Design Thinking for Innovation  Final Project - Liron Levi    Challenge

We are a small company of 30 talented employees with 46% being Millennial. The leadership team  consists of 5 key individuals that lead the organization making well thought out decisions as a group or  as their daily responsibilities require it. With a desire to retain the entire staff it is our responsibility to  foster ways to enhance the employee experience. The idea came to launch Generational Meetings and  we started with the Millennial group first. We wanted to create a space for people to have a voice,  stimulate discussions and result in ideas to grow the organization organically. What we did not expect  was the impact on other Generational groups and a feeling of exclusion.

Selection

As an organization we had not gone through Design Thinking training, so I am seeing that our approach  was Experimental and had the characteristics of the Learning Launch method. We were able to use the  Learning Launch tools as an experiment and quite quickly test this idea.

Application

For the first Learning Launch we assembled the staff of Millennial’s, I gave a statement that this was an  experiment and if it was just this one meeting that was fine. If it gained strength and fostered ideas for  company growth and employee commitment it would be a win. There were some ground rules set to  maintain structure and to stimulate engagement. The rules were:

  No leadership in the meetings – strictly Millennial “non” managers.

  While this is meant to be a safe environment to share ideas, concerns and solutions, it was not  meant to create negative discussions. Should an issue be discussed it was to generate a solution.

  Assign a spokesperson that would report back after the meetings, so the leadership team could  address each item one at a time and act on requests as appropriate.

As the Learning Launch went on, the group met success and continued to meet quarterly for one year.  They titled themselves the Young Professionals.

Insight

The meetings proved to be extremely fruitful and brought solid bonding as well. The YP’s followed the  rules of engagement and with one hour each quarter, they brought not only ideas but actual solutions to  such topics as employee training, client experience through social media, web site overhaul to include  professional input and several simple changes in the office and social events to add to our employee  centric culture.

However, it was after the fact that we offered Gen-X the same opportunity and that fell short for several  reasons:

  Hurt feelings of not being included originally.

  Feeling that their ideas did not matter – too old.

  Did not have the same experience of high energy and thought-provoking conversations.

  Focused on what is not working during their discussions thus bringing down morale.

A complete opposite experience!

What did we do? As a leadership team we had to determine a best solution to support all the good we  were witnessing from the YP group yet engage everyone to bridge the generational gap. The only way to  do this was to bring the groups together and create a new voice of the people. We did just that. We now  have a “non-mandatory” group entitled the “Creative Innovations” committee. They meet quarterly  with sub-groups doing work in teams between each gathering. This began in Q1 of 2019 and the energy  is positive as we await results.

Approach

Due to our Design Thinking training, we will be utilizing the different methods as appropriate with the  Creative Innovations committee. We are excited to execute and experiment with the different tools  knowing the future holds compelling results.


Design Thinking for Innovation Final Project - Liron Levi Challenge We are a small company of 30 talented employees with 46 % being Millennial . The leadership team consists of 5 key individuals that lead the organization making well thought out decisions as a group or as their daily responsibilities require it . With a desire to retain the entire staff it is our responsibility to foster ways to enhance the employee experience . The idea came to launch Generational Meetings and we started with the Millennial group first . We wanted to create a space for people to have a voice , stimulate discussions and result in ideas to grow the organization organically . What we did not expect was the impact on other Generational groups and a feeling of exclusion . Selection As an organization we had not gone through Design Thinking training , so I am seeing that our approach was Experimental and had the characteristics of the Learning Launch method . We were able to use the Learning Launch tools as an experiment and quite quickly test this idea . Application For the first Learning Launch we assembled the staff of Millennial ’s , I gave a statement that this was an experiment and if it was just this one meeting that was fine . If it gained strength and fostered ideas for company growth and employee commitment it would be a win . There were some ground rules set to maintain structure and to stimulate engagement . The rules were :  No leadership in the meetings – strictly Millennial “ non ” managers .  While this is meant to be a safe environment to share ideas , concerns and solutions , it was not meant to create negative discussions . Should an issue be discussed it was to generate a solution .  Assign a spokesperson that would report back after the meetings , so the leadership team could address each item one at a time and act on requests as appropriate . As the Learning Launch went on , the group met success and continued to meet quarterly for one year . They titled themselves the Young Professionals . Insight The meetings proved to be extremely fruitful and brought solid bonding as well . The YP ’s followed the rules of engagement and with one hour each quarter , they brought not only ideas but actual solutions to such topics as employee training , client experience through social media , web site overhaul to include professional input and several simple changes in the office and social events to add to our employee centric culture . However , it was after the fact that we offered Gen - X the same opportunity and that fell short for several reasons :  Hurt feelings of not being included originally .  Feeling that their ideas did not matter – too old .  Did not have the same experience of high energy and thought - provoking conversations .  Focused on what is not working during their discussions thus bringing down morale . A complete opposite experience ! What did we do ? As a leadership team we had to determine a best solution to support all the good we were witnessing from the YP group yet engage everyone to bridge the generational gap . The only way to do this was to bring the groups together and create a new voice of the people . We did just that . We now have a “ non - mandatory ” group entitled the “ Creative Innovations ” committee . They meet quarterly with sub - groups doing work in teams between each gathering . This began in Q1 of 2019 and the energy is positive as we await results . Approach Due to our Design Thinking training , we will be utilizing the different methods as appropriate with the Creative Innovations committee . We are excited to execute and experiment with the different tools knowing the future holds compelling results .