learn
A storybook by SeriouslyCreative
 to help you shift business as usual thinking to design driven, entrepreneurially fueled, innovation producing thinking and doing.
just isn’t enough In an very complex world where the pace of change is set to light speed, competition is global, technological shifts make today’s competitive advantage obsolete in an instant and where one person can challenge the dominance of a whole industry, you bet business as usual is not enough. Today’s business can no longer sit back and wait for gradual evolution of the marketplace. They can simply try and extract more efficiency from their current business model. The age of incremental change is over. It is the age of innovation where any organization that wants to thrive (or even just survive) must be willing to take the leap into the murky waters of innovation, create new value through creativity and imagination and create industry disrupting revolution. We call these organization Innovation by Design Enterprises and the people who run them Idea Engineers. We want you to be one too.
The future is now and creativity is the key As part of their annual Global CEO Survey IBM (yeah, the super smart people) defined the “Enterprise of the Future� as one that would need to be hungry for change, willing to innovate beyond customer imagination and disruptive by nature amongst other things. Having talked with over 1,400 global leaders they found that the greatest challenge organizations are facing is the increased complexity of business. Ask what leadership competency they felt they needed most over the next five years to capitalize on this complexity and they overwhelmingly said
CREATIVITY.
Re-engineering Business for Innovation Businesses need to rethink their love affair with behaviors that cherish the status quo, that efficiency is the only producer of profit and thinking that all things can be rationalized and quantified. We need to re-engineer business to start using the value creating and imagination driven right side of the brain to balance the value finding left side. Think of it as adding a little bit of designer DNA to that of the MBA. Why designer? Because designers have a mindset geared for creating new value and for understanding the complexities inherent to creating anything for consumer. They balance the sometimes myopic perspective of business as usual with an ability to better understand human and complex problems and a process that iterates forward ideas that connect with people on levels that can not be captured on a spreadsheet. They are natural experimenters who are comfortable with the fuzzy front end of innovation. And the way they think is something business needs to add to the table.
The discipline of business + the power of imagination.
All of us are smarter than any of us and you just can’t do it alone.
Then
single function solutions
It used to be that to solve a problem we could simply pull together an expert or two, give them some time, maybe some coffee and by applying their deep knowledge of what had been done before and accomplished by others - they could arrive at the appropriate solution. Yes, challenges were complex but they were isolated to specific functions. Marketing challenges were delt with by marketers. Finance by CPAs. etc, etc, etc. Those days are over. Today’s challenge are more often more complex, more fast moving and need new solutions rather than old applications. And it means that the sole expert can’t bring you the answer - at least not by themselves. This is the new world of multidisciplinary teams with diverse thinking styles that work together much like a movie production crew experts and technicians from various and diverse areas come together for a period of time to create something new. Less department focus, less bureaucratic walls, more great work done. This is a good thing. The flip side means that in our complex and light-speed world of business we can create the solutions by sourcing the ideas from a cross section of people in our organization. Read on and we’ll explain.
Now
solutions created by multidisciplinary teams
Great people DON’T think alike “I use not only all the brains I have but all that I can borrow.” Woodrow Wilson US President & one great team leader
Dr. Ned Hermann, author of The Whole Brain and formerly the head of talent development at GE, discovered that the concept of right and left brain thinkers was just a bit too simple. In fact, the brain has four functions - investigative, creative, evaluative and planning. We all have the ability to do any one of these functions but we each have favorites - skills that come more naturally than others. This means that if you are an investigative dominant mind you value data and sequence more than someone who, say, is a creative dominated person who values big picture and strategic intent more. The down side of this is that when we put people with different thinking styles in a meeting they tend to struggle to make the rest of the group “see it their way” or focus on what they think is important. Fear not. There is a silver lining. These different perspectives can lead collaborative teams to create much more holistic ideas that produce better business results. The secret to taking advantage of this diversity is to make sure your planning, strategic, ideation meetings have a diversity of thinking styles included and that everyone is aware of the thinking styles and the need to assure that each styles is given it’s opportunity to shine. This is called WHOLE BRAIN THINKING.
investigators ask “but why...”
evaluators
ask “which one...” SeriouslyCreative
I
D
designers
E
A
evaluators
ask “what if...”
