Podcast appearances and mentions of Jeanne Liedtka

Creativity through the lens of authors, teachers, innovators, builders and creators"Creativity is about synthesizing and translating"Jeanne Liedtka is the UTC Professor of Business at the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business. With interests at the intersection of strategy and design, Jeanne has written eight books and multiple articles on the subject of strategy, innovation, and design thinking, and consulted with a diverse set of organizations including IBM, Samsung, NASA, The United Nations, and the government of Singapore. Her most recent book, The Experimentation Field Book: A Step-by-Step Project Guide, co-authored with Natalie Foley, David Kester and Elziabeth Chen, was published in February 2024.Natalie Foley is a builder, innovator, teacher and author of The Experimentation Field Book: A Step-by-Step Project Guide. She is passionate about getting a new product, program or team from 0 to 1 and then on the path to scale. Having worked across all sectors and industries, the diversity and connectivity of her experience is brought to bear throughout the testing and building processes, enabling strong exploratory and divergent thinking while maintaining a grasp on the ins and outs of execution, alignment and story-telling. Recently, she led a team that designs, test & launch new products & services at Opportunity@Work, a startup social enterprise that is rewiring the labor market for the 71M workers in America who are STARs* (Skilled Through Alternative Routes, instead of a four-year degree). Previously, she was the CEO of Peer Insight, a venture studio and innovation consulting firm. She has contributed to dozens of new business ventures with clients like Kimberly-Clark, AARP, Canon, the Good Samaritan Society and ArcBest, several of which have become multi-million dollar revenue streams. Before Peer Insight, Natalie worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers & IBM, where she led strategy and tech projects in various countries, and across all organizational functions, and both private & federal clients. She holds an MBA from UVA's Darden School of Business and a BA in Psychology from The College of William & Mary.LinkedIn pages: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-foley-5149292/ & https://www.linkedin.com/in/liedtkaj/book: https://a.co/d/ggFCHdMdownload a book preview & sign up to get teacher/facilitator materials: https://www.darden.virginia.edu/batten-institute/research/faculty-publications/experimentation

Jeanne Liedtka is on the show! She's an author and has been involved in the corporate strategy field for over 30 years. As a professor at the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia, she teaches both MBAs and executives and consults on innovation, organic growth and design thinking. 

David Kester is the Managing Director of DK&A, Design Thinkers Academy London and the former CEO of the British Design Council.    In this episode, David reflect on the lessons learned through mentorship and allyship. He highlights the role of a supportive mentor and the importance of fostering a collaborative work environment. We discuss responsible product development and the power of surrounding oneself with exceptional individuals. Overall, he emphasizes the transformative impact of valuing and learning from those around us. Do check out The Experimentation Field Book, a book David co-wrote with Jeanne Liedtka, Elizabeth Chen and Natalie Foley.

Natalie Foley has over 20 years of experience leading teams in designing and launching new products, programs, and strategies across the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors. Recently, she joined Opportunity at Work, where she builds, tests, and launches new services to help rewire the labor market for the 71 million workers in America whose skills were acquired through alternative routes instead of a four-year degree. Today on the show, we catch up with Natalie, who was one of our first guests on the podcast, and talk about The Experimentation Field Book, which she co-authored with Jeanne Liedtka, Elizabeth Chen, and David Kester. Listen to learn about: >> Experimentation and iterative learning>> The Experimentation Field Book>> Why experiment? and the benefits of experimentation>> Opportunity@Work's mission   Our Guest Natalie has 20+ years of experience leading teams in designing & launching new products, programs and strategies across the private, public & not-for-profit sectors. Recently, she has joined Opportunity@Work, where she builds, tests & launches new services for employers and employer networks to help rewire the labor market for the 71M workers in America who are STARs* (Skilled Through Alternative Routes, instead of a four-year degree). At Peer Insight, she served as CEO & led partnerships that contributed to dozens of new business ventures with clients like Nike, Kimberly-Clark, AARP, Canon, the Good Samaritan Society and ArcBest, several of which have become multi-million dollar revenue streams. Natalie began her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers and IBM, where she supported clients such as Allstate, the World Bank, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Afghanistan program in technology & strategy initiatives. She is the co-author of a forthcoming book (available soon for pre-order), The Experimentation Field Book: A Step-by-Step Project Guide.   Show Highlights [03:02] Natalie offers gratitude for the DT101 podcast and the learning community it has fostered. [03:42] Natalie catches us up since her 2018 podcast episode. [04:03] Moving on from Peer Insight. [05:05] Taking a role at Opportunity@Work. [05:26] More than 50% of the American workforce are STARs. [08:12] Running experiments in one's personal and professional life. [09:13] How design thinking frees the learner. [10:25] Why Natalie wrote The Experimentation Field Book. [12:49] Natalie offers thoughts on moving out of one's comfort zone and trying something new. [16:59] The Experimentation Field Book will be available at booksellers November 24th. [17:12] How Natalie met Jeanne Liedtka. [17:50] Jeanne approached Natalie about Peer Insight's “secret sauce.” [18:31] Design thinking's superpower. [18:48] What's missing from the design thinking methodology and how the book fills that gap. [20:36] The book gives the reader step-by-step ways to run their own experiments. [21:40] The baggage that can come along with the word experimentation. [24:16] The first step is to frame a testable idea. [28:23] Build like you're right, and test like you're wrong. [31:20] A Miro Moment. [33:32] Opportunity@Work is creating services to help broaden the hiring mindset from only equating degrees with skillsets to looking at other ways of determining someone's ability to do the job. [34:17] Four things intriguing Natalie about her current nonprofit work. [34:48] We're designing for a world that doesn't exist yet. [36:11] Looking at how non-profits receive funding. [37:12] The ambiguity and attachment struggle in a non-profit world where people are very passionate about their mission. [37:49] Dealing with the feelings associated with the word experimentation. [38:44] The Experimentation Field Book is made for everyone, not just designers. [40:56] The process in the book helps people to not become too attached to one idea. [43:24] The book empowers anyone to put together and run an experiment on themselves or within their organization.   Links Natalie on LinkedIn Natalie on Twitter Opportunity at Work Using Design Thinking to Empower the ‘Human' in HR 6 steps to knowing how to know | Natalie Foley | TEDxCharlottesville Design Thinking: Four Steps for Innovation Peer Insight    Book Recommendations The Experimentation Field Book: A Step-by-Step Project Guide, by Jeanne Liedtka, Elizabeth Chen, Natalie Foley, and David Kester   Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like Designing for the Greater Good, Strategy + Design Thinking, and Measuring Design Thinking with Jeanne Liedtka — DT101 E1 Leading a Design Thinking Consultancy, Betting Small to Win Big, and Driving Business Growth with Design Thinking with Natalie Foley — DT101 E5 Experiencing Design: The Innovator's Journey with Karen Hold — DT101 E71

Natalie Foley has over 20 years of experience leading teams in designing and launching new products, programs, and strategies across the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors. Recently, she joined Opportunity at Work, where she builds, tests, and launches new services to help rewire the labor market for the 71 million workers in America whose skills were acquired through alternative routes instead of a four-year degree. Today on the show, we catch up with Natalie, who was one of our first guests on the podcast, and talk about The Experimentation Field Book, which she co-authored with Jeanne Liedtka, Elizabeth Chen, and David Kester. Listen to Learn About >> Experimentation and iterative learning  >> The Experimentation Field Book >> Why experiment? The benefits of experimentation >> Opportunity@Work's mission Our Guest Natalie has 20+ years of experience leading teams in designing & launching new products, programs and strategies across the private, public & not-for-profit sectors. Recently, she has joined Opportunity@Work, where she builds, tests & launches new services for employers and employer networks to help rewire the labor market for the 71M workers in America who are STARs* (Skilled Through Alternative Routes, instead of a four-year degree). At Peer Insight, she served as CEO & led partnerships that contributed to dozens of new business ventures with clients like Nike, Kimberly-Clark, AARP, Canon, the Good Samaritan Society and ArcBest, several of which have become multi-million dollar revenue streams. Natalie began her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers and IBM, where she supported clients such as Allstate, the World Bank, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Afghanistan program in technology & strategy initiatives. She is the co-author of a forthcoming book (available soon for pre-order), The Experimentation Field Book: A Step-by-Step Project Guide. Show Highlights [03:02] Natalie offers gratitude for the DT101 podcast and the learning community it has fostered. [03:42] Natalie catches us up since her 2018 podcast episode. [04:03] Moving on from Peer Insight. [05:05] Taking a role at Opportunity@Work. [05:26] More than 50% of the American workforce are STARs. [08:12] Running experiments in one's personal and professional life. [09:13] How design thinking frees the learner. [10:25] Why Natalie wrote The Experimentation Field Book. [12:49] Natalie offers thoughts on moving out of one's comfort zone and trying something new. [16:59] The Experimentation Field Book will be available at booksellers November 24th. [17:12] How Natalie met Jeanne Liedtka. [17:50] Jeanne approached Natalie about Peer Insight's “secret sauce.” [18:31] Design thinking's superpower. [18:48] What's missing from the design thinking methodology and how the book fills that gap. [20:36] The book gives the reader step-by-step ways to run their own experiments. [21:40] The baggage that can come along with the word experimentation. [24:16] The first step is to frame a testable idea. [28:23] Build like you're right, and test like you're wrong. [31:20] A Miro Moment. [33:32] Opportunity@Work is creating services to help broaden the hiring mindset from only equating degrees with skillsets to looking at other ways of determining someone's ability to do the job. [34:17] Four things intriguing Natalie about her current nonprofit work. [34:48] We're designing for a world that doesn't exist yet. [36:11] Looking at how non-profits receive funding. [37:12] The ambiguity and attachment struggle in a non-profit world where people are very passionate about their mission. [37:49] Dealing with the feelings associated with the word experimentation. [38:44] The Experimentation Field Book is made for everyone, not just designers. [40:56] The process in the book helps people to not become too attached to one idea. [43:24] The book empowers anyone to put together and run an experiment on themselves or within their organization. Links Natalie on LinkedIn Natalie on Twitter Opportunity at Work Using Design Thinking to Empower the ‘Human' in HR 6 steps to knowing how to know | Natalie Foley | TEDxCharlottesville Design Thinking: Four Steps for Innovation Peer Insight Book Recommendation The Experimentation Field Book: A Step-by-Step Project Guide, by Jeanne Liedtka, Elizabeth Chen, Natalie Foley, and David Kester Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like Designing for the Greater Good, Strategy + Design Thinking, and Measuring Design Thinking with Jeanne Liedtka — DT101 E1 Leading a Design Thinking Consultancy, Betting Small to Win Big, and Driving Business Growth with Design Thinking with Natalie Foley — DT101 E5 Experiencing Design: The Innovator's Journey with Karen Hold — DT101 E71

In this special edition of Darden Admissions' podcasts, we're excited to share a recent conversation between Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions Dawna Clarke and Interim Dean of the Darden School of Business Jeanne Liedtka. In this wide-ranging conversation, Liedtka reflects upon her tenure at the Darden School, what drew her to the field of Design Thinking, what she loves about Charlottesville, the impact of the Darden academic environment and more. This episode is essential listening.

