Final assignment – Design thinking for innovation

Reflection – Storytelling tool

Challenge & Selection

Based on my experience, Storytelling has helped me show the holistic view of a company to  people focused on the narrowed part of their work. As part of my duties, I discussed with a lot of  different stakeholders to optimize the process that take part of. On many occasions, I have seen  employees struggle to see the big picture of the work they do in a day to day basis. This struggle  has led to frustration from some employees regarding the fact that their action doesn’t seem to  have impact on the process they work on.

As explained by Alan Caceres, Chief Learning Office at Mars, on the second week of the course,  Storytelling when done correctly helps to create cause from what was initially a problem.  Therefore, I’ve chosen this tool to create a cause from the challenge that’s presented to me.

Application

To be apply to use Storytelling to the challenge I was presented, I had to understand the purpose  which drove the stakeholders. After talking with them, I came to realize that they wanted to feel  that their work was meaningful and had impact on the company. Following this discussion, I had  a good grip on what the body of the story should be. My goal was now to show how their work  contributed to the success of the company. I combined the Storytelling tool with the Visualization  tool by creating a story visually where each stakeholder was the star of a show from which the  customer was the audience member.

Using a basic flow chart, I was able to compare how the different process in the company was  very similar to a show where the goal was to satisfy the customer need and how the performance  of every actor – stakeholders – had an impact on it.  While this metaphor might have seen absurd,  it did bring some smile and renew motivation from employees that were lacking some.

Insight & Approach

By forcing myself to use unconventional methods like the Storytelling tool versus the usual linear  analytical method, I was able to see how more effective it was to solve the problem which are  also more unconventional and have less conventional solutions out there. As described in this  course, conventional methods can be very effective to solve problems where the issues are clear  and we have data to fix it, but when we are faced with challenges containing many uncertainties,  design thinking is more efficient. This methodology of design thinking has allowed to react better  in the face of different challenges whether they can be solved by linear analytical method – which

I had the experience to do – or by this new method of design thinking which allowed me to have  a more open mind to fix difficult and complex problems.

Based on this recent experience, the next time I will be able to use design thinking, I will make  sure I can used to full extent of full toolbox shown in this course. By using only Storytelling and  Visualization tool, I was able to see already the big impact these tools can have to fix problems.  Starting from Journey Mapping during the “What is?” phase to the Co-Creating in the “What if?”  phase and finishing with quick and cheap experiments during the next 2 phases.


Final assignment – Design thinking for innovation Reflection – Storytelling tool Challenge & Selection Based on my experience , Storytelling has helped me show the holistic view of a company to people focused on the narrowed part of their work . As part of my duties , I discussed with a lot of different stakeholders to optimize the process that take part of . On many occasions , I have seen employees struggle to see the big picture of the work they do in a day to day basis . This struggle has led to frustration from some employees regarding the fact that their action does n’t seem to have impact on the process they work on . As explained by Alan Caceres , Chief Learning Office at Mars , on the second week of the course , Storytelling when done correctly helps to create cause from what was initially a problem . Therefore , I ’ve chosen this tool to create a cause from the challenge that ’s presented to me . Application To be apply to use Storytelling to the challenge I was presented , I had to understand the purpose which drove the stakeholders . After talking with them , I came to realize that they wanted to feel that their work was meaningful and had impact on the company . Following this discussion , I had a good grip on what the body of the story should be . My goal was now to show how their work contributed to the success of the company . I combined the Storytelling tool with the Visualization tool by creating a story visually where each stakeholder was the star of a show from which the customer was the audience member . Using a basic flow chart , I was able to compare how the different process in the company was very similar to a show where the goal was to satisfy the customer need and how the performance of every actor – stakeholders – had an impact on it . While this metaphor might have seen absurd , it did bring some smile and renew motivation from employees that were lacking some . Insight & Approach By forcing myself to use unconventional methods like the Storytelling tool versus the usual linear analytical method , I was able to see how more effective it was to solve the problem which are also more unconventional and have less conventional solutions out there . As described in this course , conventional methods can be very effective to solve problems where the issues are clear and we have data to fix it , but when we are faced with challenges containing many uncertainties , design thinking is more efficient . This methodology of design thinking has allowed to react better in the face of different challenges whether they can be solved by linear analytical method – which I had the experience to do – or by this new method of design thinking which allowed me to have a more open mind to fix difficult and complex problems . Based on this recent experience , the next time I will be able to use design thinking , I will make sure I can used to full extent of full toolbox shown in this course . By using only Storytelling and Visualization tool , I was able to see already the big impact these tools can have to fix problems . Starting from Journey Mapping during the “ What is ? ” phase to the Co - Creating in the “ What if ? ” phase and finishing with quick and cheap experiments during the next 2 phases .