ask “who, how & by when...” Whole Brain Teams
Conflicting needs Take a look at the conflicting needs of the different thinking styles. Can you see how what one values and wants drives the other absolutely crazy in a meeting. Imagine what an Experimenter/Evaluator thinks when a Designer starts throwing around wild and seemingly unrealistic ideas. Or how a Designer chafes at an Investigator slowing them up from designing ideas by constantly asking “but, why....�
Investigators
Designers
Evaluators
Activators
working solo clarifying issues being challenged analyzing data putting things together making things work technical aspects using numbers/stats analyzing/diagnosing explaining things formal presentation
taking risk having variety creating metaphors seeing big picture dealing with future bringing about change developing new things conceptual framework experimentation time for exploration loose agenda comfortable ambiguity
ordered environment being in control developing structure planning things out evaluation of inputs deadline achievement administration structured tasks attention to detail follow up logistics
organizing teamwork participatory activities communication clarity group interaction working with people hands-on design coaching planning collaboration being part of team expressing ideas listening/talking
Aligning your thinkers based on their skills A team aware of their thinking preferences and given an approach to assure that all these talents are used in a coordinated approach can do great things. Innovation and creative problem solving has a proven trajectory that assures each thinking style is harnessed and that you move from stage to stage building towards a real world solution.
Our Approach
IDEAengineering™ 4 phases. 8 focuses. Dozens of tools. The process of disciplined imagination.
Investigate what is… Understanding needs, customer perspective. Bring the outside in.
Design what if… Apply creativity, brainstorm ideas, identify opportunities.
Experiment what wows… Prototype to learn, test with customers, evaluate solutions.
Activate what works… Create action plans, measure results, accelerate action.
IDEA Engineering™ allows for innovation to be managed, directed and produced when needed. It is not a linear process like so much of what business are used to; but it does have rules, direction and best practices that make it practical and repeatable. It harnesses the inherent tensions that ignite innovation balancing iteration with direction, divergence and convergence, abstract and concrete, learning and creating, analysis and creativity. This tension is what makes innovation fuzzy and sometimes intimidating but also what makes it a powerful agent of change. Our framework is a theoretical understanding but a tested approach that builds upon the shoulders of great thinkers in how imagination is applied. We have learned from the best of foundation processes in innovation like OsbornParnes CPS, PDCA, AcceleratedInnovation,ThinkX and Design Thinking to produce a framework that is memorable, practical and proven in the field.
Then use them in powerful ways. Having Whole Brain teams is a great start towards more innovation. But it is half the secret. The other half is pulling together project teams with diversity of experiences, different roles in the organization and different specialties.
If I have an idea and E a share it with youEthere R H good change you will W O haveNa great idea too.
Departments and divisions kill creative thought We have departments to assure we have the right specialties together and to assure accountability and focus. But this tried and true (or is it untrue?) business organization practice is getting in the way of our ability to create and champion great new ideas and game changing solutions. Today’s business complexities demand a more holistic and collaborative approach. So, what are we to do? Create “T-shaped” teams. (T-shaped what?). Stanford university refers to T shaped teams to describe multidisciplinary teams that have people with very deep expertise (think the shaft of a “T”) matched with people with broad knowledge that can connect these areas of expertise (think the top of the “T”). This means that whenever you have a challenge - problem or opportunity - that needs some new thinking, new ideas, a differentiated solution - pull together a team from across the organization to lead and contribute thinking to your challenge. This means enticing people who may not be accountable to the end results of the challenge to join in and dedicate time to building a new solution. A marketing challenge (for example) might benefit greatly from the perspective of a non-expert in accounting. Think not? We have seen it happen. The more complex the challenge with more effect on the overall organization the greater the need for these multidisciplinary team. Now, we know that getting someone from another department or division to join your innovation team might be, let’s say, “difficult.” But don’t be deterred. Look on your own team for diverse thinkers who bring unique experience along with a broad reach to your challenge. You will be pleased by the results (and other departments will be jealous!)
let’s jump in!
the design iceberg What you see graphic, interior, product
How designers think investigating problems developing ideas testing and trying launching solutions
INVESTIGATE
Understanding the challenge
Being human centric
Reframing the problem into a bold opportunity
investigate [tools and techniques] 5 Why’s Understand the Challenge 3I’s (+E) Deep Dive Interviews Customer Journey Maps Empathy Map HMW
I D E a ENGINEERING
we’re going to be herea a while If I only had one hour to solve a problem I would spend 55 minutes understanding it first. Once understood the solution would easily be created in the last 5 minutes.
symptom It’s always better to solve the real problem.
problem
Why x 5 Asking “why� is how we can change our frame of reference, learn and grow.