In this special edition of Darden Admissions' podcasts, we're excited to share a recent conversation between Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions Dawna Clarke and Interim Dean of the Darden School of Business Jeanne Liedtka. In this wide-ranging conversation, Liedtka reflects upon her tenure at the Darden School, what drew her to the field of Design Thinking, what she loves about Charlottesville, the impact of the Darden academic environment and more. This episode is essential listening.

Innovation is a team sport and design thinking is a team activity. A great team involves multiple disciplines, diversity of perspectives, and a culture of permission to help guide each other towards good behaviours.Adam Billing is the founder of Treehouse Innovation and Sprintbase, and an expert in how design thinking can be used to fuel innovation. In his conversation with Dan and Pia, he explains the principles of design thinking, which involves deeply understanding what the customer cares about, inviting diverse perspectives to generate ideas, and rapidly moving those ideas towards solutions that are grounded in customer insights.Adam also talks about the importance of team dynamics and how a diverse team with individuals who have self-awareness, collaboration skills, and humility can make design thinking work effectively.Takeaways from Dan and Pia Design thinking is a team sport and meeds diverse perspectives to generate ideas. It protects from leading with assumptions and quickly getting attached to ideas. Design thinking is a slow process that requires psychological safety and co-creation. Innovation requires letting go of expertise and dealing with your own internal workings to be open. Curiosity is fundamental to design thinking and can be applied to life. Don't spend too much time polishing the perfect thing before launching it. Links Connect with Adam via LinkedIn Treehouse Innovation Why “culture fit” may not be what you want – Episode 55 of We Not Me, with Marsha Ramroop Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Tool Kit for Managers, by Jeanne Liedtka and Tim Ogilvie Experiencing Design: The Innovator's Journey, by Jeanne Liedtka and Karen Hold DesignKit by Ideo Leave us a voice note

Diana Sonis is a passionate believer in holistic 360 strategy and design, with extensive expertise in UX and CX design, service design, and design thinking. Lis Hubert is an acclaimed design and strategy thought leader, writer, and speaker with extensive experience in digital strategy, customer experience, information architecture, and design. Together, they founded CX by Design, a human-centered design company that helps businesses design people-centric products, services, and organizational systems in order to create exceptional customer experiences.  Listen to learn about: Customer experience design Near- versus long-term strategy Helping organizations make design thinking part of their internal processes What exactly is innovation? Systemic innovation Designing for customer intent  Our Guests: Diana Sonis Diana is a passionate believer in holistic, 360 strategy and design, with extensive expertise in UX Design, CX Design, Service Design, and the Design Thinking methodology.  As founding partner of CX by Design, Diana's mission is to identify nuggets of opportunity within an organization, reorient its existing systems and structures to improve the human experience, help others extend their thinking, and drive material business advantage.  Having designed, built, and successfully sold several companies, Diana works to help businesses shape abstract concepts into concrete online and offline experiences that respond to the needs and motivations of real people.  When she's not solving strategic challenges, Diana can be found in pursuit of good coffee everywhere. Lis Hubert Lis is an acclaimed design and strategy thought leader, writer, and speaker with extensive expertise in Digital Strategy, Customer Experience, Information Architecture, and Design Thinking.  As founding partner of CX by Design, she has made it her mission to help companies meet their strategic goals. She does so by making the invisible visible through research, making the complex simple through her unique perspective, and bringing understanding and meaning through expert facilitation.  With over a decade of designing successful products and strategies for clients of all sizes, her passion lies in helping her partners think holistically about driving, and enacting, real change. Lis helps businesses not only increase their bottom line, but also their longevity through customer loyalty. When not tackling complex strategic problems, you can find Lis traveling the world enjoying the human experience to the fullest.    Show Highlights [01:18] Diana and Lis talk about their paths into design and customer experience. [07:04] How Lis and Diana approach systems design. [08:11] The three components of a business ecosystem. [09:03] Gauging the health of the business based on the components. [11:27] Lis' and Diana's business backgrounds and how it's helpful for the work they do now. [12:37] Near-term strategy versus long-term strategy. [13:40] Strategy is no good without a roadmap and a process. [16:25] Working backwards from the goal to create the map to get there. [18:38] Why CX by Design starts their weekly client meetings with a few minutes of non-work-related chat. [20:58] Helping clients see the potential of design thinking as a problem-solving method. [24:32] Getting an entire organization to shift into thinking like a designer. [26:47] Creating a culture of innovation. [27:39] CX by Design's “sweet spot.” [28:24] What is innovation? [29:26] The importance of language in an organization's innovation culture. [31:56] The concept of systemic innovation. [33:40] Design for customer intent. [35:32] Looking for ways customer intent and a business' core values interconnect. [36:08] Diana and Lis use the company Patagonia as an example. [38:48] How CX by Design uses information architecture tools in their work. [43:43] Books Lis and Diana recommend that have influenced their work.   Links Diana on LinkedIn Diana on Twitter Diana on Medium Diana's website Diana's articles on UX Booth Diana's articles on boxes and arrows Lis on LinkedIn Lis on Twitter Lis on Medium Lis' personal website Lis' professional website Lis on Women Talk Design Lis' articles at UX Magazine Lis' articles on boxes and arrows Lis' articles on UX Booth CX by Design – sign up for their newsletter CX by Design on Twitter   Book Recommendations Who Do We Choose to Be?: Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity, by Margaret J. Wheatley Pervasive Information Architecture: Designing Cross-Channel User Experiences, by Andrea Resmini and Luca Rosati Ten Types of Innovation: The Discipline of Building Breakthroughs, by Larry Keeley, Helen Walters, Ryan Pikkel, and Brian Quinn The Compass and the Nail: How the Patagonia Model of Loyalty Can Save Your Business, and Might Just Save the Planet, by Craig Wilson and Kyle Tait Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High, Third Edition, by Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, and Emily Gregory The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage, by Roger Martin Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Tool Kit for Managers, by Jeanne Liedtka and Tim Ogilvie This Is Service Design Doing: Applying Service Design Thinking in the Real World, by Marc Stickdorn, Markus Hormess, Adam Lawrence, and Jakob Schneider   Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like Design Thinking for the Public Sector + Building and Training Design Thinking Teams with Stephanie Wade — DT101 E14 Civic Design + Innovation Ops + System Design with Ryann Hoffman — DT101 E62 Employee Experience by Design: How to Create an Effective EX for Competitive Advantage with Belinda Gannaway — DT101 E75

