Leading the Learning with Design Thinking  Design Thinking for Innovation – Peer Graded Assessment  Antonio Ledezma  March 15, 2018    Challenge  I work for a Pharmaceutical Company, and we follow our parent organization’s  business planning process of developing “Mid-Term Plans (MTP)” that are 3-year  road maps that help us map our departmental goals to the overall corporate  goals.  We are nearing the end of the MTP that covered 2009-2015 for the  Training Department, and will be preparing to refresh our goals for 2019-2021.  In  the past, the Leadership team has completed this exercise on our own, and then  cascaded our plan down to the rest of the department.  I believe that we have an  opportunity to improve upon our plans by including the individual trainers and  support staff in this process.  Applying the principles learned in this course,  specifically the idea generation insights from Week 3, could really provide us with  a robust plan for the next three years.    Selection  My rationale behind choosing to leverage idea generation stems from the  thinking around the questions “What is” and “What if”.  As a Training Department,  our Vision is to Lead the Learning for our customers.  You will note that we do  not say “training” and that is by design.  We strive to make our classroom events  more than traditional lecture sessions with interactive workshops, the inclusion of  technology, and leveraging different room layouts for a more immersive feel.  In  the spirit of keeping things fresh – using “What is” could be a perfect start for  taking a look at our learners, how they learn today compared to how our classes  function, and to really dig into their needs.  Then we can leverage “What if”  sessions to build out a host of ideas that can reinvigorate what we do.  The goal  would be to end up with a practical plan that focuses on both near- and long-term  opportunities to enhance our learning platform.    Application/Approach  I will outline my application and approach through a description of a series of  planned workshops.  Unfortunately, as we are on a Fiscal Year, this course has  coincided with year-end business, and I will not have the opportunity to run the  sessions and report outcomes.  I will provide context around expected outcomes  that will be hypothetical in nature, and hope that they will help illustrate the vision  for how I will apply my learning.      As is standard practice for our planning sessions, each team will be required to  bring research to help shape the discussion.  Our team spends 2-3 days per  month engaging directly with our customers in the field.  They have already been  given direction to spend time discussing how our representatives learn in their  day-to-day business.  What is their method for learning during the day - do they  take time during sales calls to review marketing materials?  What is their

preferred method for learning - are they listening to developmental podcasts or  reading books/blogs?  What is their favorite tool to use for learning - are there  any apps they use on a personal basis to develop themselves, maybe learning a  new language?  The most important question to ask – what is their biggest  challenge in continuing their development with our organization.      Our first session will focus on this research and we will develop our Napkin  Patches based on common areas across each team.  Following our team read  outs, the group will be divided into mixed teams (to maximize different views &  thoughts) to determine the needs and benefits of our customers, and leveraging  our white boards in the Learning Lab we’ll identify our baseline plan for the  current year, as well as those ideas that will take a few more years to develop.    The next session will be our “What If” session where teams will begin to gather  their ideas for how our plans can meet the identified needs, and to do so in a  fashion that really evolves our ability to Lead the Learning.  We will again use  mixed groups to maximize our ideas, and will spend time discussing ideas and  building out our Napkins.  Since we have two primary types of learning –  classroom and virtual – we will use different colored post-it notes to identify  where ideas fit for delivery methods.  In addition, we have a Learning Technology  team that focuses on novel methods for training delivery – virtual, eLearning,  apps, etc. – so they will have a different color to identify any new technologies  that we would need to invest in or pilot.      Ideas from this session will further be grouped into “Now” sections to help build  out near-term initiatives, and “Future” sections to identify those that will need  more time to develop and implement.  These will finalize our Napkins as the team  can group them further into Big Ideas that we can align to the business needs of  the organization, and map out our MTP for 2019-2021.    Insight  As I stated earlier, our Leadership Team traditionally sets the direction for our  Department as it pertains to aligning with corporate goals.  These plans tie to  business need and our delivery methods fall within a typical learning and  development framework for supporting the training needs of our organization.  In  essence, we build what the business asks for to meet their goal, and run  workshops to help communicate them.      This method will enable us to bring more innovative ideas to the table, but more  importantly, ideas built for our customers based on their preferences.  We have  the ability to design learning programs that are atypical in nature, and go beyond  our standard workshops or virtual classrooms.  By gaining feedback from our  customers, they can feel like they are a part of their own development.  In  addition, bringing the full department into the discussion and development of our  plans should provide a connected team, which can ultimately lead us to success  through a sense of ownership and shared direction.


