Example Reflection – Visualization Challenge & Selection The first tool I used was the tool of  Visualization, or Visual Thinking, to achieve a shared understanding of a problem space among  a diverse group of stakeholders before attempting to identify and define possible solutions to the  problem. I use this approach often with our customers, who are government agencies working  to apply technology innovations to modernize their mission or the delivery of their services to  their customer, which may be U.S. citizens, businesses, and non-citizens. I have used the  technique of using a straw man visualization of a problem domain with a set of questions or  prompts for discussion to allow a diverse group of stakeholders to learn from each other in the  process of defining the scope, boundaries, key elements, and relationships between elements  to consider when identifying pain points and opportunities for improvements or solutions.  Application I start the process by creating a straw man graphic of the problem domain. To  develop the straw man graphic, I will draw from any existing material available to understand the  environment. The existing material may be operational or procedural documents, training  materials, marketing materials, GAO or other auditing reports. If materials are not available, then  I conduct informal interviews with one-three of the stakeholders who serve as my main points of  contact on the initiative. If appropriate to the situation, I will borrow the concept to  “front-stage/back-stage” from previous research, and discussed in David Gray’s book, “The  Connected Company”. The front-stage/back-stage approach helps to reinforce the notion that  every service – even an internal service – has customers with whom the service provider  interacts and internal processes that enable the organization to provide the service. The  template I often start with also has a column on the left to identify Partners and Value Chain  Providers and a column on the right to identify Oversight Organizations, such as Congress,  GAO, labor unions, advocacy groups, and other entities that may add constraints to how the  organization operates. The straw man graphic is simple, using simple shapes and icons  available in Visio or on the Internet. If the front-stage/back-stage view doesn’t work, then I will  create a different type of visual, either based on a high-level process flow with swim lanes for  different stakeholders, or another format. For the activity, I will divide the stakeholders into  groups of 5-6 participants each representing a different organization or area of interest. Each  group receives a poster-size copy of the straw man graphic that they can write on directly, or  use sticky notes to make comments. I give them two-three questions to answer, such as: 1)  What key elements are missing from the graphic? 2) What would you change about the graphic  to make it more accurately reflect your problem space? 3) What key insights do you have about  the relationships between the entities in your problem space? I give them approximately 20  minutes to discuss the questions and mark up the graphic. Then I have each group report out  on their answers to those three questions while pointing to the mark-ups on their poster. As  each group reports out, I record commonalities in the insights of each group, and then additional  insights that come from the group discussion on an additional copy of the graphic. After the  session, I digitize each group’s poster as an artifact, create a view that combines the shared  and new insights from the group discussion, and then create a revised graphic that incorporates  their feedback and proposed changes that they agreed to as a group.