Diana Sonis is a passionate believer in holistic 360 strategy and design, with extensive expertise in UX and CX design, service design, and design thinking. Lis Hubert is an acclaimed design and strategy thought leader, writer, and speaker with extensive experience in digital strategy, customer experience, information architecture, and design. Together, they founded CX by Design, a human-centered design company that helps businesses design people-centric products, services, and organizational systems in order to create exceptional customer experiences.  Listen to learn about: Customer experience design Near- versus long-term strategy Helping organizations make design thinking part of their internal processes What exactly is innovation? Systemic innovation Designing for customer intent  Our Guests: Diana Sonis Diana is a passionate believer in holistic, 360 strategy and design, with extensive expertise in UX Design, CX Design, Service Design, and the Design Thinking methodology.  As founding partner of CX by Design, Diana's mission is to identify nuggets of opportunity within an organization, reorient its existing systems and structures to improve the human experience, help others extend their thinking, and drive material business advantage.  Having designed, built, and successfully sold several companies, Diana works to help businesses shape abstract concepts into concrete online and offline experiences that respond to the needs and motivations of real people.  When she's not solving strategic challenges, Diana can be found in pursuit of good coffee everywhere. Lis Hubert Lis is an acclaimed design and strategy thought leader, writer, and speaker with extensive expertise in Digital Strategy, Customer Experience, Information Architecture, and Design Thinking.  As founding partner of CX by Design, she has made it her mission to help companies meet their strategic goals. She does so by making the invisible visible through research, making the complex simple through her unique perspective, and bringing understanding and meaning through expert facilitation.  With over a decade of designing successful products and strategies for clients of all sizes, her passion lies in helping her partners think holistically about driving, and enacting, real change. Lis helps businesses not only increase their bottom line, but also their longevity through customer loyalty. When not tackling complex strategic problems, you can find Lis traveling the world enjoying the human experience to the fullest.    Show Highlights [01:18] Diana and Lis talk about their paths into design and customer experience. [07:04] How Lis and Diana approach systems design. [08:11] The three components of a business ecosystem. [09:03] Gauging the health of the business based on the components. [11:27] Lis' and Diana's business backgrounds and how it's helpful for the work they do now. [12:37] Near-term strategy versus long-term strategy. [13:40] Strategy is no good without a roadmap and a process. [16:25] Working backwards from the goal to create the map to get there. [18:38] Why CX by Design starts their weekly client meetings with a few minutes of non-work-related chat. [20:58] Helping clients see the potential of design thinking as a problem-solving method. [24:32] Getting an entire organization to shift into thinking like a designer. [26:47] Creating a culture of innovation. [27:39] CX by Design's “sweet spot.” [28:24] What is innovation? [29:26] The importance of language in an organization's innovation culture. [31:56] The concept of systemic innovation. [33:40] Design for customer intent. [35:32] Looking for ways customer intent and a business' core values interconnect. [36:08] Diana and Lis use the company Patagonia as an example. [38:48] How CX by Design uses information architecture tools in their work. [43:43] Books Lis and Diana recommend that have influenced their work.   Links Diana on LinkedIn Diana on Twitter Diana on Medium Diana's website Diana's articles on UX Booth Diana's articles on boxes and arrows Lis on LinkedIn Lis on Twitter Lis on Medium Lis' personal website Lis' professional website Lis on Women Talk Design Lis' articles at UX Magazine Lis' articles on boxes and arrows Lis' articles on UX Booth CX by Design – sign up for their newsletter CX by Design on Twitter   Book Recommendations Who Do We Choose to Be?: Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity, by Margaret J. Wheatley Pervasive Information Architecture: Designing Cross-Channel User Experiences, by Andrea Resmini and Luca Rosati Ten Types of Innovation: The Discipline of Building Breakthroughs, by Larry Keeley, Helen Walters, Ryan Pikkel, and Brian Quinn The Compass and the Nail: How the Patagonia Model of Loyalty Can Save Your Business, and Might Just Save the Planet, by Craig Wilson and Kyle Tait Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High, Third Edition, by Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, and Emily Gregory The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage, by Roger Martin Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Tool Kit for Managers, by Jeanne Liedtka and Tim Ogilvie This Is Service Design Doing: Applying Service Design Thinking in the Real World, by Marc Stickdorn, Markus Hormess, Adam Lawrence, and Jakob Schneider   Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like Design Thinking for the Public Sector + Building and Training Design Thinking Teams with Stephanie Wade — DT101 E14 Civic Design + Innovation Ops + System Design with Ryann Hoffman — DT101 E62 Employee Experience by Design: How to Create an Effective EX for Competitive Advantage with Belinda Gannaway — DT101 E75

What does it take to become a game-changer in your industry? We are constantly bombarded with products and brands seeking our attention and money. How can thought leadership help your brand stand out? Today, we are joined by Karen Hold, the founder of Experience Labs and co-author of Experiencing Design: The Innovator's Journey. Karen's mission is to build creative capacity in individuals, organizations, and cities, using the language of design thinking. The trick is to turn abstract thought into concrete ideas, and to visualize those ideas in a way that captures your audience's attention. Karen takes us back to the early days of her career, at Procter & Gamble, where her focus was on the Folgers Coffee brand. At the time, as Starbucks was starting to emerge, and Folgers needed a way to stand out in order to keep its share of the market. Karen shares how Folgers studied the Starbucks experience, and - due to flawed assessment - decided that the newcomer wasn't a threat to Folgers' market dominance. Fast-forward to 2022, and Starbucks has a major market share - a share that could have belonged to Folgers', if they'd determined the market need and used it to their own advantage.   Determined not to miss the next big opportunity, Karen explains how she changed her thinking. As media changed and people's needs evolved, Karen realized that brands needed better tools to assess market needs - and step forward, staying ahead of the curve by visualizing the future and being ready for the next change. By preparing content with the right approach, you make sure that your thought leadership is there when the audience is ready to receive it.  Karen shares even more insights in her book, and discusses the amazing experience she had working with Jeanne Liedtka and Jessica Eldridge to complete and publish her thought leadership.  In addition, we learn about the digital tool for creating personal development plans that was recently launched as an add-on, giving even more value to the text and its content.  Three Key Takeaways: *  Don't blindly follow data. Use your instinct, experiment, and create thought leadership that sees around corners and tries new things. *  Ensure that your thought leadership is available in a variety of modalities. This allows you to connect with an audience, regardless of their preferred method of communication. *  Adding development tools to a thought leadership book is a method to continue the research you've begun, and expand your insights.

Marc Bolick is the managing partner of the DesignThinkers Group. We're talking about innovation and culture, the future of work and designing value. Listen to learn about: DesignThinkers Group Using design thinking in innovation strategy and projects The future of work Innovative leadership International Development Change management and “corporate antibodies” Our Guest Marc leads DesignThinkers Group, an innovation support firm with consultants across North America and associates in 20 countries. He uses his technical, business and design skills to help organizations ask the right questions and find innovative solutions through human-centered problem solving methodologies. Marc has led projects for a range of multinational brands, non-profits, foundations, NGOs and public sector agencies both in the USA and abroad. He holds an MBA and Master of Business Informatics from Rotterdam School of Management and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University. Marc is an inspiring speaker, a probing strategist, a curious observer of human behavior, and a highly experienced group facilitator. Show Highlights [00:59] Marc gives a brief introduction to DesignThinkers Group. [02:00] His early career in mechanical engineering and working for GE. [02:34] Seeing design first-hand in a GE research lab. [03:47] Representing CT service engineers gave him the chance to interact with customers. [05:08] Shifting into product management. [05:45] Becoming an “accidental consultant.” [06:38] Discovering design thinking. [07:50] Incorporating design thinking into his innovation work. [08:10] Jeanne Liedtka's social technology concept. [11:32] Working with clients and showing what's possible with design thinking. [11:58] Learning design thinking isn't just about taking a class. You have to practice it. [12:38] Using design thinking to design the project. [13:07] Creating the guiding star for the project. [15:48] Working with company cultures. [17:41] One of Marc's favorite questions. [19:10] The future of work. [19:48] Echoes of the Industrial Revolution. [20:49] Marc offers thoughts on what makes a strong innovative leader. [22:53] Exploring the opportunities, offered by design thinking and human-centered design, for improving how we work. [23:53] Why Marc doesn't like the term “empathy building.” [24:30] Better connecting with customers leads to better serving them. [27:24] Pitfalls of personas. [28:27] Marc and Dawan talk about using Indi Young's mental models instead of personas in design work. [32:01] Working as a designer and innovator means you're always learning. [32:45] Books and resources Marc recommends. [34:41] Being with clients is Marc's biggest learning space. [35:04] Marc talks about a co-creation workshop DesignThinkers Group did in Cambodia and using design thinking to solve wicked problems. [39:15] Some other projects DesignThinkers Group has worked on. [41:47] Innovation requires putting something of value out into the world. [43:55] Innovation is all about change, and change management. [44:19] A project DesignThinkers Group did with a large corporation that wanted to tackle the issue of gender representation in top leadership roles. [46:21] Corporations and the status quo fight back against change. [47:47] The responsibility designers have to work on better inclusivity and representation in design.  Links Marc on Twitter Marc on LinkedIn DesignThinkers Group DesignThinkers Group on Twitter DesignThinkers Group on LinkedIn Design Talk What is Design Thinking? Delivering Innovative Solutions Through Service Design Thinking With Marc Bolick How Design Thinking Can Take Service to Another Level, interview with Marc Seth Godin Dave Gray Wednesday Web Jam Book Recommendations The Connected Company, by Dave Gray and Thomas Vander Wahl Gamestorming, by Dave Gray and Sunni Brown This is Marketing: You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn to See, by Seth Godin Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers, by Seth Godin This is Service Design Thinking: Basics, Tools, Cases, Marc Stickdorn, Jakob Schneider This Is Service Design Doing: Applying Service Design Thinking in the Real World, by Marc Stickdorn, Markus Hormess, Adam Lawrence, and Jakob Schneider Ten Types of Innovation: The Discipline of Building Breakthroughs, by Larry Keeley, Helen Walters, Ryan Pikkel, and Brian Quinn Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like Designing for the Greater Good, Strategy + Design Thinking, and Measuring Design Thinking with Jeanne Liedtka — DT101 E1 Problem Spaces, Understanding How People Think, and Practical Empathy with Indi Young — DT101 E6 Experiencing Design: The Innovator's Journey with Karen Hold — DT101 E71 Looking for a design job? Maybe you'd like mine!