Sakichi Toyoda, founder of Toyota and Continuous Improvement Methods
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1 Frame Challenge clarify and understand
See Human Centered Design Resource Kit
1 Frame Challenge clarify and understand
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Convergent Tool: 3I’s to Prioritize ✓Importance - it is important for us ✓Influence - we can do this ourselves/ it’s in our lane ✓Innovation - it could use some new thinking Add an E to make final decisions: ✓ENERGY - We have the energy to deal with this right now.
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3 RE-define the challenge 1. Look at Interview insights, Empathy Map and Journey. •Who (be specific, use name) •Needs a way to (problem they are trying to solve, issue they face - must include verb) •Because (drivers, frustrations or motivators) 2. Turn complaint into OPPORTUNITY with How Might We 3. Make sure to include criteria for success.
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design Suspend judgement Create many ideas Get out of the box Choose awesome stuff
design [tools and techniques] Scamper Leapfrog Role Storming Cluster Dotmocracy Napkin Pitching
I D E a ENGINEERING
All possibilities Many ideas
Best possibilities
Diverge Converge
Creating Create choices
Top ideas Selecting
Making choices
UP All and any idea Think outside the box DIVERGENT
…then…
DOWN make choices, use judgement CONVERGENT
Post-it Note 101 one idea per note headline (not paragraphs) add visuals
design: [rules of engagement] 1.Defer judgement 2.Build upon ideas 3.One conversation at a time 4.Encourage wild ideas 5.Stay focused on topic 6.Go for quantity 7.Be visual
I D E a ENGINEERING
develop ideas: SCAMPER 1.Substitute 2.Combine 3.Adapt 4.Modify 5.Put to other use 6.Eliminate 7.Rearrange/reverse
I D E a ENGINEERING
develop ideas cue words
simplify publication research journalism data content distribution mailing healthcare watching information demographics outreach print online connect
technology platforms events pathways physical society higher education motivator engineers status apply brands switch door to door show
 skills
 date test community accumulate entrepreneurship access
develop ideas cue words (2)
ethical culture countries controversial welfare fund language loyalty coop government productive learning trading
retail women minorities economy needs construction algorithm habits children concierge research Buzzfeed anywhere
evangelists ready made right place at the right time domestic Amazon
 fashion
 Tourism transparency
develop ideas rolestorming
•doctor •astronaut •DJ •Madonna •Oprah •Steve Jobs •Disney •olympic athlete •mom •game show •teacher •kid, etc….
develop ideas a mess of possibilities
develop ideas organize into similar themes A B C D
develop ideas individual voting with criteria + 3I’s + E
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experiment Prototyping to learn
experiment: [try things out] prototype to learn show and tell prioritize and decide Feedback:
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I D E a ENGINEERING
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“ � quotes to inspire
The best way to predict the future is to invent it. (alan kay)
The future belongs to those willing to get their hands dirty. (anonymous)
If an idea is at first not absurd, there is no hope for it.
The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas
(albert einstein)
An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.
(linus pauling)
Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. (steve jobs)
All life is an experiment. The more experiments the better. (r.w. emerson)
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again, fail again, fail better. (samuel beckett)
Discovery consists of seeing what everyone has seen and thinking what no one has thought. (albert szent-gyorgyi)
(edwin land)
Creativity is the power to connect the seamlessly unconnected. (william plomer)
Ask questions. Questions are what expose the insights that springboard you forward to ideas. (anonymous)
design mindsets
Be Radically Collaborative
Iterate Throughout Process
Suspend Judgement
Prototype to Learn
Show & Tell Stories
Bias Towards Action
Be Human Centric
skills and process
We are an an international innovation firm with over 10 years of experience design thinking.
What makes us different Our simple, dynamic and structured approach to problem solving facilitates collaboration pushing teams to find the bolder solutions they seek, faster.
Our Why We believe in the power & willingness of people to work together, think beyond and create products and services that drive sustainable growth bringing value to the world.
areas we work in
1
Experience & Service Design
3
Organizational Change
2
Strategy, Research & Innovation
4
Employee Engagement
1511 Ave Juan Ponce de Leon, Plaza Ciudadela/La Capilla - Suite 2, Santurce, Puerto Rico 00909 Tel. 787-283-6077 hello@seriouslycreative.com seriouslycreative[dot]com