Challenge & Selection:  I am the team leader of the department market research and data collection at our local university.  We are a small team which consists of three young employees. Besides the research activities and data  collection for the university itself (intern orders) we also provide companies and NGO with consul- tancy. The head of our institute sets the annual financial goals. This year in November, we already  know that we won't reach the financial goals (lack of approximately 15%). Therefore, I decided to use  a design thinking tool to analyze the "what is" situation. I wanted to get deeper insights regarding this  unsatisfactory situation. In the past, problems like this were discussed with the head of the institute  and the team leaders from other departments and we tried to get solutions. Although I have an open  and good relation to the colleagues of my department and we do develop the strategic planning to- gether, I never systematically involved the team concerning the financial aspects. This is mainly be- cause of the fact, that we didn't struggle with such a financial pressure in the past.

To get a benefit from the design thinking course for my business life, I decided to use the mind mapping  tool to build a bridge between the stages "what is" and "what if" in this specific situation. The mind  mapping tool is a visualization tool which enables the users to get new and deeper insights in a situa- tion and find patterns and motives in a creative way, which we would maybe miss by using a traditional  approach like studying longs reports or just discuss the problem in an unstructured way. The involve- ment of the whole team in this strategic issue should ideally open the thinking process and increase  the motivation, identification and the awareness of the problem in our department.

Application:  At the beginning, I described the core question for the mind mapping workshop as follows: What could  be reasons that we didn't reach the financial goals 2018? After this, I invited the team members from  my department to the workshop. I didn't give them any preparation work, as I wanted them to come  open minded and uninfluenced. I just told them that I want to test a tool from the design thinking  course. I prepared the workshop by printing financial statistics, market information, customer sales  volumes, strategic documents and other material, that seemed to be relevant to analyze the situation.  I printed them large as posters, so that everybody could see and work with them. I used a conference  room with big windows and posted all documents on it. At the beginning of the workshop, I introduced  the core question and invited the team to look at the posters to get an overview of the situation. After  this, I asked them to write notes on post-its. They should note what attracted their attention and which  insights they get from the posters concerning the core question. The next step was the presentation  of the individual notes. The first team member, which was the newest employee in our department,  presented his notes and posted them on the appropriate posters. The next team member then pre- sented his notes and complemented the thoughts of the first member. At the end, I also presented my  notes and we finally got a lot of post-its on the window.

At the end, we recognized, that we had a lot of similarities but also some differences regarding the  evaluation of the situation. We discussed all points and tried to build superior clusters out of the big  amount of inputs in order to get design criterias for the next step in the design thinking process (what  if stage). We marked the clusters and connections between them with a new color which allowed us  to get a kind of summary of the problem evaluation. I reassured, that everybody could identify himself  with the clusters, so that we reached a common understand of the question "what is?".

Insight:  The workshop gave me not only new insights about the current situation but also inputs how the team  feels about the problem and what they are struggling with in their daily business. I recognized for ex- ample, that the newest of my team members, who is a rather shy but very analytical person, shared  his personal emotions about the ambitious acquisition methods we practice in our department. He  told us that he feels still uncomfortable in the acquisition and he wish to be more trained for difficult

customer negotiations to gain more orders. As he opened himself, the other team member also shared  his problems with the process of acquisition in a way, he never told me before. I learned, that the  acquisition method I work with is not a method that works for everybody, especially not for young  employees with no experience in negotiation with higher positions in local companies. Another point  that came up was that both of my colleagues think that our most profitable products will maybe not  survive the next years because of the current trend of do-it-yourself solutions in the area of market  research. They described how companies are handling data collection today by automating and we  came to the important conclusion, that we must strengthen primary our consultancy competences  instead of our data evaluation skills. The workshop showed me also that my team members are very  highly motivated to face the next steps, because the felt involved in the problem.

Overall, by using the method of mind mapping, I recognized, that this structured method helped us a  lot to achieve a common understanding of the problem. Although we speak a lot with each other in  the daily business, the workshop showed me that I need to involve my team members more in financial  and strategic questions in a structured setting. I really appreciated the variety of opinions that came  up on the workshop. And I was especially surprised how easy it was to structure all the mentioned  points into five clusters, which probably have the most impact on the situation. The mind mapping tool  helped us in the discussion to focus on the main points of the problems.

Approach:  The mind mapping tool was a very useful approach to structure the problem into the most relevant  clusters so that we can work with them in the next stage of the design thinking process. The posters  on the windows in combination with the identified key clusters helped us very much regarding the  clarity of our thoughts. It was easily possible to develop connections between different aspects of the  problem and gain new insights and ideas. Because of these advantages, I would certainly use the same  tool in a similar situation.

Next time, I would probably invite also some open-minded colleagues from other departments of our  university. As we have different departments in our organization (for example economy, social work,  health care, IT, engineering), we should use this unique position. Different persons from different dis- ciplines could develop even more and deeper insights and new ideas. Another thing I would change is  that I would involve my team members concerning the posters I prepared. During the workshop, I  recognized, that there are even more important information and graphics, that would have helped us.  Last but not least, as the team was highly motivated at the end of the workshop in the morning, next  time I would maybe start directly with the what if stage in the afternoon or the next day to use the  current motivation and drive of the team.


