Challenge: Describe your challenge, including all relevant information.

Over the past decade, the financial industry in the United States has faced an unprecedented number of  transformative challenges including sweeping regulatory reforms with tougher compliance burdens.  This  regulatory scrutiny has forced a number of banking institutions, including my client, to begin a journey of  “defining and driving a culture of risk resiliency across the bank”.

This challenge is what can be easily described as a “wicked problem” where the stakeholders of the bank,  especially senior management, can't seem to agree on a definition of what resiliency or even culture is,  much less agree on a solution or a way of achieve a culture of resiliency.   In essence, as Rosangela Watkins  points out, “the only way to see if something works is to try it”.

So, our challenge of defining resiliency and developing a momentum plan to drive a culture of resiliency  by aligning a group of 50+ internal stakeholders from diverse backgrounds (business development,  technology, operations), is an ideal challenge for design thinking, in general and visualization, in  particular.

Selection: In your own words, briefly describe the tool you selected

I specifically selected visualization because I needed a tool that could avoid endless debates amongst the  diverse stakeholder on how they might define risk, resiliency and culture, all concepts that are complex  and where no right or wrong answer truly exists.  As Rosangela Watkins writes, “when we´re talking and  we´re verbalizing things we see internally, we may all be understanding the words in a slightly different  way.”   So, the challenge requires a tool that is able to explore those different internal interpretations, find  common patterns or threads, and begin to think synthesize it.

The strength behind this tool is that the stakeholders can all “tap into a single picture”. This is critical  because people support what they help to create and visualization is the process of creating a picture of  something –like a culture of risk resiliency–that doesn´t yet exist in this particular organization.  “It´s  creating pictures of something that will soon be”.  Rosangela Watkins

Application: Describe how you applied the tool you selected to your challenge

In order to apply this tool effectively during the actual half-day session whose objective was, in part, to  align around a common definition of risk resiliency and develop a momentum plan to drive a culture of  resiliency across the bank, I took the following steps:

1. Conducted numerous interviews with key stakeholders across three areas (business, technology,

and operations) to understand their definition of resiliency and consider an appropriate analogy

2. Eight different images where created for each of the most relevant analogies provided by the

interviewees, including: resiliency is the plumbing that Wall Street is built on, burying the electric  lines, or the foundation of a house.

3. As the senior leadership team arrived the day of the session, I asked them to reflect on all of the

analogies that they had shared with us and asked them to answer “what the analogies shared in  common”.  I wanted them to see that in spite of the fact that they were all different, there was a  common pattern that ran through all of them—the fact that these images all represented resiliency  as the “foundation” on which the bank was built on.

4. After conducting a number of introductory presentations and activities that helped clarify and

align the stakeholder on the rationale for why a culture of risk resiliency was so important now, I  developed a specific visualization activity that asked them to image a time in the future (say 3-5

years out) where, in this utopian ideal, they have been successful in evolving their culture to drive  and sustain resiliency at the bank.  They were then asked to write a headline to communicate their  vision forcefully and optimistically and draw an image that captures what good looks like.

5. After having crafted the headlines to the article, the groups began to converge on a number of

different images all of which, except for one, were distinctly different to the original eight  analogies. The groups were then asked to share their work to the rest of the group and focus, in  particular, on the discussions and thought process that went into the image.

6. As the groups began to share their pictures and thoughts, there was a general sense of excitement

among the senior leadership team as they began to rally around several of these visuals.  Perhaps it  was because they began to sense that alignment was possible?   That the future they were  visualizing was possible?  After approximately 10 minutes, one new image was proposed that  seems to catch on like wildfire—that of Atlas supporting the World.   After a few minor iterations,  it became clear that the message for this senior leadership team would be that risk resiliency was  “the power to prevail”.

Insight: Describe the insight you gained from applying the tool you selected to your challenge

I would highlight two new, key insights:

1. Visualization helps garner buy-in more easily.  While it is easy to pick apart a sentence by

focusing on the dislike or rejection of one word or focusing on the “interpretation” of another,  visualization seems to be a more universal language.  It allows us to first and foremost share in the  joy of “success” in aligning around a common picture.  This makes verbalization, or putting words  behind the image, become a much easier feat to accomplish.

2. Visualization also allows for an easier exchange of observations, ideas, and insights amongst the

stakeholders.  As the sense of alignment and consensus begins to grow as stakeholders discuss the  different images, it becomes easier to engage an even wider number of participants into the  discussion and deepen the conversation.  Since it is difficult to disagree with a drawing, the  conversation becomes lively and engaging, rather that confrontational.  As a result, it is much  easier to exploit the creativity amongst the group to generate a new and novel solution.

Approach: Describe what you might do differently next time -- applying the same tool you selected  or a different one -- and the reason(s) why.

One of the things I would do differently is use visualization jointly with storytelling.  While visualization  allowed the group of senior leaders to achieve alignment around the definition of resiliency and  eventually develop a momentum plan with a number of key initiatives geared to drive a culture of  resiliency, it is important to keep in mind what Rosangela Watkins highlighted when she stated that, “it´s not  about the list of things we have to do, it´s about the connection that we give to people about a piece of  information that we´re trying to share”.

In this case, I think using storytelling in developing the momentum plan would have allowed the senior  leadership team to create a powerful means of creating a “purpose” or a “cause” that could have ignited  and united all employees in the organization around the initiatives that they would be in charge of  implementing across the organization.  Rather than create a list of interesting initiatives to “solve” the  challenges of evolving a culture of resiliency as we did, storytelling would have allowed us to find a way  to ignite and untie people because stories are an agent of change…they change our hearts and minds.


