Learning Launch

Challenge  I am associated with an electricity distribution and management firm in Delhi, India. The main challenge in  this business is the power distribution and management in the slums and informal settlements which is  nearly a sixth part of the total 16 million population of Delhi. The electricity losses from these areas is nearly  68 percent. This is apparently due to illegal connections in the network. Our challenge is to reduce the  losses from these areas and include them as legal connections in the network by changing their attitude  towards the company. The project scope includes consumer indexing of all the connections, spreading  consumer awareness on the benefits of legal connections and repercussions of electricity theft and  ultimately increase the revenue. The project shall require involvement of internal resources and as well as  stakeholders i.e. residents of these areas, operation department and commercial department of our firm.     Selection  My team has already gone through several design thinking activities. We have performed the ethnographic  interview of residents and studied their past behaviors on bill payment, their visits to the customer care  department, operational performance of their area, etc. Now we had worked out some strategies which  are ready to try the learning launch tool. We want to understand the results of our test strategies using  Learning launch.    Application  First and foremost, we launched a separate department “Special Consumer group (SCG)” to take care of all  affairs related to these area. The group focused more time and effort to execute the designed strategies.  We wanted to know how they will respond to this structural change. The SCG team identified certain  leaders among the residents and called them “Coordinators”. They trained the Coordinators on the  importance of electricity, how it works and how the electricity sector operates. They also informed them  how our firm is trying to help them with proper connections and other benefits. The SCG team guided the  Coordinators to spread this message among their people.     As a result of our previous design tools, we understood that the people are mostly daily wagers and due to  low or no income base, people residing in these clusters were unable to pay the electricity bills. To resolve  this issue, we decide to bring in a new innovative model of “Social Innovation”. AS part of our strategy, we  started many vocational training centers imparting many skills to these people. The idea was to empower  them and change their attitude towards the company. The anticipated result was that they will agree for  getting a legal connection and will be able to pay the bills regularly with their incomes from the learned  skills.    A third part of our learning launch is inclusion of CSR to help them develop a better relationship with our  company. Since these clusters were deprived of many social privileges such as clean water, medical  support, etc. so we provided them with clean drinking water and regular mobile dispensary. The SCG team  worked closely with the corporate social responsibility team. The SCG team was mainly engaged in the  planning of various initiatives that needed to be undertaken. The CSR group simultaneously, implemented  various initiatives. The CSR initiatives were designed with objective that the philanthropic initiatives will  help in building a relationship between the people and the firm.

Insight  Learning launch tool has given me and my team great insights on the way the people of the clusters think  and their way of life is. With learning launch, I now know that it’s not always business decisions that give  results but sometimes social initiatives really impact the business.  By applying the learning launch tool, we learned a great deal about the way it needs to deal with these  areas. We successfully brought over 70% residents into the legal connection net by designing a three  pronged strategy of business linked initiatives, philanthropic initiatives and compensatory initiatives. The  revenue from these areas improved significantly. People started visiting more customer touch points and  were discussing troubles regarding power supply. We were able to change the attitude of the people with  the help of four major areas in these clusters, namely, Healthcare, Employability, Education and  Entrepreneurship promotion. Although, The Coordinators learning launch concept did not produce the  anticipated results. The Coordinators had either difficulty in understanding the concept in the right way.  Many of them did not attend. Some did not spread the message ahead. Moving forward the SCG team is  currently reviewing this insight and will incorporate a future launch design.     Approach    With learning launch tool and our previous design thinking activities/tools, we understood their behavioral  attributes. For the success of our Coordinator Concept, we will be using the visualization and storytelling  tools for effective dissemination of the information. Also the team shall be looking into deeper insights of  the previous learning launch activities to reflect in future designs.


Learning Launch Challenge I am associated with an electricity distribution and management firm in Delhi , India . The main challenge in this business is the power distribution and management in the slums and informal settlements which is nearly a sixth part of the total 16 million population of Delhi . The electricity losses from these areas is nearly 68 percent . This is apparently due to illegal connections in the network . Our challenge is to reduce the losses from these areas and include them as legal connections in the network by changing their attitude towards the company . The project scope includes consumer indexing of all the connections , spreading consumer awareness on the benefits of legal connections and repercussions of electricity theft and ultimately increase the revenue . The project shall require involvement of internal resources and as well as stakeholders i.e. residents of these areas , operation department and commercial department of our firm . Selection My team has already gone through several design thinking activities . We have performed the ethnographic interview of residents and studied their past behaviors on bill payment , their visits to the customer care department , operational performance of their area , etc . Now we had worked out some strategies which are ready to try the learning launch tool . We want to understand the results of our test strategies using Learning launch . Application First and foremost , we launched a separate department “ Special Consumer group ( SCG ) ” to take care of all affairs related to these area . The group focused more time and effort to execute the designed strategies . We wanted to know how they will respond to this structural change . The SCG team identified certain leaders among the residents and called them “ Coordinators ” . They trained the Coordinators on the importance of electricity , how it works and how the electricity sector operates . They also informed them how our firm is trying to help them with proper connections and other benefits . The SCG team guided the Coordinators to spread this message among their people . As a result of our previous design tools , we understood that the people are mostly daily wagers and due to low or no income base , people residing in these clusters were unable to pay the electricity bills . To resolve this issue , we decide to bring in a new innovative model of “ Social Innovation ” . AS part of our strategy , we started many vocational training centers imparting many skills to these people . The idea was to empower them and change their attitude towards the company . The anticipated result was that they will agree for getting a legal connection and will be able to pay the bills regularly with their incomes from the learned skills . A third part of our learning launch is inclusion of CSR to help them develop a better relationship with our company . Since these clusters were deprived of many social privileges such as clean water , medical support , etc . so we provided them with clean drinking water and regular mobile dispensary . The SCG team worked closely with the corporate social responsibility team . The SCG team was mainly engaged in the planning of various initiatives that needed to be undertaken . The CSR group simultaneously , implemented various initiatives . The CSR initiatives were designed with objective that the philanthropic initiatives will help in building a relationship between the people and the firm . Insight Learning launch tool has given me and my team great insights on the way the people of the clusters think and their way of life is . With learning launch , I now know that it ’s not always business decisions that give results but sometimes social initiatives really impact the business . By applying the learning launch tool , we learned a great deal about the way it needs to deal with these areas . We successfully brought over 70 % residents into the legal connection net by designing a three pronged strategy of business linked initiatives , philanthropic initiatives and compensatory initiatives . The revenue from these areas improved significantly . People started visiting more customer touch points and were discussing troubles regarding power supply . We were able to change the attitude of the people with the help of four major areas in these clusters , namely , Healthcare , Employability , Education and Entrepreneurship promotion . Although , The Coordinators learning launch concept did not produce the anticipated results . The Coordinators had either difficulty in understanding the concept in the right way . Many of them did not attend . Some did not spread the message ahead . Moving forward the SCG team is currently reviewing this insight and will incorporate a future launch design . Approach With learning launch tool and our previous design thinking activities / tools , we understood their behavioral attributes . For the success of our Coordinator Concept , we will be using the visualization and storytelling tools for effective dissemination of the information . Also the team shall be looking into deeper insights of the previous learning launch activities to reflect in future designs .