Marc Bolick is the managing partner of the DesignThinkers Group. We're talking about innovation and culture, the future of work and designing value. Listen to learn about: DesignThinkers Group Using design thinking in innovation strategy and projects The future of work Innovative leadership International Development Change management and “corporate antibodies” Our Guest Marc leads DesignThinkers Group, an innovation support firm with consultants across North America and associates in 20 countries. He uses his technical, business and design skills to help organizations ask the right questions and find innovative solutions through human-centered problem solving methodologies. Marc has led projects for a range of multinational brands, non-profits, foundations, NGOs and public sector agencies both in the USA and abroad. He holds an MBA and Master of Business Informatics from Rotterdam School of Management and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University. Marc is an inspiring speaker, a probing strategist, a curious observer of human behavior, and a highly experienced group facilitator. Show Highlights [00:59] Marc gives a brief introduction to DesignThinkers Group. [02:00] His early career in mechanical engineering and working for GE. [02:34] Seeing design first-hand in a GE research lab. [03:47] Representing CT service engineers gave him the chance to interact with customers. [05:08] Shifting into product management. [05:45] Becoming an “accidental consultant.” [06:38] Discovering design thinking. [07:50] Incorporating design thinking into his innovation work. [08:10] Jeanne Liedtka's social technology concept. [11:32] Working with clients and showing what's possible with design thinking. [11:58] Learning design thinking isn't just about taking a class. You have to practice it. [12:38] Using design thinking to design the project. [13:07] Creating the guiding star for the project. [15:48] Working with company cultures. [17:41] One of Marc's favorite questions. [19:10] The future of work. [19:48] Echoes of the Industrial Revolution. [20:49] Marc offers thoughts on what makes a strong innovative leader. [22:53] Exploring the opportunities, offered by design thinking and human-centered design, for improving how we work. [23:53] Why Marc doesn't like the term “empathy building.” [24:30] Better connecting with customers leads to better serving them. [27:24] Pitfalls of personas. [28:27] Marc and Dawan talk about using Indi Young's mental models instead of personas in design work. [32:01] Working as a designer and innovator means you're always learning. [32:45] Books and resources Marc recommends. [34:41] Being with clients is Marc's biggest learning space. [35:04] Marc talks about a co-creation workshop DesignThinkers Group did in Cambodia and using design thinking to solve wicked problems. [39:15] Some other projects DesignThinkers Group has worked on. [41:47] Innovation requires putting something of value out into the world. [43:55] Innovation is all about change, and change management. [44:19] A project DesignThinkers Group did with a large corporation that wanted to tackle the issue of gender representation in top leadership roles. [46:21] Corporations and the status quo fight back against change. [47:47] The responsibility designers have to work on better inclusivity and representation in design.  Links Marc on Twitter Marc on LinkedIn DesignThinkers Group DesignThinkers Group on Twitter DesignThinkers Group on LinkedIn Design Talk What is Design Thinking? Delivering Innovative Solutions Through Service Design Thinking With Marc Bolick How Design Thinking Can Take Service to Another Level, interview with Marc Seth Godin Dave Gray Wednesday Web Jam Book Recommendations The Connected Company, by Dave Gray and Thomas Vander Wahl Gamestorming, by Dave Gray and Sunni Brown This is Marketing: You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn to See, by Seth Godin Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers, by Seth Godin This is Service Design Thinking: Basics, Tools, Cases, Marc Stickdorn, Jakob Schneider This Is Service Design Doing: Applying Service Design Thinking in the Real World, by Marc Stickdorn, Markus Hormess, Adam Lawrence, and Jakob Schneider Ten Types of Innovation: The Discipline of Building Breakthroughs, by Larry Keeley, Helen Walters, Ryan Pikkel, and Brian Quinn Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like Designing for the Greater Good, Strategy + Design Thinking, and Measuring Design Thinking with Jeanne Liedtka — DT101 E1 Problem Spaces, Understanding How People Think, and Practical Empathy with Indi Young — DT101 E6 Experiencing Design: The Innovator's Journey with Karen Hold — DT101 E71 Looking for a design job? Maybe you'd like mine!

Drawing on a decade of research and experience of creatively solving problems with Design Thinking, Experiencing Design challenges us to deeply understand what Design Thinking is, and how it can shake-up the way we lead and work together.

My guest is Jeanne Liedtka, Professor at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business and an absolute rockstar of Design Thinking. She's the author of (most recently) Experiencing Design and joins me this episode to talk about getting started with Design Thinking and some pitfalls that can happen along the way as you move yourself and your organization towards not just doing design thinking but experiencing it - the road to mastery, moving past the surface level with Design Thinking. Jeanne's latest book Experiencing Design is organized around a powerful framework that separates Doing vs. Experiencing vs. Becoming. This frame clarifies the transformational journey of an individual as they engage more deeply with Design Thinking.  If you want to deepen and expand your understanding of Design Thinking past the Stanford Design School Hexagons, I highly recommend Jeanne's books. Her 2011 book, Designing for Growth, co-authored with Tim Ogilvy, was a crucial moment in my introduction to the power and breadth of Design Thinking. Jeanne and I have both had this experience with folks we've worked with, and maybe you have had it happen to you: you take a workshop and a lightbulb clicks on in your head... You find a new way of working that you see limitless potential in, that you want to implement and share with others. People say, "I wish my team, my organisation, could work this way. Where can I start?"  And when you bring the tools and tips back to work, something falls flat…transforming how we work together is non-trivial. It's not just about the tools - the doing. It's about the mindsets - the experiencing and becoming. Jeanne and I talk about getting started with the tools of Design Thinking, some of the pitfalls that happen along the way, and how learning in action is a really fundamental and challenging shift both for the individual innovator and also for the organisation as a whole. Many people who I train in these new ways of working say their primary block is that others are not doing it too, that *everyone* isn't trained in these tools. And while I'd love to train the whole organization, it's not always possible, or even wise. My advice is usually, "Start really, really small, and do it in ways that no one can tell you no. Ask for forgiveness instead of permission."  The ROI of DT Jeanne and I also talk about the real ROI on DT. Organizations focus on the visible ROI of Design Thinking - what we will see- first the outputs, the templates, the workshops, and then the innovation they hope for - moving the needle in the business. But the real transformational aspect of Design Thinking is the way people are changed by the activities - what they experience and what they become. (check out the show notes for images of Jeanne's Iceberg model of the ROI of DT) Design Thinking is, of course, doing activities like gathering data, identifying insights, establishing design criteria, generating ideas, prototyping, and experimenting...but each of them results in the individual person experiencing sense-making, alignment, and emergence - some of the real gold in Design Thinking. And all the while, they are becoming more empathetic and confident, collaborative, comfortable with co-creation and difference, able to bring ideas to life, resilient, and adaptive. This is the more deep, more durable transformation that is possible with Design Thinking...this is the real ROI of DT. MVC: Minimum Viable Competencies One of Jeanne's really profound contributions in the book is the idea of "minimum viable competencies": the things we can look for in the people that we are trying to transform and bring on board to this new way of working. Can they listen to understand? Can they separate facts from interpretations of the facts? Are they comfortable with ambiguity? Can they respect other viewpoints? Check out Jeanne's book for a comprehensive list of MVC and a survey to help you benchmark your organization's skills. Jeanne and I also dive into how Design Thinking catalyzes organizational change at the conversational level. For example, in the Emergence phase, she talks about thinking broadly about who you invite to the conversation, and she highlights requisite variety: the idea that the diversity of people in the conversation should match the complexity of the conversation, of the challenge we're hoping to solve.  Refer back to my interview with Professor and Conversational Cybernetics expert Paul Pangaro for a deeper dive into requisite variety and how it applies to conversation dynamics. Also check out my interview with Jason Cyr, a Design Executive at Cisco, where he shares similar reflections on diversity and coalition building in driving a Design Thinking transformation. We also talked about how Design Thinking has a lot of tools, a lot of doings, that help with upfront discovery and testing, but when it comes to learning in action and alignment folks find it challenging to find turn-taking structures that help scaffold the process - in other words, they need facilitation skills: structures to help our conversations be productive: listening non-defensively to critique, exploring disconfirming data with curiosity, accepting imperfect data and moving on... these are not Design Thinking tools, these are conversation design tools. This is where DT bleeds into leadership and self-management. Another point from our conversation that is really important is that different people have different experiences throughout the arc of the design thinking process. Jeanne has this wonderful diagram in her book about how the different DISC profiles of influencer, analyst, driver, and supporter will have different emotional arcs as they go through the Design Thinking process from beginning to end. I think it's really, really important to understand that we need to have empathy with all of our collaborators. We may have a great time with the upfront part of the process, like discovery, and have a really hard time during prototyping and testing. We need a diverse group of collaborators so that we can draw on their perspectives and balance our experience with theirs.  It's important to push against our own biases and to continuously ask, "What kind of diversity is needed for this challenge?" For that, I highly recommend you listen to my conversation with Dr. Lesley-Ann Noel, who I spoke with earlier this year about Decolonizing Design Thinking. It's a really powerful conversation.  It was a great pleasure to be able to sit down and talk with Jeanne Liedtka, and I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did! Links: Jeanne's Website Why Design Thinking Works Jeanne's books The Iceberg of DT ROI: from Jeanne's interview with Mural: https://www.mural.co/roi

