Here are some first thoughts what design thinking is, after their first session with their consultants!
~ Susie
"The words’ design thinking’ has always flashed past my mind but I have never had an opportunity to dwell deeper into what these two words really mean. Having a chance to sit through the session with experienced consultants and having them guiding us to tap on our deepest thoughts to share with the rest of our peer is a good starting platform for us to under the term ‘design thinking’ better and how we can make use of design thinking to create a better experience not only for external customers but internal staff as well. In the brainstorming and discovery stage, I had fun talking about our ideal dreams with my teammates. It is amazing how our group has a common understanding and how we share similar vision at our very first formal discussion. ”
- Hui Ming
"Design thinking may seem like an abstract concept to many at first, but it really is based upon a mixture of logic, art, science, and a pinch of emotion. I believe design thinking means different things to different people, and without some control, the term may well be defined to death. However, the definition shared by the consultants at the DREAM session seemed to sum it all up for our context:
DESIGN THINKING IS THE ABILITY TO COMBINE EMPATHY, CREATIVITY & RATIONALITY TO MEET USER NEEDS, DRIVE BUSINESS SUCCESS & MAKE A DIFFERENCE
The word “empathy” stood out for me most – don’t we all lack or need a little empathy sometimes? We are in a “people” business, and being able to put ourselves in our users’ shoes and to see things from their perspectives is really one of the most valuable things we can do for them. "
- Chunling
Here are excerpts from their second session where they began talking about the vision for their project! Sounds exciting! =)
~ Susie
"How do we create a beautiful learning experience? What is a beautiful learning experience? These are questions we were asked to “dream” about. And indeed, there are many exciting dreams of what our organisation can be:
· An Oasis for learning
· A place where people come together
· A spiritual haven – a place where participants seek learning
· Mega Family Store like WalMart or the Diary Farm Group – offers wide range of products for everyone
· “Cycle & Carriage” car dealer – different types of cars for different group of people
The learning experience we all hope to create is happy, meaningful, exhilarating, euphoria, heartfelt etc to name just a few. Seriously, the possibilities are boundless. The only holding back to these is whether we dare to dream.
Personally, I’m excited to be part of this project team. Not only do we get a chance to know more people across college and work with them, we get to make a difference to our organisation’s future! It’s cool to think that we are actually ‘Change Agents’ (as we are being called). I’m sure this journey is going to be a stretch for everyone, but I’m sure we can work things out somehow. With Senior Management’s support, actually a lot of things can be worked out *hint hint* =) "
- Edmund
"Nothing happens unless first we dream.
While gathering the inspirations to write this post, I happened to come across this wonderful quote from Carl Sandburg. This one-liner kinda struck me as it resonated with what we had went through for the dream session on 18 May. We started the session with the visioning component where we were asked to articulate our dream of what would be the ideal learning experience for our participant. It was interesting to hear the different dreams for our organisation which span from an oasis of learning where we mixed business and pleasure to a spiritual haven where learning was not just for the brain but it fed our soul too. Just in case you think that day dreaming was all we did, we also had to do some serious work arising from that exercise. But that’s another post to be shared at another time. Do follow us regularly on this blog to find out more. "
- CJ
"I came into this project with mixed feelings. On the one hand, having encountered irate customers at the customer service, and having been a customer myself from before I joined the organisation, I fully understand the need to think from a customer experience point of view (in fact, I think it’s a MUST), so I was (just a little bit) excited about being involved in the project. On the other hand, with all the bits and pieces of daily life and the daily grind nagging at me and demanding my attention, involving myself in a design thinking project, with its required (huge) commitment was not exactly something that was at the top of my mind (alright, fine, I didn’t exactly volunteer for this project). So what to do? Make the best out of the experience, I suppose.
Design thinking is a concept that is totally new to me (well maybe not totally, since Ley Ley did present DT to my deparment once, during our meeting, but that’s just a very faded memory), and I went into the project not knowing what to expect. I never did have very good impressions of consultants in general, so I had my doubts as to how this project was going to progress, whether it was just going to be another feather in the cap, another KPI fulfilled, or just going through the motions. At the risk of sounding propagandistic, I was pleasantly surprised by the passion the lead consultants had for DT, and that enthusiasm, like magic dust, kinda infected me. Perhaps not with the kind of passion they have (afterall, the day-to-day still calls), but at least I have just that little bit more faith in the project.
We had our first “Dream” session the other day, when all of us were “locked” in a room, to dream of OUR ideal future for our organisation. It was a session that started off a little dull, and once again, there was a round of introductions. We were all asked to share what we had to offer/ will commit to this project. Since I had made my own personal commitment to “make the most of this”, I decided to do what I felt many others would not admit to wanting to do. I offered my irreverence, and my willingness to make silly, (perhaps) off-tangent comments. Not to make light of the project, but to hopefully stimulate more radical ideas. To use a couple of clichés, (1) we need to think out of the box cuz (2) we don’t know what we don’t know, and in this case, we have no idea what the box is! I’ve always found that making silly comments and asking stupid questions (yes, this is one of the programmes our organisation offers, and no, I have not attended it) is the best way to discover our boundaries and spark off even more far-fetched ideas. Out of the hundred and one ideas that are thrown up, there will surely be a few that are relevant and workable.
