  be	
  full	
  sentences,	
  so	
  that	
  the	
  idea	
  would	
  be	
  clear	
  for	
  all.	
   	
   Then,	
  one	
  after	
  the	
  other,	
  we	
  presented	
  our	
  notes	
  and	
  stuck	
  them	
  on	
  the	
  white	
  board.	
  No	
   comments	
   were	
   made,	
   just	
   respectful	
   listening.	
   But	
   we	
   started	
   to	
   notice	
   that	
   themes	
   or	
   patterns	
  emerged.	
  So	
  when	
  all	
  the	
  notes	
  were	
  on	
  the	
  board,	
  we	
  gathered	
  them	
  by	
  similarity.

4-­‐ Insight

Surprisingly,	
  we	
  got	
  only	
  four	
  or	
  five	
  themes,	
  and	
  almost	
  no	
  stand-­‐alone	
  note.	
  We	
  had	
  all	
   identified	
  similar	
  pain	
  points,	
  but	
  good	
  things	
  too.	
  However,	
  our	
  way	
  to	
  perceive	
  them	
  was	
   very	
  different,	
  and	
  there	
  lied	
  our	
  criteria.	
   	
   For	
   example,	
   “time”	
   was	
   one	
   of	
   the	
   main	
   themes.	
   But	
   where	
   some	
   of	
   us	
   said	
   they	
   had	
   initially	
  felt	
  comfortable	
  because	
  they	
  considered	
  they	
  had	
  enough	
  “time”	
  to	
  do	
  their	
  work

(group	
  A),	
  others	
  expressed	
  they	
  felt	
  under	
  the	
  pressure	
  because	
  the	
  deadlines	
  had	
  seemed	
   too	
  close	
  to	
  them	
  (group	
  B).	
  And	
  in	
  turn,	
  they	
  made	
  group	
  A	
  feel	
  their	
  stress.	
   So	
  in	
  that	
  example,	
  we	
  concluded	
  that	
  we	
  hadn’t	
  all	
  the	
  same	
  needs:	
  where	
  some	
  liked	
  and	
   looked	
  for	
  autonomy	
  and	
  independence,	
  others	
  required	
  regular	
  updates	
  and	
  status	
  to	
  feel	
   reassured	
  and	
  on	
  track.	
  Our	
  criteria	
  were	
  then	
  obvious:	
  design	
  a	
  process	
  that	
  will	
  keep	
  track	
   of	
  the	
  progress	
  and	
  target,	
  while	
  leaving	
  people	
  enough	
  space	
  to	
  reach	
  their	
  goal	
  and	
  not	
   consuming	
  too	
  much	
  time.

5-­‐ Approach

The	
  insights	
  were	
  easier	
  to	
  identify	
  than	
  we	
  had	
  expected	
  and	
  it	
  only	
  took	
  us	
  two	
  hours	
  to	
   prepare	
  our	
  criteria	
  and	
  initiate	
  our	
  solution	
  design.	
   	
   I	
  think	
  it	
  is	
  because	
  part	
  of	
  the	
  problem	
  was	
  also	
  our	
  embarrassment	
  to	
  lance	
  the	
  boil	
  and	
   express	
  the	
  resentment	
  we	
  might	
  have	
  felt.	
  We	
  all	
  wanted	
  to	
  succeed	
  in	
  the	
  mission	
  and	
   work	
  together.	
  But	
  somehow	
  we	
  were	
  afraid	
  that	
  expressing	
  our	
  dislikes	
  could	
  damage	
  the	
   harmony	
  in	
  the	
  group.	
   	
   Mind	
  mapping	
  was	
  a	
  good	
  tool	
  in	
  that	
  way,	
  as	
  it	
  enabled	
  us	
  to	
  discuss	
  the	
  issue	
  through	
  facts	
   and	
  not	
  through	
  our	
  individual	
  perspectives.	
  And	
  it	
  also	
  helped	
  us	
  realise	
  (through	
  the	
  notes	
   gathering	
  on	
  the	
  board)	
  that	
  we	
  finally	
  shared	
  a	
  lot,	
  in	
  what	
  we	
  had	
  perceived.	
   The	
  rest	
  of	
  the	
  mission	
  was	
  a	
  success	
  thanks	
  to	
  the	
  new	
  process	
  (and	
  few	
  rules)	
  we	
  put	
  in	
   place,	
  but	
  also	
  because	
  we	
  continued	
  to	
  communicate	
  on	
  trust	
  with	
  each	
  other.