Challenge & Selection : I am the team leader of the department market research and data collection at our local university . We are a small team which consists of three young employees . Besides the research activities and data collection for the university itself ( intern orders ) we also provide companies and NGO with consul- tancy . The head of our institute sets the annual financial goals . This year in November , we already know that we wo n't reach the financial goals ( lack of approximately 15 % ) . Therefore , I decided to use a design thinking tool to analyze the " what is " situation . I wanted to get deeper insights regarding this unsatisfactory situation . In the past , problems like this were discussed with the head of the institute and the team leaders from other departments and we tried to get solutions . Although I have an open and good relation to the colleagues of my department and we do develop the strategic planning to- gether , I never systematically involved the team concerning the financial aspects . This is mainly be- cause of the fact , that we did n't struggle with such a financial pressure in the past . To get a benefit from the design thinking course for my business life , I decided to use the mind mapping tool to build a bridge between the stages " what is " and " what if " in this specific situation . The mind mapping tool is a visualization tool which enables the users to get new and deeper insights in a situa- tion and find patterns and motives in a creative way , which we would maybe miss by using a traditional approach like studying longs reports or just discuss the problem in an unstructured way . The involve- ment of the whole team in this strategic issue should ideally open the thinking process and increase the motivation , identification and the awareness of the problem in our department . Application : At the beginning , I described the core question for the mind mapping workshop as follows : What could be reasons that we did n't reach the financial goals 2018 ? After this , I invited the team members from my department to the workshop . I did n't give them any preparation work , as I wanted them to come open minded and uninfluenced . I just told them that I want to test a tool from the design thinking course . I prepared the workshop by printing financial statistics , market information , customer sales volumes , strategic documents and other material , that seemed to be relevant to analyze the situation . I printed them large as posters , so that everybody could see and work with them . I used a conference room with big windows and posted all documents on it . At the beginning of the workshop , I introduced the core question and invited the team to look at the posters to get an overview of the situation . After this , I asked them to write notes on post - its . They should note what attracted their attention and which insights they get from the posters concerning the core question . The next step was the presentation of the individual notes . The first team member , which was the newest employee in our department , presented his notes and posted them on the appropriate posters . The next team member then pre- sented his notes and complemented the thoughts of the first member . At the end , I also presented my notes and we finally got a lot of post - its on the window . At the end , we recognized , that we had a lot of similarities but also some differences regarding the evaluation of the situation . We discussed all points and tried to build superior clusters out of the big amount of inputs in order to get design criterias for the next step in the design thinking process ( what if stage ) . We marked the clusters and connections between them with a new color which allowed us to get a kind of summary of the problem evaluation . I reassured , that everybody could identify himself with the clusters , so that we reached a common understand of the question " what is ? " . Insight : The workshop gave me not only new insights about the current situation but also inputs how the team feels about the problem and what they are struggling with in their daily business . I recognized for ex- ample , that the newest of my team members , who is a rather shy but very analytical person , shared his personal emotions about the ambitious acquisition methods we practice in our department . He told us that he feels still uncomfortable in the acquisition and he wish to be more trained for difficult customer negotiations to gain more orders . As he opened himself , the other team member also shared his problems with the process of acquisition in a way , he never told me before . I learned , that the acquisition method I work with is not a method that works for everybody , especially not for young employees with no experience in negotiation with higher positions in local companies . Another point that came up was that both of my colleagues think that our most profitable products will maybe not survive the next years because of the current trend of do - it - yourself solutions in the area of market research . They described how companies are handling data collection today by automating and we came to the important conclusion , that we must strengthen primary our consultancy competences instead of our data evaluation skills . The workshop showed me also that my team members are very highly motivated to face the next steps , because the felt involved in the problem . Overall , by using the method of mind mapping , I recognized , that this structured method helped us a lot to achieve a common understanding of the problem . Although we speak a lot with each other in the daily business , the workshop showed me that I need to involve my team members more in financial and strategic questions in a structured setting . I really appreciated the variety of opinions that came up on the workshop . And I was especially surprised how easy it was to structure all the mentioned points into five clusters , which probably have the most impact on the situation . The mind mapping tool helped us in the discussion to focus on the main points of the problems . Approach : The mind mapping tool was a very useful approach to structure the problem into the most relevant clusters so that we can work with them in the next stage of the design thinking process . The posters on the windows in combination with the identified key clusters helped us very much regarding the clarity of our thoughts . It was easily possible to develop connections between different aspects of the problem and gain new insights and ideas . Because of these advantages , I would certainly use the same tool in a similar situation . Next time , I would probably invite also some open - minded colleagues from other departments of our university . As we have different departments in our organization ( for example economy , social work , health care , IT , engineering ) , we should use this unique position . Different persons from different dis- ciplines could develop even more and deeper insights and new ideas . Another thing I would change is that I would involve my team members concerning the posters I prepared . During the workshop , I recognized , that there are even more important information and graphics , that would have helped us . Last but not least , as the team was highly motivated at the end of the workshop in the morning , next time I would maybe start directly with the what if stage in the afternoon or the next day to use the current motivation and drive of the team .