Challenge : Describe your challenge , including all relevant information . Over the past decade , the financial industry in the United States has faced an unprecedented number of transformative challenges including sweeping regulatory reforms with tougher compliance burdens . This regulatory scrutiny has forced a number of banking institutions , including my client , to begin a journey of “ defining and driving a culture of risk resiliency across the bank ” . This challenge is what can be easily described as a “ wicked problem ” where the stakeholders of the bank , especially senior management , ca n't seem to agree on a definition of what resiliency or even culture is , much less agree on a solution or a way of achieve a culture of resiliency . In essence , as Rosangela Watkins points out , “ the only way to see if something works is to try it ” . So , our challenge of defining resiliency and developing a momentum plan to drive a culture of resiliency by aligning a group of 50 + internal stakeholders from diverse backgrounds ( business development , technology , operations ) , is an ideal challenge for design thinking , in general and visualization , in particular . Selection : In your own words , briefly describe the tool you selected I specifically selected visualization because I needed a tool that could avoid endless debates amongst the diverse stakeholder on how they might define risk , resiliency and culture , all concepts that are complex and where no right or wrong answer truly exists . As Rosangela Watkins writes , “ when we´re talking and we´re verbalizing things we see internally , we may all be understanding the words in a slightly different way . ” So , the challenge requires a tool that is able to explore those different internal interpretations , find common patterns or threads , and begin to think synthesize it . The strength behind this tool is that the stakeholders can all “ tap into a single picture ” . This is critical because people support what they help to create and visualization is the process of creating a picture of something – like a culture of risk resiliency – that doesn´t yet exist in this particular organization . “ It´s creating pictures of something that will soon be ” . Rosangela Watkins Application : Describe how you applied the tool you selected to your challenge In order to apply this tool effectively during the actual half - day session whose objective was , in part , to align around a common definition of risk resiliency and develop a momentum plan to drive a culture of resiliency across the bank , I took the following steps : 1 . Conducted numerous interviews with key stakeholders across three areas ( business , technology , and operations ) to understand their definition of resiliency and consider an appropriate analogy 2 . Eight different images where created for each of the most relevant analogies provided by the interviewees , including : resiliency is the plumbing that Wall Street is built on , burying the electric lines , or the foundation of a house . 3 . As the senior leadership team arrived the day of the session , I asked them to reflect on all of the analogies that they had shared with us and asked them to answer “ what the analogies shared in common ” . I wanted them to see that in spite of the fact that they were all different , there was a common pattern that ran through all of them — the fact that these images all represented resiliency as the “ foundation ” on which the bank was built on . 4 . After conducting a number of introductory presentations and activities that helped clarify and align the stakeholder on the rationale for why a culture of risk resiliency was so important now , I developed a specific visualization activity that asked them to image a time in the future ( say 3 - 5 years out ) where , in this utopian ideal , they have been successful in evolving their culture to drive and sustain resiliency at the bank . They were then asked to write a headline to communicate their vision forcefully and optimistically and draw an image that captures what good looks like . 5 . After having crafted the headlines to the article , the groups began to converge on a number of different images all of which , except for one , were distinctly different to the original eight analogies . The groups were then asked to share their work to the rest of the group and focus , in particular , on the discussions and thought process that went into the image . 6 . As the groups began to share their pictures and thoughts , there was a general sense of excitement among the senior leadership team as they began to rally around several of these visuals . Perhaps it was because they began to sense that alignment was possible ? That the future they were visualizing was possible ? After approximately 10 minutes , one new image was proposed that seems to catch on like wildfire — that of Atlas supporting the World . After a few minor iterations , it became clear that the message for this senior leadership team would be that risk resiliency was “ the power to prevail ” . Insight : Describe the insight you gained from applying the tool you selected to your challenge I would highlight two new , key insights : 1 . Visualization helps garner buy - in more easily . While it is easy to pick apart a sentence by focusing on the dislike or rejection of one word or focusing on the “ interpretation ” of another , visualization seems to be a more universal language . It allows us to first and foremost share in the joy of “ success ” in aligning around a common picture . This makes verbalization , or putting words behind the image , become a much easier feat to accomplish . 2 . Visualization also allows for an easier exchange of observations , ideas , and insights amongst the stakeholders . As the sense of alignment and consensus begins to grow as stakeholders discuss the different images , it becomes easier to engage an even wider number of participants into the discussion and deepen the conversation . Since it is difficult to disagree with a drawing , the conversation becomes lively and engaging , rather that confrontational . As a result , it is much easier to exploit the creativity amongst the group to generate a new and novel solution . Approach : Describe what you might do differently next time -- applying the same tool you selected or a different one -- and the reason(s ) why . One of the things I would do differently is use visualization jointly with storytelling . While visualization allowed the group of senior leaders to achieve alignment around the definition of resiliency and eventually develop a momentum plan with a number of key initiatives geared to drive a culture of resiliency , it is important to keep in mind what Rosangela Watkins highlighted when she stated that , “ it´s not about the list of things we have to do , it´s about the connection that we give to people about a piece of information that we´re trying to share ” . In this case , I think using storytelling in developing the momentum plan would have allowed the senior leadership team to create a powerful means of creating a “ purpose ” or a “ cause ” that could have ignited and united all employees in the organization around the initiatives that they would be in charge of implementing across the organization . Rather than create a list of interesting initiatives to “ solve ” the challenges of evolving a culture of resiliency as we did , storytelling would have allowed us to find a way to ignite and untie people because stories are an agent of change … they change our hearts and minds .