I started the session by introducing a definition of innovation.  For a buzzword like “innovation,” with an infinite number of definitions, I wanted to share something simple and also something that builds on common elements.  Below is the definition I used with the group, and it is similar to Fresh Consulting’s perspective on innovation.

Innovation is the application of new thinking to a problem or need, which creates value

Innovation is not just about novel ideas; it is about embedding novel ideas in a working system, organization or marketplace.  Innovation implies that the new thinking is being put to use, whether in the form of a product, program, service, process or business strategy.

Design thinking is one answer on HOW to innovate.   Traditionally, we might think of design thinking as relevant for creatives and engineers who are looking to create new products.  For example, products such as the Swiffer, the Herman Miller Aeron chair, as well as the iPod, iPhone and iPad are all great examples of products resulting from great design process.

Over the last fifteen years, however, design thinking has become a relevant and useful toolkit for innovating in a variety of organizational contexts beyond just the conceptualization of new physical products.  Design thinking otherwise known as “human centered design” is about empathizing with your clients or end users, and digging deep into their needs in order to build creative and relevant solutions.    

Diverse organizations, such as JetBlue, Cirque De Soleil, and Fidelity Investments are actively using design thinking to envision and plan for the future, build new products and also better structure their operations to meet customer needs.  And because the field of education is so human centered, it is an ideal environment to which to apply design thinking methodologies.

So what did I do with this group to teach this group design thinking?  I used the Stanford Design School’s crash course in design thinking.  Stanford Design School generously makes their materials available so that the public can apply this toolkit to powering better solutions for customers and also to address complex global challenges, such as climate change, clean water and sanitation systems.

In this 1.5 hour workshop, leaders had to redesign the gift giving experience for their partner and learn design thinking by following the design model:

Empathizing with their partner’s past experience of gift giving

Defining a tangible problem that they wanted to tackle to help enhance their partner’s gift giving experience

Ideating in visual drawings what are potential ideas or solutions that could address the outlined problem

Prototyping a 3D representation of the idea that has the most emotional resonance for their partner

Testing their concepts with their partner and iterating based on corresponding feedback from their partner

Design thinking forced the group to get out of the typical tendency to present recommendations to stakeholders after investing a considerable amount of time  thinking about and analyzing a given problem on our own.    Design thinking forced an ongoing conversation between designer and user, and enabled consideration of a broader number of ideas through a faster iteration cycle.   Finally, design thinking allowed participants a new way to think and dialogue creatively, which is to think by drawing and building vs. the usual cycle of thinking in words and then in visuals.

One individual left saying they hope to use this type of exercise with their teams to ensure they are appropriately considering the user’s needs in designing user interfaces.  Another said she was relieved to know she could innovate more collaboratively with others earlier in the process, as opposed to feeling like it was up to her to come up with a brilliant solution on her own.  Indeed, innovation is a team sport, whereby “genius” solutions emanate from careful observation and empathy and reflection about  those you are trying to serve.

In closing, I will encourage you to

1. Observe your customers more often in their natural environments

2. Ask more thoughtful questions to get at needs, values and behavior

3. Brainstorm more visually and test your ideas with stakeholders and users more often and more quickly.
Why not be a designer in your own line of work? It sounds so much more fun, doesn’t it?

Not surprsingly, both of the curriculums include a lot of skill building in listening for the goals of building relationships and also enabling individuals (both kids and adults) to feel fully understood and appreciated.  Quite frankly, I thought I already knew a lot about listening based on my work as a coach; it is a skill I genuinely enjoy putting to work and practicing with my clients, friends and family on a regular basis.  I naively thought that integrating the skills of mediation and facilitated problem solving as a parent would be a natural extension of what I already do.  Boy, was I wrong!  What I realized is that it is always possible to listen and move a conversation with greater nuance and depth, and it is always possible get better at listening in a way that supports others to feel fully seen and heard. And finally, it’s always possible to do with greater consistency.

