Reflection Assignment

Design Thinking for Innovation

Challenge

Since I am about to start a new Master’s program and I am currently undergoing a process of career transition, I decided to select my career design as my challenge for this assignment. It is an ideal time as I am currently selecting courses for my program, as well as engaging in personal and professional development activities, and I believe this challenge is complex enough to warrant design thinking in helping me work towards a solution.

Selection

I was inspired by this course as well as Stanford’s Life Design Lab, particularly their videos on “Designing Your Career”, to use the mind mapping design tool to aid in my own career design process. As Rocio Patterson outlines in the video lecture in Week 3, mind mapping is the process of distilling the data we discover in phase one, when we examine the current reality, to enable us to find patterns and insights leading us to creative solutions. It is intended to help you move from the “What is?” phase to the “What if?” phase of design thinking. Therefore, it is an excellent tool for my career planning as I am in the earlier phases of gathering data and determining themes, patterns, and possibilities.

Application

In applying the mind mapping tool to my challenge, I decided to organically jot down words or draw pictures related to my past career and my future career interests on a blank sheet of paper. I worked from the past starting with nursing, education, and program management then drew arrows connecting this to my more recent career phase of midwifery, instructional design, and health technology implementation and training. Then I had a future section where I included interesting future career directions and areas I could explore more in my Master’s degree, including organizational development, people operations, business strategy, product management, and career counselling. As I worked through the mind mapping, I started to notice connections and themes emerging, which prompted me to draw circles around the themes in the map and straight or dotted lines between items that were connected.

This activity was extremely useful to help me see the full picture and understand some of the connections between past career experiences and future career interests. This led me to the next step in my process of exploratory experimentation with career planning, for example making a list of online courses and books I was interested in pursuing and people I would like to reach out to for informational interviews and networking.

Insight

Applying the mind mapping tool to my career design challenge was extremely useful for three key reasons. For one, it allowed me to organically record areas of interest for my future career that were unbounded. Secondly, it allowed me to visualize my past career and future interests so that I could more easily make connections and discover possibilities. Lastly, it enabled the creative thinking process which has motivated me toward further experimentation with topics related to my future career interests, which will help me work towards my goal of finding a meaningful career. This exercise also opened my eyes to the real value of design thinking when it comes to addressing complex programs in one’s personal and professional life, and made me more comfortable using this tool which I believe will be helpful in the future.

Approach

Next time I use the mind mapping tool, I would like to make a computer-generated mind map. I think this would be valuable in letting me move things around easily, color-code, copy and paste pictures easily, and iterate on the mind map over time. It will also allow easier viewing and sharing with others. As powerful as pen to paper can be, I think online mind mapping has some additional advantages that are worth exploring.


Reflection Assignment Design Thinking for Innovation Challenge Since I am about to start a new Master ’s program and I am currently undergoing a process of career transition , I decided to select my career design as my challenge for this assignment . It is an ideal time as I am currently selecting courses for my program , as well as engaging in personal and professional development activities , and I believe this challenge is complex enough to warrant design thinking in helping me work towards a solution . Selection I was inspired by this course as well as Stanford ’s Life Design Lab , particularly their videos on “ Designing Your Career ” , to use the mind mapping design tool to aid in my own career design process . As Rocio Patterson outlines in the video lecture in Week 3 , mind mapping is the process of distilling the data we discover in phase one , when we examine the current reality , to enable us to find patterns and insights leading us to creative solutions . It is intended to help you move from the “ What is ? ” phase to the “ What if ? ” phase of design thinking . Therefore , it is an excellent tool for my career planning as I am in the earlier phases of gathering data and determining themes , patterns , and possibilities . Application In applying the mind mapping tool to my challenge , I decided to organically jot down words or draw pictures related to my past career and my future career interests on a blank sheet of paper . I worked from the past starting with nursing , education , and program management then drew arrows connecting this to my more recent career phase of midwifery , instructional design , and health technology implementation and training . Then I had a future section where I included interesting future career directions and areas I could explore more in my Master ’s degree , including organizational development , people operations , business strategy , product management , and career counselling . As I worked through the mind mapping , I started to notice connections and themes emerging , which prompted me to draw circles around the themes in the map and straight or dotted lines between items that were connected . This activity was extremely useful to help me see the full picture and understand some of the connections between past career experiences and future career interests . This led me to the next step in my process of exploratory experimentation with career planning , for example making a list of online courses and books I was interested in pursuing and people I would like to reach out to for informational interviews and networking . Insight Applying the mind mapping tool to my career design challenge was extremely useful for three key reasons . For one , it allowed me to organically record areas of interest for my future career that were unbounded . Secondly , it allowed me to visualize my past career and future interests so that I could more easily make connections and discover possibilities . Lastly , it enabled the creative thinking process which has motivated me toward further experimentation with topics related to my future career interests , which will help me work towards my goal of finding a meaningful career . This exercise also opened my eyes to the real value of design thinking when it comes to addressing complex programs in one ’s personal and professional life , and made me more comfortable using this tool which I believe will be helpful in the future . Approach Next time I use the mind mapping tool , I would like to make a computer - generated mind map . I think this would be valuable in letting me move things around easily , color - code , copy and paste pictures easily , and iterate on the mind map over time . It will also allow easier viewing and sharing with others . As powerful as pen to paper can be , I think online mind mapping has some additional advantages that are worth exploring .