This is the first DT101 Books episode. Karen Hold joins us on the show to talk about Experiencing Design: The Innovator's Journey, a book she co-authored with Jeanne Liedtka and Jessica Eldridge. In DT101 Books episodes, authors explore why their book exists and what it will help you do. Each book is chosen because it has something that will help you think and solve like a designer as you learn, lead and apply design thinking.  Our Guest and Her Co-Authors Jeanne Liedtka is a faculty member at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia. Her Columbia Business School Publishing books include Designing for Growth: A Manager's Toolkit (2011) and Design Thinking for the Greater Good: Innovation in the Social Sector (2017). Karen Hold is the founder of Experience Labs, an innovation consulting firm. She is also the director of DT:DC, a design thinking community in Washington, DC, and a visiting professor at École des Ponts Business School in Paris, France. Jessica Eldridge is a consultant working at the intersection of educational equity and purposeful innovation. She is a specialist in design thinking, innovation management, and cross-sector collaboration.   About Experiencing Design: The Innovator's Journey In daylong hackathons, design thinking seems deceptively easy. On the surface, it involves a set of seemingly simple activities such as gathering data, identifying insights, generating ideas, prototyping, and experimentation. But practiced at a superficial level, even great design tools don't go deep enough to create the shifts in mindset and skill set that are required to achieve transformational impact.  Going deep with design requires more than changing the activities of innovators; it involves creating the conditions that shape who they become. Individuals become design thinkers by experiencing design. Drawing on decades of researching and teaching design thinking to people not trained in design, Jeanne Liedtka, Karen Hold, and Jessica Eldridge offer a guide for how to create these deep experiences at each stage of the design thinking journey, whether for an individual, a team, or an organization.  For each experience phase, they specify the mindset shifts and competencies that need to be achieved, describe how different personality types experience different kinds of journeys, and show how to fully leverage the diversity of teams. Experiencing Design explores both the science and practicalities of design and includes two assessment instruments for individual and organizational development. Ultimately, innovators need to be someone new to create something new. This book shows you how to use design thinking to make this happen.   Show Highlights [00:56] Dawan muses on trying to come up with a name for the podcast book episodes. [01:06] Michael Silverblatt as the one and only Bookworm. [02:07] Karen talks about the ideas and discussions that started the book-writing process. [02:51] Igniting the design spark (or not!) in the people she works with. [04:57] The book is for those already familiar with, and using, design thinking. [06:05] It's intended to help design thinking users deepen their practice. [07:25] Different personality types experience design and design thinking differently. [08:11] Karen, Jeanne, and Jessica developed four Innovator Personalities. [08:20] You have to become someone new to make something new. [08:54] Karen gives an example from her time on the brand team at Folgers during the rise of Starbucks. [10:15] Quantitative versus qualitative research. [10:48] Biases in decision making. [13:47] Insights and sensemaking occurs gradually and purposefully. [15:04] Sensemaking involves learning from perspectives that are not our own. [18:00] The book provides a set of Minimum Viable Competencies (MVCs) – behaviors and indicators that help designers gauge skill and mindset improvement. [19:00] Karen discusses some of the MVCs found in the book. [20:00] Observation versus interpretation. [21:33] Double-loop learning. [22:00] Becoming too attached to one point of view and closing off. [23:16] MVCs are skills that people can improve with time, training, and use. [24:47] The book offers the reader an entire section on creating a personal development plan [26:45] A digital tool to help readers develop their plan is in beta-test and will be available soon. [28:13] The development plan process also works for teams within an organization. [30:30] Some of the surprises that appeared during the writing journey. [30:43] The tale of how the title of the book changed at the last minute. [35:12] Karen talks about working with her co-authors, and her shift from learner to sharer. [36:58] Missing the daily learning that happened during the writing of the book. [38:14] The intense focus that happened during, and even because of, the pandemic. [38:54] The shift to working virtually. [40:03] The science behind the “A-ha! moment.” [41:55] Why Karen makes sure that her workshops now have an overnight in between activities. [42:45] The difference between ordinary and expert intuition. [44:03] The hope Karen has for those who read the book. [46:00] Fluid Hive's resources for those wanting to learn and practice design thinking.   Links Order your copy of Experiencing Design   Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like From Branding to Design + Teaching Design Teams + Leading Summer of Design with Karen Hold — DT101E13 Designing for the Greater Good, Strategy + Design Thinking, and Measuring Design Thinking with Jeanne Liedtka — DT101 E1 Design Thinking at Work + Three Tensions Designers Navigate with David Dunne — DT101 E23   Fluid Hive Resources Download Fluid Hive's Innovation Shield — a guide to avoiding innovation traps by asking 9 of Fluid Hive's Design Thinking Questions Innovation Smart Start Webinar — Learn new ways to Ask Like a Designer and take your innovation projects from frantic to focused by working smart from the start. Fluid Hive: Learn — A growing collection of courses, webinars, and articles for people expanding their design thinking, service design, and human-centered design skills – people who want to think and solve like a designer.

This is the first DT101 Books episode. Karen Hold joins us on the show to talk about Experiencing Design: The Innovator's Journey, a book she co-authored with Jeanne Liedtka and Jessica Eldridge. In DT101 Books episodes, authors explore why their book exists and what it will help you do. Each book is chosen because it has something that will help you think and solve like a designer as you learn, lead and apply design thinking.  Our Guest and Her Co-Authors Jeanne Liedtka is a faculty member at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia. Her Columbia Business School Publishing books include Designing for Growth: A Manager's Toolkit (2011) and Design Thinking for the Greater Good: Innovation in the Social Sector (2017). Karen Hold is the founder of Experience Labs, an innovation consulting firm. She is also the director of DT:DC, a design thinking community in Washington, DC, and a visiting professor at École des Ponts Business School in Paris, France. Jessica Eldridge is a consultant working at the intersection of educational equity and purposeful innovation. She is a specialist in design thinking, innovation management, and cross-sector collaboration.   About Experiencing Design: The Innovator's Journey In daylong hackathons, design thinking seems deceptively easy. On the surface, it involves a set of seemingly simple activities such as gathering data, identifying insights, generating ideas, prototyping, and experimentation. But practiced at a superficial level, even great design tools don't go deep enough to create the shifts in mindset and skill set that are required to achieve transformational impact.  Going deep with design requires more than changing the activities of innovators; it involves creating the conditions that shape who they become. Individuals become design thinkers by experiencing design. Drawing on decades of researching and teaching design thinking to people not trained in design, Jeanne Liedtka, Karen Hold, and Jessica Eldridge offer a guide for how to create these deep experiences at each stage of the design thinking journey, whether for an individual, a team, or an organization.  For each experience phase, they specify the mindset shifts and competencies that need to be achieved, describe how different personality types experience different kinds of journeys, and show how to fully leverage the diversity of teams. Experiencing Design explores both the science and practicalities of design and includes two assessment instruments for individual and organizational development. Ultimately, innovators need to be someone new to create something new. This book shows you how to use design thinking to make this happen.   Show Highlights [00:56] Dawan muses on trying to come up with a name for the podcast book episodes. [01:06] Michael Silverblatt as the one and only Bookworm. [02:07] Karen talks about the ideas and discussions that started the book-writing process. [02:51] Igniting the design spark (or not!) in the people she works with. [04:57] The book is for those already familiar with, and using, design thinking. [06:05] It's intended to help design thinking users deepen their practice. [07:25] Different personality types experience design and design thinking differently. [08:11] Karen, Jeanne, and Jessica developed four Innovator Personalities. [08:20] You have to become someone new to make something new. [08:54] Karen gives an example from her time on the brand team at Folgers during the rise of Starbucks. [10:15] Quantitative versus qualitative research. [10:48] Biases in decision making. [13:47] Insights and sensemaking occurs gradually and purposefully. [15:04] Sensemaking involves learning from perspectives that are not our own. [18:00] The book provides a set of Minimum Viable Competencies (MVCs) – behaviors and indicators that help designers gauge skill and mindset improvement. [19:00] Karen discusses some of the MVCs found in the book. [20:00] Observation versus interpretation. [21:33] Double-loop learning. [22:00] Becoming too attached to one point of view and closing off. [23:16] MVCs are skills that people can improve with time, training, and use. [24:47] The book offers the reader an entire section on creating a personal development plan [26:45] A digital tool to help readers develop their plan is in beta-test and will be available soon. [28:13] The development plan process also works for teams within an organization. [30:30] Some of the surprises that appeared during the writing journey. [30:43] The tale of how the title of the book changed at the last minute. [35:12] Karen talks about working with her co-authors, and her shift from learner to sharer. [36:58] Missing the daily learning that happened during the writing of the book. [38:14] The intense focus that happened during, and even because of, the pandemic. [38:54] The shift to working virtually. [40:03] The science behind the “A-ha! moment.” [41:55] Why Karen makes sure that her workshops now have an overnight in between activities. [42:45] The difference between ordinary and expert intuition. [44:03] The hope Karen has for those who read the book. [46:00] Fluid Hive's resources for those wanting to learn and practice design thinking.   Links Order your copy of Experiencing Design   Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like From Branding to Design + Teaching Design Teams + Leading Summer of Design with Karen Hold — DT101E13 Designing for the Greater Good, Strategy + Design Thinking, and Measuring Design Thinking with Jeanne Liedtka — DT101 E1 Design Thinking at Work + Three Tensions Designers Navigate with David Dunne — DT101 E23   Fluid Hive Resources Download Fluid Hive's Innovation Shield — a guide to avoiding innovation traps by asking 9 of Fluid Hive's Design Thinking Questions Innovation Smart Start Webinar — Learn new ways to Ask Like a Designer and take your innovation projects from frantic to focused by working smart from the start. Fluid Hive: Learn — A growing collection of courses, webinars, and articles for people expanding their design thinking, service design, and human-centered design skills – people who want to think and solve like a designer.

Aurecon’s Chief Experience Officer Maureen Thurston and Jeanne Liedtka, an author and professor of design thinking at the University of Virginia’s Dearden School of Business, discuss design thinking as a social technology, why creativity isn’t just for artists and how to democratise the process of innovation.  Find us online at aurecongroup.com/podcast or email us at engineeringreimagined@aurecongroup.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Featuring Jeanne Liedtka, Professor of Business Administration at the Darden School, University of Virginia and author of Experiencing Design: The Innovator's Journey. (Recorded 1/22/21)

Have you forgotten what it felt like to start your business? I’ve lost count of the number of business owners who have said, “If I had had any idea how hard it would be to get this business where it is today, I’m not sure I would’ve done it.” Business owners usually nod their heads at this. Yes, it was hard. But, you learned a lot. Many of the lessons learned at that point in the business get lost or forgotten as the company grows. We’ve talked about innovation and disruption as well as pivots this year. The pandemic emphasized the importance of scenario planning and contingency plans. A number of businesses have gotten really creative and changed the way they do business. How do mature businesses reconnect with that entrepreneurial spirit to reinvent the product, product delivery or the business model to compete in this marketplace? My guest today is Mavis Tang of Soundé. Mavis and her co-founders have brought a new product to an old market. I believe in their mission, vision and value proposition. I invite you to listen to the path Soundé took, and let the possibilities for the future wash over you as you reimagine the business you lead. This episode is from my weekly radio show on IBGR.Network. I hope you enjoy it! What the (O) needs to Know - Pay Attention to Alignment The key Need To Know for an Innovator. The things that surprised Mavis. The steps Mavis took to prepare for ownership. What the (O) Needs To Do - Aspire, Align, Accomplish The people Mavis and her co-founders go to when they have questions. Mavis’s strategy for dealing with conflicting priorities. It’s all about communication. The strategies Mavis and her co-founders have for dealing with conflicting opinions. They respect and honor the vision first and foremost - agreement flows from there. The advice Mavis offers to others out there who have an idea for a business. Resources: Check out Sounde here. Soundeapp is coming. Sign up for the newsletter so that you and your family know when Sounde will be ready to beta test. Can’t beat the price! “5 Obvious Mistakes First-Time Founders Make That Sink Their Startups” by Megan Holstein, entrepreneurshandbook.com, Medium, Dec. 2020. “Decoding Quantum Thinking: What It Feels Like To Think Free”, by Kashyap Vyas, July 20, 2019. “Disaster Preparation and Recovery For Any Size Business”, by Wendy Dickinson, Ascend Coaching Solutions, 2020. “Why Design Thinking Works”, by Jeanne Liedtka, HBR, October 2018. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ascendcoachingsolutions/message