I feel like I could dedicate myself to writing a book on nuances of listening to connect with others, yet as a starting point, I want to focus on the different levels of listening we do, and invite you to reflect on the type of listening you are doing with colleagues at work, with  family members and friends, and with all those whom you come into contact with in your daily life.

Filtered Listening – When we engage in this type of listening, we are hearing another through the filter of our own experiences, knowledge and perspectives.  This type of listening is likely the kind  we all do and experience most frequently in our casual interactions. Filtered listening can be a valuable way to get to know another person and share experiences and perspectives with one another. In many cases, however, our own filters and stories can get in the way of us fully hearing another and can also lead the speaker to feel disappointed, judged and/or misunderstood.

Empathic Listening – This type of listening involves putting aside our personal opinions and judgments, in order to hear another person’s experience and perspective as fully as possible.  When we practice empathic listening, we are looking to hear another not just in the words, but also in their tone, body language, and their underlying emotions about what it is they are saying and experiencing.   This type of listening requires focused presence and attention, which is often a scarce resource today.

Listening empathically might involve an incorporation of any of the following skills:

Reflection – repeating back what you heard word for word

Summarizing – highlighting and repeating key elements of what you heard

Validating – naming the emotion that you sense the other is feeling 

Dynamic Listening – This form of listening can be practiced in a setting when there are at least two additional people present.  This type of listening involves not only hearing what each individual is communicating (or not communicating) in words and also through body language, but also listening to how what the individual is saying is impacting the other(s), and finding the key issues/topics of interest to hone in on for the benefit of their relationship.

How often do you find yourself practicing filtered listening vs empathic listening?  In what contexts or situations, might it be helpful to practice with different kids of listening?  What I find most interesting about listening is how regularly we need to be vigilant about refreshing and practicing our listening skills, despite understanding cognitively what we need to do.  Most simply, it’s about getting yourself out of way to focus on the other.

Positive feedback, the research shows, increases peoples’ commitment to their work, by enhancing confidence.  In contrast,  negative feedback provides valuable information on how to improve.  For individuals who are new in a job and less confident, positive feedback is likely to help one remain positive and comfortable in facing a new set of challenges.   For the seasoned expert, negative or constructive feedback is more likely to give one unexpected insight on how to make incremental improvements, and with a track record of success, one is less likely to be discouraged or offended.

For one of my  executive coaching clients, regular delivery of feedback to employees—particularly constructive feedback—has not been something that has come naturally, even as his team and responsibilities have continued to grow in size and scope over the years.  As a personal development strategy at the close of 2012, this leader decided he wanted to incorporate a “feedback model” into regular one-on-ones with employees.

As we spoke recently, a month after setting about this new practice, I heard my client being critical of his ability to implement the feedback model consistently.  As we dug deeper, however, it became apparent that just by adding the topic of “feedback” to his agendas, he was becoming more observant of his employees in both the big and the small ways; while he may not have been “executing” against the feedback model in the way he envisioned, he was communicating more frequently with his team about what was and was not working, and he also was tuning into each individuals’ behaviors and results in a more nuanced way.

This also made him more reflective about the quality and quantity of feedback he was giving to each of his employees.  He noticed, for example, that he was able to give much more concrete feedback in domains where he had worked previously and to his credit, that he was spending more time with employees who were newer in their roles and dealing with detailed processes and systems that were being challenged by expedient growth in the organization.

For employees who were more experienced and high performing in their roles in functions less familiar to the leader, however, he was challenged as to how to offer “value” for his direct reports.  Should he gain more knowledge in this domain where he had not worked previously to offer that necessary “constructive” feedback? Should he bring in outside experts who can help them stretch and further refine their craft? Or should he assume the role of advisor and coach who asks forwarding questions and helps his star performer reflect on the bigger picture without judgment?

All of these are potential directions for this manager, and ones he is considering, all because he has put employee feedback on his list of reoccurring agenda items.

In closing, this experience was a good reminder that a model is purely that – it’s a template of what can work, not a prescribed approach. Relationships and conversations are just too complicated to be limited by formulas.   On the flip side, the story demonstrates how small shifts in awareness and prioritization can have profound positive results for a leader, team and the organization.