P615 A – Management Consulting

Lecture 6
Learning Loop: Innovation

Faculty Instructor: Dr. Paul Snowdon

Email: [email protected]
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Learning Objectives for Today

• Understand the phases of Design Thinking

• Practice key innovation tools in Design Thinking

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Today

Navigating the 4S’s

• While presented linearly, the
problem-solving process is inherently
iterative.

• The 4S method encourages you to

switch from an intuitive, informal,
and automatic approach to solving
and selling problems, to a reasoned,
structured, and manual approach.

• Our consulting projects will focus on

the Issue-Driven Path, and the
Design Thinking Path

• Today’s lecture focuses on the

Design Thinking path
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Reflecting on our Pre-Readings

We read two articles:
1) Design Thinking
Comes of Age
2) The Right Way to
Lead Design
Thinking

What ideas, insights, or

thoughts did they create
for you?
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Design Thinking
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Innovating requires identifying

the problems that matter …. And

systematically moving through

them to ….

deliver elegant solutions

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Where Design Thinking and Business

Intersect
• Influencing purchase decisions
• Enabling strategy/new markets
• Enabling product and service emotion
• Building reputation/awareness/brand
value
• Shrinking time to market/process
improvement
• Driving cost savings/ROI
• Increasing customer satisfaction
• Developing communities of customers
• Using design to improve the triple
bottom line (People, Profit, Planet)

Simeone, Luca. (2015). 'Deploy or die': The role of design in supporting entrepreneurial processes at the MIT Media Lab.
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Another way to envision the intersection

of Design and Business
Different ways in which The role of design
design is used in
organizations
Design as a differentiator Design as a source of competitive advantage and differentiation, through
brand equity, customer loyalty, price premium, or customer orientation

Design as an integrator Design as a resource that improves new product development processes
(time to market, building consensus in teams using visualization skills),
design as a process that favors a modular and platform architecture of
product lines, user-oriented innovation models, and fuzzy-front-end project
management

Design as a transformer Design as a resource for creating new business opportunities; for improving
the organization’s ability to cope with change; or (in the case of advanced
design) as an expertise to better interpret the organization and the
marketplace.

Design as ‘good business’ Design as a source of increased sales and better margins, more brand
value, greater market share, better ROI; design as a resource for society at
large (inclusive design, sustainable design)

Simeone, Luca. (2015). 'Deploy or die': The role of design in supporting entrepreneurial processes at the MIT Media Lab.
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Is Design Thinking the Right Approach?

Consider the following:
• Is the problem human-centered? Will the solution be
designed for and used by people?
• Is the problem complex? Are there likely to be multiple
explanations of the problem that are somehow
interlinked?
• Are you uncertain about the causes of the problem?
• Are you struggling with precisely stating the problem?

If the majority of your answers are ‘yes’, then the

problem is a good fit for a Design Thinking
approach
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Creative Problem Solving Process

Clarify Generate Develop Implement

the situation ideas solutions plans

Design Thinking is built off the Creative

Problem Solving process
https://www.creativeeducationfoundation.org/what-is-cps/

https://www.foursightonline.com/
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The Design Thinking Process is typically

expressed in six stages
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The Iterative Nature of Design Thinking

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Seven Modes of Design Innovation

Process
Kumar defined the modes of
thinking needed for design
innovation:
1. Sense intent
2. Know context
3. Know people
4. Frame insights
5. Explore concept
6. Frame solution We must be
7. Realize offer able to sell the
solution Vijay Kumar, Professor Emeritus, Institute of Design,
Illinois Institute of Technology. Author of ‘101 Design
Methods’.

The Design Process is an oscillation between poles of

‘Abstract  Reality’ and ‘Understanding  Making’
Kumar, V. (2012). 101 Design Methods. John Wiley & Sons.
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A 2x2 Visualization of Kumar’s Process

ANALYSIS SYNTHESIS Frame

ABSTRACT
Frame INSIGHTS
INSIGHTS
4 5
Frame
SOLUTIONS
Sense 6
INTENT

UNDERSTAND 1 MAKE
Know
PEOPLE

3
Know Realize
CONTEXT OFFERINGS
2 7
REAL

RESEARCH REALIZATION

We move between Reality and Abstraction AND Understanding

and Making. Each Mode has its own goals and activities
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The Process is Non-Linear

• A process implies
linearity, but this is
misleading … can start
anywhere
• Start where it makes
sense and where the
business has an appetite
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The Process is Iterative

• It requires many cycles
• Can start anywhere
• The number of iterations
is largely a function of
project budget and scope
• Doing more iterations
generally leads to higher
value, more successful
innovations
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Useful Design Thinking (DT) & Innovation