This show gives you, the Owner/Founder Executive the chance to see how somebody else did it - innovate within an established market. Jay Carpenter and his co-founder, Alexis Carpenter, had a need, which led to an idea that took them to starting Handley Watches. Jay shares the journey. He gives us his “WHY”. He told us what he didn’t know and had to find out. Jay will let us in on how they did it - from day one. Handley Watches gives us a blend of the old and the new, so that we can move, work and play without the weight of connection dragging us down and back. This interview took place as part of my weekly radio show, Catalytic Conversations, with IBGR.Network every Friday at 2 pm EST. Drop by any time. Join the IBGR.community or download the IBGR app to get the full show notes. Resources: Handley Watches, Visit the Handley Watches website to sign up for their updates and receive 10% off your purchase! Handley Watches FB Page, “Richmond Couple Finds Time To Launch Wristwatch Brand”, Richmond BizSense, August 27, 2020. “5 Obvious Mistakes First-Time Founders Make That Sink Their Startups” by Megan Holstein, entrepreneurshandbook.com, Medium, Dec. 2020. “Decoding Quantum Thinking: What It Feels Like To Think Free”, by Kashyap Vyas, July 20, 2019. “Disaster Preparation and Recovery For Any Size Business”, by Wendy Dickinson, Ascend Coaching Solutions, 2020. “Why Design Thinking Works”, by Jeanne Liedtka, HBR, October 2018. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ascendcoachingsolutions/message

Design thinking is a human-centered, flexible approach to solving big problems. And Carol Hamilton, principal and founder of Grace Social Sector Consulting, uses her background in organization development combined with her expertise in design thinking, to help nonprofits and associations solve those big problems to become more strategic, effective, and innovative. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, Celisa talks with Carol about the topic of design thinking, including what it is and how it can be used in the context of a learning business (drawing on Jeanne Liedtka’s four-question formulation: what is, what if, what wows, and what works). They also discuss areas adjacent to design thinking, such as journey mapping and innovation, as well as what could be considered the opposite of design thinking—the sunsetting of products and services. Full show notes available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode230.  We are grateful to our sponsor for this quarter, Web Courseworks: ** Web Courseworks is a leading learning technologies and consulting company that is forging a path of innovation in the eLearning industry. The company’s experiences and expertise guide its partners to become the leading providers of education in their fields. Web Courseworks channels organization learning efforts to deliver on the promise of revolutionary performance improvement. CourseStage, the learning management system (LMS) from Web Courseworks, is built for organizations and professional development initiatives. It enables organizations to customize learning experiences, track users’ success, and make data-driven decisions. CourseStage LMS is designed specifically to handle continuing education and professional development activities for organizations who want to grow their learning business.

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Jeanne Liedtka. Jeanne is the United Technologies Corporation Professor of Business Administration, and she is also Darden’s Senior Associate Dean for Degree Programs. Jeanne is widely known for he work in the area of Design Thinking, and we recently sat down to talk with her about what led her to Darden, why she’s so passionate about Design Thinking, her advice for prospective students as well as what MBA students can learn from Picasso, Dali and Gaudi.

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Jeanne Liedtka. Jeanne is the United Technologies Corporation Professor of Business Administration, and she is also Darden’s Senior Associate Dean for Degree Programs. Jeanne is widely known for he work in the area of Design Thinking, and we recently sat down to talk with her about what led her to Darden, why she’s so passionate about Design Thinking, her advice for prospective students as well as what MBA students can learn from Picasso, Dali and Gaudi.

Jeanne Liedtka, author of multiple books around design thinking and organic growth, was visiting Stockholm and we had the opportunity to talk to her in person about design thinking and the business value of design. We also talk about why design thinking matters, why it’s okay to not be perfect, the nuances of value creation... The post #224 The business value of design with Jeanne Liedtka appeared first on UX Podcast.

This week on DisrupTV, we interviewed Jeanne Liedtka, Professor at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, Leah Weiss, PhD, Professor & Author at Stanford, and Alan Lepofsky, VP & Principal Analyst at Constellation Research. DisrupTV is a weekly Web series with hosts R “Ray” Wang and Vala Afshar. The show airs live at 11:00 a.m. PT/ 2:00 p.m. ET every Friday. Brought to you by Constellation Executive Network: constellationr.com/CEN.

Natalie Foley joins me to talk about her design thinking and learning journey, and how she became the VP and COO at Peer Insight. We'll also talk about the design process, some of the key methods that drive her work, and a pathway that organizations can use when developing their own internal design thinking capacity. Natalie talks in this conversation about what to do when you work with people who are user-centered and able to handle the ambiguity involved in design thinking. Her job as COO, she explains, is to give a guardrail or enough structure to enable people to be successful, without giving so much direction and structure as to stifle the process. She also emphasizes the value of small teams. You'll hear that Natalie's emotional journey to where she is now involved coming out of her undergrad experience feeling pretty smart and thinking that with every year of experience, she would get smarter. Stumbling on design thinking opened her eyes to a new perspective: she doesn't have to be right, because her customers or the marketplace will tell her if she isn't. Instead, the more important angle is to know how to run a good experiment. The design process that Natalie uses typically involves four questions. The first is “what is?” The second question, or the ideation portion, is “what if?” This second part is anchored on the first question. After this brainstorming portion, the third question is “what wows?” This involves asking people what they think about some of the ideas that came out of the brainstorming process. The final question is “what works?” Our conversation will also cover what Natalie's clients initially present as their desired outcomes, and how that changes during the course of their interaction with Natalie and Peer Insight. She'll also discuss how she reframes clients' problematic expectations into something that she can design with, as well as her workarounds for common points of struggle. Tune in to learn about all of this and much more! Learn More About Today's Guest Natalie Foley on LinkedIn Natalie Foley on Twitter Natalie Foley at Peer Insight Peer Insight Peer Insight on Twitter In This Episode [00:33] — Dawan introduces today's guest, Natalie Foley. [01:21] — Natalie takes a moment to talk about her work at Peer Insight in both of her roles there, and offers a brief description of what the company does. [03:48] — We hear more about the people piece of what Natalie does, and she explains that she's lucky in terms of the people she works alongside. [06:37] — How did Natalie arrive where she is at Peer Insight? She shares both the high-level practical answer as well as the emotional answer. [11:09] — Natalie digs into how she has seen the types of problems or challenges that she's seeing evolve over the last couple of years. [14:08] — When people come to work with Natalie, what are they initially presenting as the outcomes they're seeking, and how does that change during the interaction? [17:28] — Natalie talks about reframing clients' expectations when necessary. [21:02] — There's an easy way and a hard way to get a client to move through the pain of changing the way they're used to thinking, Natalie explains. [24:18] — Natalie digs deeper into the basics of the design process that she uses. [29:36] — We hear about the dynamics involved for Natalie in managing both her internal team and the client team. [32:59] — How does Natalie coach leaders in the kind of decision-making that she has been talking about? [37:08] — Natalie talks about the areas where she typically sees points of struggle, as well as her workarounds. [43:17] — We learn more about the dynamic involved with the peer insight side of things. [47:28] — On the technology front, what are some of the challenges and benefits in working with a remote or distributed client? [49:34] — Dawan asks Natalie what she would say to someone who is new to the field or wants to get into the design thinking space. [51:44] — What are some of Natalie's favorite books in terms of design thinking? [55:53] — Natalie shares her advice for someone who is a CEO or running a business who is interested in making an investment in design thinking for their company. [59:04] — Where can people learn more about Natalie, her work, and Peer Insight? Links and Resources Natalie Foley on LinkedIn Natalie Foley on Twitter Natalie Foley at Peer Insight Peer Insight Peer Insight on Twitter Jeanne Liedtka Jeanne Liedtka on Design Thinking 101 Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Tool Kit for Managers by Jeanne Liedtka and Tim Ogilvie Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want (Strategyzer) by Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Gregory Bernarda, and Alan Smith yes@designthinking101.com (Dawan Stanford)

