Getting executives on board with design thinking can be an exercise in patience.
Think of it as teaching a class. How would you explain to a classroom full of five year olds what design thinking is and how it can help them get more chocolate? More importantly, why this method over something else?
For starters, we like using this Venn Diagram to explain how Design Thinking fits into the larger picture of innovation in an organizations. It’s vital for management to see that you’re thinking bigger picture.
As you narrow down to details, it’s helpful to break down the mystic barrier of Design Thinking into practical steps (and compelling visuals like this one for example). The process has its variations, but the general framework is fairly constant.
That takes care of the what & how.
The lynchpin is the why. Why do they need to pay attention to this method over their current mode of problem solving? In other words, what’s the benefit?
Here are a few benefits of design thinking we’ve seen resonate:
-
increase in revenue over time as products & services ideas are deeply rooted in customers’ actual (vs. speculative) needs
-
reduction in costs over time as validated product ideas are likelier to be more profitable
-
cross-functional ideation as a key component of the method brings about better ideas, eliminating homogenous group-think
-
application beyond R&D; any team can use this process to solve business (and even life) challenges and/or as team-building sessions.
-
Design Thinking improves organizational innovation outcomes by producing higher quality solutions
-
Design Thinking improves innovation outcomes by reducing the risk/visibility of failure
-
Design Thinking improves outcomes by improving the likelihood of implementation
-
Design Thinking impacts innovation outcomes by improving adaptability
-
Design Thinking impacts innovation outcomes by the creation of local capability sets
-
Design Thinking and co-creation isn’t a fad, but rather a new way for all problem solvers to put the user at the center of a problem to develop solutions from the outside in rather than the inside out.
We’ve also found it helpful to keep a regular schedule of updates flowing up the ladder for continuous buy-in. Updating executives on progress, letting them listen or view recorded user sessions is one of the most effective ways to get support.
*Photo by Amy Hirschi.