Resources
Sites to Learn DT & Applied Useful Books on DT & Innovation
Creativity
Problem Solving
• Foursight Online
• Creative Education Foundation
• Design Thinking
• IDEO U
• NN/g
• Interaction Design
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Phase 1 - EMPATHIZE
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EMPATHISE Stage
• For this class, we assume you have completed your user
research, empathy mapping and/or journey mapping
• You have identified the key issues/needs that the user is
facing
• We will progress to the DEFINE stage
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Phase 2 - DEFINE
Developing your Innovation Problem Statement
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Writing an Innovation Problem Statement

• Your goal at the end of DEFINE Stage is to have clarity about
the user’s problem(s)
• Writing a problem statement(s) serves as the basis for the Idea
Generation stage
Problems:
Passengers get frustrated waiting in the terminal 1) Subject = too broad
2) Too High level

Structure of a Problem Statement:

“ [user] needs to [user’s needs] because [insight] ”

A single parent needs to occupy their young children while waiting for a flight,
because they are worried about them going off unattended
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Exercise
• Review the key issues that you have identified in the
Home Depot User Experience lab
• Select one issue and use the Problem Statement template
to develop an innovation problem statement
• Report back on your statement and what you learned from
the exercise

Structure of a Problem Statement:

“ [user] needs to [user’s needs] because [insight] ”

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Phase 3 – IDEATE
Tools to aid you in generating solution
concepts
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Brainstorming Reminder
• State the problem or innovation challenge.
• Give any background data that is relevant.
• Rules for Brainstorming Research shows that the
• Defer judgement best ideas are often found
• Go for quantity within the last third of ideas
generated.
• Seek wild ideas
• Build on other’s thinking So, once you feel like you’ve
exhausted your ideas,
stretch for 20 more

“The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.”

- Linus Pauling
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Brainstorming Tips
• Start with a warmup
• Spend 3-4 minutes generating ideas A warm-up sets the right
around something different, tone. It says humor is
accepted and inhibitions
preferably something silly
are not.
• Sample warm-ups:
• What are all the things you can do with
These attitudes will
serve you well for
100,000 ping pong balls?
successful
• What are all the ways you can get a brainstorming
hippopotamus out of a bathtub?
• List all the ways you can improve a pencil
• (Or make your own silly question) 
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POINt Analysis – How we can give

balanced feedback to an idea
When you consider a new idea, look first at its:
• P – Plusses
• Identify what is good about the idea
• What are the benefits or positive features?
• O – Opportunities If you don’t have
• Engage in future thinking. time to make a
• What are the unique features that can be ‘plusses’ in the future?
• In the future, what might be possible when this idea is working?
POINt, at least offer
• “What –if” we implemented these ideas? What new opportunities a PINt evaluation
might we have?
• Start with “It might…”
Still pressed?
• I – Issues
• What concerns do you have about this thinking?
There’s always time
• Re-phrase concerns as open ended questions. Use phrases such for PI.
as “How might we ….” or “How to …” to shift the focus to what can
be done
• Concern: Customer is too price sensitive
• Re-phrase: “How might we make price to be a secondary issue….”
• Nt – New thinking
• Generate new ideas to address the issues ….
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The top secret phrase of innovation …

• Traditional brainstorming asks questions like:
• “How can we improve x …?”
• “How should we do y…”

• Innovation teams use a different question stem…

“How might we ….”

Or ‘HMW’ for short…
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Example of HMW…
‘How can we make a
better green-stripe bar’

‘How might we create a

more refreshing soap of our
own?’

This led to many new ideas

and the creation of the
Coast brand
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Other Tips on writing a great HMW…

• HMW works best with
ambitious, yet achievable
problems

• HMW doesn’t work well

with problem that are:
• Too broad (“how might
we solve world hunger”)
• Too narrow (How might
we increase profits by 5
percent next quarter?”)
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Tips on writing a great HMW…

“HMW + action + subject + outcome”

HMW Action Outcome
Problems:
1) Subject =??
2) Too High level
How might we design a great travel experience?

HMW Action Outcome Subject

How might we make waiting the most fun part of the travel experience for parents
with young kids?
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Phrase Challenges as Questions

• When you have a challenge, reframe it as a question
• Take the opposite stance of the challenge
• Focus on framing a positive path forward

Instead of … Ask …
Use phrases like:
It’s too expensive. How might we fund it? • How to…
• How might…
She is so stubborn. What might be all the ways • In what way might …
we can influence her? • What might be all
the ways…
We are in a sales slump. How can we boost sales in
August?
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How Might We (HMW) Diagram

How Might We…
How Might We…
How Might We…

Core Issue
or
Solution Idea

Tip: Keep drilling down until you know

what you need to build
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Exercise
• Review your innovation problem statement
• Develop a HMW question
• Brainstorm using the HMW
• Report back on your outputs and what you learned
through this exercise
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Phase 4 – PROTOTYPE +
Phase 5 - TEST
Iterative Prototyping
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Prototyping & Iterative Testing

• Recognize that up to this point,
all you have is a hypothesis
about how to solve the
innovation challenge

• You must test your hypotheses

to determine if the assumptions
you have made are correct.