Natalie Foley joins me to talk about her design thinking and learning journey, and how she became the VP and COO at Peer Insight. We’ll also talk about the design process, some of the key methods that drive her work, and a pathway that organizations can use when developing their own internal design thinking capacity. Natalie talks in this conversation about what to do when you work with people who are user-centered and able to handle the ambiguity involved in design thinking. Her job as COO, she explains, is to give a guardrail or enough structure to enable people to be successful, without giving so much direction and structure as to stifle the process. She also emphasizes the value of small teams. You’ll hear that Natalie’s emotional journey to where she is now involved coming out of her undergrad experience feeling pretty smart and thinking that with every year of experience, she would get smarter. Stumbling on design thinking opened her eyes to a new perspective: she doesn’t have to be right, because her customers or the marketplace will tell her if she isn’t. Instead, the more important angle is to know how to run a good experiment. The design process that Natalie uses typically involves four questions. The first is “what is?” The second question, or the ideation portion, is “what if?” This second part is anchored on the first question. After this brainstorming portion, the third question is “what wows?” This involves asking people what they think about some of the ideas that came out of the brainstorming process. The final question is “what works?” Our conversation will also cover what Natalie’s clients initially present as their desired outcomes, and how that changes during the course of their interaction with Natalie and Peer Insight. She’ll also discuss how she reframes clients’ problematic expectations into something that she can design with, as well as her workarounds for common points of struggle. Tune in to learn about all of this and much more! Learn More About Today’s Guest Natalie Foley on LinkedIn Natalie Foley on Twitter Natalie Foley at Peer Insight Peer Insight Peer Insight on Twitter In This Episode [00:33] — Dawan introduces today’s guest, Natalie Foley. [01:21] — Natalie takes a moment to talk about her work at Peer Insight in both of her roles there, and offers a brief description of what the company does. [03:48] — We hear more about the people piece of what Natalie does, and she explains that she’s lucky in terms of the people she works alongside. [06:37] — How did Natalie arrive where she is at Peer Insight? She shares both the high-level practical answer as well as the emotional answer. [11:09] — Natalie digs into how she has seen the types of problems or challenges that she’s seeing evolve over the last couple of years. [14:08] — When people come to work with Natalie, what are they initially presenting as the outcomes they’re seeking, and how does that change during the interaction? [17:28] — Natalie talks about reframing clients’ expectations when necessary. [21:02] — There’s an easy way and a hard way to get a client to move through the pain of changing the way they’re used to thinking, Natalie explains. [24:18] — Natalie digs deeper into the basics of the design process that she uses. [29:36] — We hear about the dynamics involved for Natalie in managing both her internal team and the client team. [32:59] — How does Natalie coach leaders in the kind of decision-making that she has been talking about? [37:08] — Natalie talks about the areas where she typically sees points of struggle, as well as her workarounds. [43:17] — We learn more about the dynamic involved with the peer insight side of things. [47:28] — On the technology front, what are some of the challenges and benefits in working with a remote or distributed client? [49:34] — Dawan asks Natalie what she would say to someone who is new to the field or wants to get into the design thinking space. [51:44] — What are some of Natalie’s favorite books in terms of design thinking? [55:53] — Natalie shares her advice for someone who is a CEO or running a business who is interested in making an investment in design thinking for their company. [59:04] — Where can people learn more about Natalie, her work, and Peer Insight? Links and Resources Natalie Foley on LinkedIn Natalie Foley on Twitter Natalie Foley at Peer Insight Peer Insight Peer Insight on Twitter Jeanne Liedtka Jeanne Liedtka on Design Thinking 101 Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Tool Kit for Managers by Jeanne Liedtka and Tim Ogilvie Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want (Strategyzer) by Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Gregory Bernarda, and Alan Smith yes@designthinking101.com (Dawan Stanford)

The remarkable Jean-Louis Racine, head of the World Bank's infoDev Climate Technology Program, joins me today to discuss how he came to apply design thinking in his work, doing design thinking in large organizations, leading design teams, and stakeholder-centered design. Before working at the World Bank, Jean-Louis earned a Ph.D. in robotics engineering and worked as an engineer. This allows him to bring a depth of experience to applying and thinking about design thinking. As you'll hear in our conversation, one of the things that Jean-Louis appreciates most about design thinking is that it forces you to be “solution-agnostic,” as he puts it, and encourages redefining the problem into something that doesn't include the solution. As an example, he shares a story of how this process brought him to the surprising solution of needing many entrepreneurs to fail faster. Many large organizations aren't very risk-tolerant, but design thinking de-risks a project because it's about testing hypotheses. Its rigor and evidence-based principles make it easier to create something that will actually work. Jean-Louis points out that framing the value of design thinking in these terms can be more successful for large organizations than talking about creativity, for example. Jean-Louis points out the need for trust in learning what the design thinking cycle is and how it works. It's something that requires someone to experience it, he explains, which makes things tricky when people aren't inclined to trust you through the process. The solution when people don't embrace the new technique from the beginning is to simply struggle through it. We'll also talk about techniques to get people to give feedback without as many ego issues, the difference between critique and criticism, what it means to design for stakeholders, some fantastic books and resources that will be useful for listeners interested in the various subjects we cover in this discussion, and much more. I hope you'll enjoy this conversation as much as I did!   Learn More About Today's Guest Jean-Louis Racine infoDev Climate Technology Program   In This Episode [01:34] — Jean-Louis starts off the conversation by telling listeners a bit about himself and his background. He also addresses how he came into design thinking and what the early journey was like for him. [04:36] — We hear the story of the first time that Jean-Louis applied design thinking in his work at the World Bank. [07:41] — When you don't really know what you're doing, you make mistakes, Jean-Louis points out. That's how you learn. [08:22] — What was one of Jean-Louis' mistakes that turned out to be a useful learning experiences? [12:01] — Jean-Louis talks about what has helped him with shaping design thinking to individual contexts. [13:07] — Jean-Louis digs into how things have changed over time in terms of the way organizations or colleagues have responded. [17:56] — We hear more about the ClimateLaunchpad program and how design thinking was applied there. [21:51] — Jean-Louis describes how the teams in the ClimateLaunchpad are brought into an understanding of design thinking to the point that they can apply it to their teams and on their projects. [25:22] — Last year, Jean-Louis was in Kenya running a small design workshop. He shares a story of an event that happened there with a team of people familiar with his design thinking methods. [28:51] — Dawan points out that he and Jean-Louis both face the issue of dealing with people in their work who aren't confident in the design thinking process. [34:11] — Criticism is difficult to unlearn, Jean-Louis points out, and critique is more difficult to give than criticism. [36:33] — How has Jean-Louis found that templates function in the work that he has done? He answers, then talks about where he sees things going in the next several years as he applies design thinking at the World Bank. [43:26] — How does designing for the network of stakeholders change the design process? [45:58] — Jean-Louis talks about whether there are any other open questions that are interesting for him right now. [47:48] — We hear about some resources that Jean-Louis has found useful, and that listeners may find useful as well. [50:25] — Where can interested listeners learn more about Jean-Louis or his work?   Links and Resources Jean-Louis Racine infoDev Climate Technology Program ClimateLaunchpad yes@designthinking101.com (Dawan Stanford) Jeanne Liedtka Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, and James Macanufo Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Tool Kit for Managers by Jeanne Liedtka and Tim Ogilvie Product Design and Development by Karl Ulrich and Steven Eppinger Next Billion

The remarkable Jean-Louis Racine, head of the World Bank’s infoDev Climate Technology Program, joins me today to discuss how he came to apply design thinking in his work, doing design thinking in large organizations, leading design teams, and stakeholder-centered design. Before working at the World Bank, Jean-Louis earned a Ph.D. in robotics engineering and worked as an engineer. This allows him to bring a depth of experience to applying and thinking about design thinking. As you’ll hear in our conversation, one of the things that Jean-Louis appreciates most about design thinking is that it forces you to be “solution-agnostic,” as he puts it, and encourages redefining the problem into something that doesn’t include the solution. As an example, he shares a story of how this process brought him to the surprising solution of needing many entrepreneurs to fail faster. Many large organizations aren’t very risk-tolerant, but design thinking de-risks a project because it’s about testing hypotheses. Its rigor and evidence-based principles make it easier to create something that will actually work. Jean-Louis points out that framing the value of design thinking in these terms can be more successful for large organizations than talking about creativity, for example. Jean-Louis points out the need for trust in learning what the design thinking cycle is and how it works. It’s something that requires someone to experience it, he explains, which makes things tricky when people aren’t inclined to trust you through the process. The solution when people don’t embrace the new technique from the beginning is to simply struggle through it. We’ll also talk about techniques to get people to give feedback without as many ego issues, the difference between critique and criticism, what it means to design for stakeholders, some fantastic books and resources that will be useful for listeners interested in the various subjects we cover in this discussion, and much more. I hope you’ll enjoy this conversation as much as I did!   Learn More About Today’s Guest Jean-Louis Racine infoDev Climate Technology Program   In This Episode [01:34] — Jean-Louis starts off the conversation by telling listeners a bit about himself and his background. He also addresses how he came into design thinking and what the early journey was like for him. [04:36] — We hear the story of the first time that Jean-Louis applied design thinking in his work at the World Bank. [07:41] — When you don’t really know what you’re doing, you make mistakes, Jean-Louis points out. That’s how you learn. [08:22] — What was one of Jean-Louis’ mistakes that turned out to be a useful learning experiences? [12:01] — Jean-Louis talks about what has helped him with shaping design thinking to individual contexts. [13:07] — Jean-Louis digs into how things have changed over time in terms of the way organizations or colleagues have responded. [17:56] — We hear more about the ClimateLaunchpad program and how design thinking was applied there. [21:51] — Jean-Louis describes how the teams in the ClimateLaunchpad are brought into an understanding of design thinking to the point that they can apply it to their teams and on their projects. [25:22] — Last year, Jean-Louis was in Kenya running a small design workshop. He shares a story of an event that happened there with a team of people familiar with his design thinking methods. [28:51] — Dawan points out that he and Jean-Louis both face the issue of dealing with people in their work who aren’t confident in the design thinking process. [34:11] — Criticism is difficult to unlearn, Jean-Louis points out, and critique is more difficult to give than criticism. [36:33] — How has Jean-Louis found that templates function in the work that he has done? He answers, then talks about where he sees things going in the next several years as he applies design thinking at the World Bank. [43:26] — How does designing for the network of stakeholders change the design process? [45:58] — Jean-Louis talks about whether there are any other open questions that are interesting for him right now. [47:48] — We hear about some resources that Jean-Louis has found useful, and that listeners may find useful as well. [50:25] — Where can interested listeners learn more about Jean-Louis or his work?   Links and Resources Jean-Louis Racine infoDev Climate Technology Program ClimateLaunchpad yes@designthinking101.com (Dawan Stanford) Jeanne Liedtka Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, and James Macanufo Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Tool Kit for Managers by Jeanne Liedtka and Tim Ogilvie Product Design and Development by Karl Ulrich and Steven Eppinger Next Billion