By some unfathomable coincidence (or was it the “divine” hand of Eileen, our project co-lead?), I was grouped with a bunch of people who seemed to share the same dream I had for my organisation. There were 4 groups in total, and it was interesting to hear the different dreams each group had. I have to say, I like my group’s dream best ;P
We all have a lot of homework to do, coming up with our own vision for the organisation, trying to plot a programme participant’s experience journey (and all the little things that can make the experience go wrong), and I have to admit, it’s like giving free reign to a kid in a candy store. I get to do what people say Singaporeans do best, COMPLAIN! And be assured that I’ll be heard. How cool is that?
This is the start of an intense journey, and I look forward (with some trepidation) to seeing how the road forks, the people I will meet, and what the destination would be like. "
– Leeann
"Has anyone ever asked you, “What would make a beautiful learning experience?” Our consultants asked all of us to consider this question in our project team.
That question triggered me to think of what makes for the awesome and totally inspiring learning experiences that I’ve had in my life. How did I learn? Why did I learn? Did I enjoy the learning at that time? Was it all only about enjoying the learning experience? Was I ever so challenged at the point of learning that it was painful, but looked back as the years went by and think that was totally worth it? I’ve definitely had many of such learning experiences, and look forward to many more to come.
Back to the question posed by our consultants, the team got our hands dirty – practising the Design Thinking principles of learning by doing. We didn’t spend much time describing our dreams, we didn’t come to a consensus of our dreams. Instead, we went through images and words in newspapers and magazines, whatever appealed to us and connected with our thoughts of that beautiful learning experience.
Through the process, we had the opportunity to describe what are some dreams we have of our organisation. Let me share some sneak previews of the dreams-in-progress.
- A beautiful learning experience is like going to an oasis in the desert - a place where you go to be refreshed and rejuvenated. It’s being in a place where you experience life and enjoy.
- Our organisation is like a supermarket where you can get everything you need – a one stop solution.
- Will our organisation be THE place to be to learn in a fun, creative and effortless way?
- Do you become addicted to learning after coming to our organisation that you want to keep coming back?
Share with us your dreams of what makes a beautiful learning experience for you!"
-Hazel
"Talking to Customers"
Their reflections after talking to customers... ~ Susie
“What is your most memorable learning experience like? Would you like to share it with us?
This was the question our consultants asked a public officer who had just attended our programme. Our interviewee shared how as a 16 year-old student, he was appointed a scout leader. One day, he accidentally left a knife unattended after doing some work. When he returned, the knife went missing. He searched high and low, only to learn that the teacher had kept it. When he asked for it back from the teacher, his teacher told him, “I am really disappointed in you as a leader. You had been really irresponsible and this was not the first time.” The teacher went on to share a few other instances of him being irresponsible.
It hit him hard; he cried.
Why? Because being responsible is something he really wanted to be; because it mattered to him to do a job well; because his actions could have hurt someone. This had been such a deep learning that it shapes his thinking that he has to be responsible for his actions in all circumstances, and not harm others in what he does. He has such deep passion to nurture and mentor others that he is even writing a book on mentoring.
Here’s one of mine (because I can’t decide which is most memorable). I learned how to walk again when I was 27 years-old! I had just given birth to my son, James, and he was barely 2-months old. One night, after nursing him, I felt intense pain in my back and black dots clouded my vision. I fainted from the pain and based on my husband’s description, I knocked out on the floor with a loud bang. After that, it was a blur. Hospitalised, diagnosed with a slipped spinal disc, unable to stand up even with support from the physiotherapist. Describing it as frightening is an understatement. To cut the story short, I finally stood up again 1 week later, and with intense physio, I walked awkwardly for the next couple of months. Till now, I would have sudden relapses, when I suddenly can’t walk. But what I learned through all these wasn’t just the great physio exercises to strengthen my muscles or the inconveniences of being in a wheelchair, I learned a lesson of being thankful for the little things that we take for granted. I learned what is my reference point when things get tough, and became more resilient in many aspects of my life.
What is it that we can do to create some deep learning experiences for public officers that will draw out their passion for life, their commitment to a better Singapore through developing people, and to be resilient and stick it out through tough times?”
-Hazel
“My takeaways from the session
- It was really wonderful and inspiring to hear such positive and constructive feedback from the customer of his encounter with our programmes. It was also interesting to observe that the customer places a lot of focus on the content and design of the programme and the methodologies used by the speakers/trainers to bring about the learning. His attention was really on the positive aspects that the experience brought him rather than negative ones. There wasn’t any mention of other aspects such as the training environment, food, etc, which we often get complaints about.
- His passion for learning and the work that he is doing was really touching and reminded us about our purpose of serving in the public service. He was even wondering if there was any platform that we could provide for people like him to share his knowledge/experience with peers from other organisations.
- His attitude of treating every learning opportunity as precious moments for him to gain new knowledge/skills and having time away from work to do self-reflection was a refreshing change from some of the feedback we get about our participants feeling over-trained/reluctance to attend training programmes.
Finally, some ‘words of wisdom’ he offered (which I paraphrased in my own words :p):
“It does not take a long programme for deep learning to occur. A memorable and deep learning experience can occur if the teaching is given at the right place, at the right time, with the right questions.” “
– Hui Kiang