• This may include:

• Building prototypes
• Designing experiments
• Returning to your users and asking
additional questions
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Lean Start-Up – Core Concepts

Minimum Viable Product (MVP):
• What are the core features/functions that
your solution needs to deliver?
• Focus on the 80/20 rule….20% of the
features will solve 80% of the problem
• Build the most basic version and TEST it
• Validated learning is the key
• Everything is an experiment
• Test your hypothesis!
• Gather data to validate (or invalidate) your
assumptions
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Lean Start-Up – Build-Measure-Learn

(BML)
• Build-Measure-Learn…starts with
Ideas
ideas!
• Build what you think is needed to
solve a burning customer need
Learn Build
• Don’t worry about being perfect.
Make the first round ‘Good enough’.
Introduce it as a ‘pilot’
• Goal: Minimize total time through
loop
• Tune offerings based on customer
Solution
Data
Concept feedback
• Pivot to a new solution concept
when assumptions underpinning
Measure your hypothesis are proven incorrect
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You need to develop a Pilot Plan to test

your prototypes

Use the How-How diagram to develop your pilot

plan
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Developing Your Pilot Plan - How-How

diagram
• State what we want to
learn, test or achieve?
• Ask ‘How do we do this?’
• Brainstorm answers
• Keep asking “How” until
you have no more
answers or until you are
satisfied with the ideas.
• Prioritize the ideas,
sequence them, and
develop your pilot plan
• Assign owners and due
dates
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Review your Pilot Results - The Learning

Cycle What did we want to learn,
test or achieve?

What was our plan?

What?
Engage in
Generalize, Activity
Apply
What happened?

Did we get what we

expected?
What could we do
to validate or test

Now So
What did we learn?
our new insights?

What? What?
Where else could
we apply these
learnings ?

How should we
adjust our plan?

Share, Reflect,
Interpret
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Phase 6 – IMPLEMENT
Tools to support your implementation
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Stakeholder Analysis
• Who has an interest in the plan
and its outcomes?
• Whose buy-in is necessary for
success?
• Whose resistance would derail
the plan?
• Who influences opinions about
the issues?
• Who are sources of reaction or
discontent?
• Who has clear roles in the
situation (i.e. customers, advisors,
managers, engineers etc…)

Start with identifying who have the most influence over your idea/solution
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Stakeholder Analysis – How To

1. Generate a list of your
idea/solution’s key
groups/individuals
2. Label the next 5 columns Stakeholder
Strongly
Oppose
Moderately
Oppose
Neutral
Moderately
Support
Strongly
Support
What is
Important to Actions to Gain Support
(Strongly Oppose, Moderately Oppose, Neutral, Them?

Moderately Support, Strongly Support) CEO

X O Effective
leaders
Shwo value of leaders
development

3. Make the spot where each

stakeholder stands with an ‘X’
CFO
X O Bottom line
results
Demonstrate ROI

4. Mark the spot where each

COO
X O Improved
productivity
Show samples of
operational excellence

stakeholder needs to be with an ‘O’ HR Director

X Employee
retention
Show value for employee
morale

5. Connect the present position (‘X’)

Union
President X O Value for
employees
Show opporunity to
influence positive change

to the desired position (‘O’) with an Mid-level

Manager X O Skilled
employees
Show how productivity can
be boosted

arrow
6. List what is important to each
stakeholder and the actions
needed to move the stakeholder to
the desired position
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Competencies Plan
• Innovations will require
new competencies in
…and often new roles
to be created
• Does the organization
have the capabilities in
house already?
• How will the
organization acquire
these competencies?
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Competencies Plan – How To

1. List each innovation Competency Competency Competency

initiative/solution A B C

2. Identify the Initiative 1

competencies needed
Initiative 2
3. Setup an initiatives
vs. competencies Initiative 3
What is our
matrix competency needs?
4. Describe the action Initiative 4 Build Acquire
Skills
Skills
plan in each cell Borrow
(Build, Borrow, Buy, or
Existing
Skills
Already

Existing Already)
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Implementation Plan
• Use the How-How
diagram to develop
your implementation
plan
• Examine resources,
effort, and
dependencies between
tasks
• Build out a Gantt chart
• Manage in accordance
to PMO guidelines
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Engage in Structured Learning as you

implement
Example of Retrospective Exercise
Use
tools/mechanisms
as:
• Retrospectives
• What-So-What-
Now What
• Content-Process-
Premise

Critical reflection and critical self-reflection are the keys to

learning and improvement
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Stay tuned...
• We will cover much more content on implementation and
leading change in the next semester
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Closing
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What did you take away from today’s

lecture?