Welcome to the Design Thinking podcast! I'm Dawan Stanford, your host. In each episode, you'll learn to apply design thinking to your goals and challenges. Our guests, who come from a wide variety of industries, will share stories, lessons, ideas, experience, and insights from practicing, leading, and teaching design thinking. In this first episode, our guest is the incredible Jeanne Liedtka. Jeanne has been involved in the corporate strategy field for over 30 years. She's a Harvard Business School graduate and a professor at the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia. In addition, she's a prolific author whose works include The Catalyst: How You Can Lead Extraordinary Growth, which won the Business Week best innovation books of 2009, and, most recently, Design Thinking for the Greater Good Jeanne wandered into design thinking when she was searching for a way to be more effective in teaching managers about strategic planning. In contrast, she points out, most people think of strategic planning as a deadly, dull task of filling out paperwork that never goes anywhere. In her search for ways to make the process more interesting and to convey its importance, she hit on design. In our conversation today, she relates how she began using architecture as a metaphor for strategic thinking. In this episode, Jeanne offers insight into how to teach design thinking. The learning experience should be project-based, she explains. The project should matter to the people who are working on it. The learning experience should also be delivered in a way that meets where these people are in that project and avoids overwhelming them. She'll also discuss some of the challenges that are facing design thinking as it continues to evolve. Jeanne explains why it is that the more you move into designing strategy and policy, the harder it is to use some of the powerful tools of design thinking. Learn More About Today's Guest Jeanne Liedtka Jeanne M. Liedtka at the University of Virginia Jeanne Liedtka on LinkedIn @jeanneliedka on Twitter In This Episode [02:17] — Jeanne kicks things off by sharing some of the journey that brought her to where she is today, and explores how she discovered and developed an interest in design thinking. [06:48] — After spending five or six years exploring design thinking in business, it became obvious to Jeanne that a lot of the most powerful uses were happening in the social sector. [08:08] — What were some of the surprises that Jeanne found while writing her most recent book? [10:25] — Jeanne talks about what she would say or what advice she would give if she encountered someone at a party who was interested in bringing design thinking into what they do. [13:07] — We hear more about Jeanne has seen the initial steps of getting out into the world (and out of the conference room) in terms of common challenges. [16:38] — Jeanne discusses an example of what she has been talking about being done particularly well. [20:05] — What are some of the emerging challenges facing design thinking as a methodology or toolkit? [22:55] — Dawan takes a moment to talk about design thinking at the organizational level, in terms of reliability. Jeanne then talks about how things in design thinking are evolving on the measurement front. [27:38] — From Dawan's perspective, one of the benefits to having more measurement tools is related to having conversations with funders or people who need a different kind of evidence before trying a new way of solving problems. [27:59] — In order to promulgate the method, we need to get serious about measurement, Jeanne explains. [29:10] — Jeanne expands on the previous topic of emerging developments in the realm of strategy and design thinking by giving a specific example of the Children's Medical Center Dallas. [34:17] — One of the things that Jeanne is committed to is thinking about how to help people take this toolkit and accelerate the ways we're using it toward more strategic policy-level questions. [34:53] — What are some of the key things to keep an eye on with regard to how design thinking pushes into strategy and implementation? [37:12] — Dawan is often asked how we prototype the intangible. [39:41] — Jeanne talks about how design criteria factor into her approach to design thinking. [43:51] — Jeanne offers a specific example of what she has been talking about. [46:12] — What Jeanne has been talking about goes back to the idea of “job to be done,” she explains. [47:22] — One of the other things that comes to mind for Dawan involves people's first introduction to design thinking. Jeanne then talks about the relationship between design thinking and the assumptions that we carry into creating new stuff. [51:08] — Jeanne talks more about making a good design team inside an organization. [57:18] — We hear more about bringing people to a point where they can comfortably facilitate or lead design experiences with others. [61:54] — What does Jeanne think about the “inside outsiders” in larger organizations? [64:11] — Jeanne talks about what she would do if she had a magic wand she could wave and get thousands of people excited about researching a particular topic, and sharing the results with her. [67:41] — Where can people find more about Jeanne, her work, and her books? Links and Resources Jeanne Liedtka Jeanne M. Liedtka at the University of Virginia Jeanne Liedtka on LinkedIn @jeanneliedka on Twitter The Catalyst: How You Can Lead Extraordinary Growth by Jeanne Liedtka Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Tool Kit for Managers by Jeanne Liedtka The Physics of Business Growth: Mindsets, Systems, and Processes by Jeanne Liedtka Solving Business Problems with Design Thinking: Ten Stories of What Works by Jeanne Liedtka The Designing for Growth Field Book: A Step-by-Step Project Guide by Jeanne Liedtka Design Thinking for the Greater Good: Innovation in the Social Sector by Jeanne Liedtka Frank Gehry Children's Medical Center Dallas Peter Senge

Welcome to the Design Thinking podcast! I’m Dawan Stanford, your host. In each episode, you’ll learn to apply design thinking to your goals and challenges. Our guests, who come from a wide variety of industries, will share stories, lessons, ideas, experience, and insights from practicing, leading, and teaching design thinking. In this first episode, our guest is the incredible Jeanne Liedtka. Jeanne has been involved in the corporate strategy field for over 30 years. She’s a Harvard Business School graduate and a professor at the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia. In addition, she’s a prolific author whose works include The Catalyst: How You Can Lead Extraordinary Growth, which won the Business Week best innovation books of 2009, and, most recently, Design Thinking for the Greater Good Jeanne wandered into design thinking when she was searching for a way to be more effective in teaching managers about strategic planning. In contrast, she points out, most people think of strategic planning as a deadly, dull task of filling out paperwork that never goes anywhere. In her search for ways to make the process more interesting and to convey its importance, she hit on design. In our conversation today, she relates how she began using architecture as a metaphor for strategic thinking. In this episode, Jeanne offers insight into how to teach design thinking. The learning experience should be project-based, she explains. The project should matter to the people who are working on it. The learning experience should also be delivered in a way that meets where these people are in that project and avoids overwhelming them. She’ll also discuss some of the challenges that are facing design thinking as it continues to evolve. Jeanne explains why it is that the more you move into designing strategy and policy, the harder it is to use some of the powerful tools of design thinking. Learn More About Today’s Guest Jeanne Liedtka Jeanne M. Liedtka at the University of Virginia Jeanne Liedtka on LinkedIn @jeanneliedka on Twitter In This Episode [02:17] — Jeanne kicks things off by sharing some of the journey that brought her to where she is today, and explores how she discovered and developed an interest in design thinking. [06:48] — After spending five or six years exploring design thinking in business, it became obvious to Jeanne that a lot of the most powerful uses were happening in the social sector. [08:08] — What were some of the surprises that Jeanne found while writing her most recent book? [10:25] — Jeanne talks about what she would say or what advice she would give if she encountered someone at a party who was interested in bringing design thinking into what they do. [13:07] — We hear more about Jeanne has seen the initial steps of getting out into the world (and out of the conference room) in terms of common challenges. [16:38] — Jeanne discusses an example of what she has been talking about being done particularly well. [20:05] — What are some of the emerging challenges facing design thinking as a methodology or toolkit? [22:55] — Dawan takes a moment to talk about design thinking at the organizational level, in terms of reliability. Jeanne then talks about how things in design thinking are evolving on the measurement front. [27:38] — From Dawan’s perspective, one of the benefits to having more measurement tools is related to having conversations with funders or people who need a different kind of evidence before trying a new way of solving problems. [27:59] — In order to promulgate the method, we need to get serious about measurement, Jeanne explains. [29:10] — Jeanne expands on the previous topic of emerging developments in the realm of strategy and design thinking by giving a specific example of the Children’s Medical Center Dallas. [34:17] — One of the things that Jeanne is committed to is thinking about how to help people take this toolkit and accelerate the ways we’re using it toward more strategic policy-level questions. [34:53] — What are some of the key things to keep an eye on with regard to how design thinking pushes into strategy and implementation? [37:12] — Dawan is often asked how we prototype the intangible. [39:41] — Jeanne talks about how design criteria factor into her approach to design thinking. [43:51] — Jeanne offers a specific example of what she has been talking about. [46:12] — What Jeanne has been talking about goes back to the idea of “job to be done,” she explains. [47:22] — One of the other things that comes to mind for Dawan involves people’s first introduction to design thinking. Jeanne then talks about the relationship between design thinking and the assumptions that we carry into creating new stuff. [51:08] — Jeanne talks more about making a good design team inside an organization. [57:18] — We hear more about bringing people to a point where they can comfortably facilitate or lead design experiences with others. [61:54] — What does Jeanne think about the “inside outsiders” in larger organizations? [64:11] — Jeanne talks about what she would do if she had a magic wand she could wave and get thousands of people excited about researching a particular topic, and sharing the results with her. [67:41] — Where can people find more about Jeanne, her work, and her books? Links and Resources Jeanne Liedtka Jeanne M. Liedtka at the University of Virginia Jeanne Liedtka on LinkedIn @jeanneliedka on Twitter The Catalyst: How You Can Lead Extraordinary Growth by Jeanne Liedtka Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Tool Kit for Managers by Jeanne Liedtka The Physics of Business Growth: Mindsets, Systems, and Processes by Jeanne Liedtka Solving Business Problems with Design Thinking: Ten Stories of What Works by Jeanne Liedtka The Designing for Growth Field Book: A Step-by-Step Project Guide by Jeanne Liedtka Design Thinking for the Greater Good: Innovation in the Social Sector by Jeanne Liedtka Frank Gehry Children’s Medical Center Dallas Peter Senge

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Iconic design thinker and master strategist Jeanne Liedtka stopped by to discuss the imperative for stretching our collective thinking with systems design in order to achieve new heights and have an impact for the greater good. 

Andrew King is co-author (with Jeanne Liedtka and Kevin Bennett) of Solving Problems with Design Thinking: Ten Stories of What Works. He is a research associate for the Batten Institute inside the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. In short: he’s well-studied in design thinking. In this interview we talk about how to develop new business models, find new competitive advantages, and how design thinking is more than just product design.

Interview with Jeanne Liedtka, Professor of Business Administration, Darden School of Business, on the topic of her keynote presentation on Strategy and Design at the Cambridge Academic Design Management Conference held at the Institute for Manufacturing, Cambridge in September 2011.