Leading the Learning with Design Thinking Design Thinking for Innovation – Peer Graded Assessment Antonio Ledezma March 15 , 2018 Challenge I work for a Pharmaceutical Company , and we follow our parent organization ’s business planning process of developing “ Mid - Term Plans ( MTP ) ” that are 3 - year road maps that help us map our departmental goals to the overall corporate goals . We are nearing the end of the MTP that covered 2009 - 2015 for the Training Department , and will be preparing to refresh our goals for 2019 - 2021 . In the past , the Leadership team has completed this exercise on our own , and then cascaded our plan down to the rest of the department . I believe that we have an opportunity to improve upon our plans by including the individual trainers and support staff in this process . Applying the principles learned in this course , specifically the idea generation insights from Week 3 , could really provide us with a robust plan for the next three years . Selection My rationale behind choosing to leverage idea generation stems from the thinking around the questions “ What is ” and “ What if ” . As a Training Department , our Vision is to Lead the Learning for our customers . You will note that we do not say “ training ” and that is by design . We strive to make our classroom events more than traditional lecture sessions with interactive workshops , the inclusion of technology , and leveraging different room layouts for a more immersive feel . In the spirit of keeping things fresh – using “ What is ” could be a perfect start for taking a look at our learners , how they learn today compared to how our classes function , and to really dig into their needs . Then we can leverage “ What if ” sessions to build out a host of ideas that can reinvigorate what we do . The goal would be to end up with a practical plan that focuses on both near- and long - term opportunities to enhance our learning platform . Application / Approach I will outline my application and approach through a description of a series of planned workshops . Unfortunately , as we are on a Fiscal Year , this course has coincided with year - end business , and I will not have the opportunity to run the sessions and report outcomes . I will provide context around expected outcomes that will be hypothetical in nature , and hope that they will help illustrate the vision for how I will apply my learning . As is standard practice for our planning sessions , each team will be required to bring research to help shape the discussion . Our team spends 2 - 3 days per month engaging directly with our customers in the field . They have already been given direction to spend time discussing how our representatives learn in their day - to - day business . What is their method for learning during the day - do they take time during sales calls to review marketing materials ? What is their preferred method for learning - are they listening to developmental podcasts or reading books / blogs ? What is their favorite tool to use for learning - are there any apps they use on a personal basis to develop themselves , maybe learning a new language ? The most important question to ask – what is their biggest challenge in continuing their development with our organization . Our first session will focus on this research and we will develop our Napkin Patches based on common areas across each team . Following our team read outs , the group will be divided into mixed teams ( to maximize different views & thoughts ) to determine the needs and benefits of our customers , and leveraging our white boards in the Learning Lab we ’ll identify our baseline plan for the current year , as well as those ideas that will take a few more years to develop . The next session will be our “ What If ” session where teams will begin to gather their ideas for how our plans can meet the identified needs , and to do so in a fashion that really evolves our ability to Lead the Learning . We will again use mixed groups to maximize our ideas , and will spend time discussing ideas and building out our Napkins . Since we have two primary types of learning – classroom and virtual – we will use different colored post - it notes to identify where ideas fit for delivery methods . In addition , we have a Learning Technology team that focuses on novel methods for training delivery – virtual , eLearning , apps , etc . – so they will have a different color to identify any new technologies that we would need to invest in or pilot . Ideas from this session will further be grouped into “ Now ” sections to help build out near - term initiatives , and “ Future ” sections to identify those that will need more time to develop and implement . These will finalize our Napkins as the team can group them further into Big Ideas that we can align to the business needs of the organization , and map out our MTP for 2019 - 2021 . Insight As I stated earlier , our Leadership Team traditionally sets the direction for our Department as it pertains to aligning with corporate goals . These plans tie to business need and our delivery methods fall within a typical learning and development framework for supporting the training needs of our organization . In essence , we build what the business asks for to meet their goal , and run workshops to help communicate them . This method will enable us to bring more innovative ideas to the table , but more importantly , ideas built for our customers based on their preferences . We have the ability to design learning programs that are atypical in nature , and go beyond our standard workshops or virtual classrooms . By gaining feedback from our customers , they can feel like they are a part of their own development . In addition , bringing the full department into the discussion and development of our plans should provide a connected team , which can ultimately lead us to success through a sense of ownership and shared direction .