- It's one thing to talk about how great design thinking is,
it's another thing entirely
to implement it in your organization.
I've got some suggestions for you,
and the first one might come as a surprise.
I would say that the easiest
and potentially most effective way
of starting design thinking work
within your organization is to just do it.
Don't ask for blessing from senior management,
don't make a big fuss about doing something different.
Instead, just start a project off with a one
or two week design thinking workshop.
I've helped teams at several organizations do this
and now they're gaining converts
to the design thinking approach.
Their successes speak for themselves.
Rather than trying
to justify the design thinking process upfront,
they can now use the example of their own projects
to show how successful it's been for them.
As the rest of the organization starts hearing
what design thinking can do, either from outside sources
or after seeing the successes of these internal projects,
these early adopters are becoming the people who are seen
as the owners of design thinking within the organization.
The truth is, senior management seldom believes statistics
from other organizations.
Just because something worked in another company
is no guarantee to them that it'll work in your company.
It's really hard to sell people on a new way of doing things
unless it's been proven within your own company.
So, I really suggest you ask for forgiveness
rather than permission
and demonstrate how well design thinking can work
in your organization by just doing it.