Sustaining an Innovation Practice
Using experiential learning as a catalyst for process evolution
| Challenge | A firm has tasted the value of a human centered approach to problem solving through the practice of Design Thinking. Based on the success of a pilot, the firm has decided to institutionalize this practice. |
| What’s wrong with that? | – Lack of skilled resources – The need to not adversely impact work in progress – A predictable level of resistance to change |
| Innovation services delivered | – The creation of a Design Thinking center of excellence – A trained and empowered team of change agents to lead the way – A roadmap to rollout this practice across the firm |
Context:
A large financial services firm, after having experienced the very positive outcomes resulting from a Design Thinking pilot, made the decision to institutionalize this practice and integrate it into their ways of working across the firm. The challenge:
- lack of internal resources to plan and execute a rollout
- lack of internal expertise in the practice and coaching of Design Thinking
- the need to not interrupt or adversely impact work in progress
- and a natural and predictable resistance to change from a subset of associates
Approach
- Worked with organizational leaders to identify change agents – individuals from various parts of the company representing a cross-section of skills and roles, all of whom with the position and disposition to embrace new ways of working and willing to drive change within their teams and as needed by the firm.
- Brought together these change agents for an immersive 3-day “Applying Design Thinking” course – a dynamic mix of short instructional lectures and guided, hands-on teamwork where they ‘learned through doing’ by working on a real customer problem (based on the highly successful Stanford University d. school model).
- Provided individual coaching following the course to bridge the training experience back to day-to-day operations.
- Defined a roadmap guiding the firm on next steps to engage these change agents as Design Thinking evangelists and coaches, and establishing a sustained Design Thinking practice.
Impact
- Education: A group of 30 individuals eager to be catalysts for innovation and to advocate for the value of this customer driven approach through first-hand stories of their own experiences:
- how they used simple tools and methods to first understand customer needs and how that knowledge drove solution design
- how the spirit of experimentation served to mitigate risks and control costs
- how a relentless focus on the customer coupled with a bias toward action and collaboration enabled then to deliver meaningful solutions in record time
- Organizational Transformation: A Design Thinking center of excellence and an empowered team of change agents able to seed a rollout across the firm.
- Process evolution: The foundation for institutionalizing a human-centered, design led solution delivery process.
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