What would be different if you applied design thinking to the way you lead innovation in your organization?

How to achieve innovation?

One of the best ways to lead or manage innovation in your organization is by implementing a human-centered method like Design Thinking. In this way we manage to understand customers’ unmet or unarticulated needs and articulate the real problem they experience. Those needs are the best source for truly innovative – new ideas to create a competitive advantage.

Implementing Design Thinking.

Design Thinking is one of the most preferable methods to use when innovation is desired. That’s because this method is a human-centered approach to solve (complex) problems. Aside from delivering customer oriented solutions, Design Thinking also helps changing your employees’- colleagues’ mindset into an innovative – growth mindset  It’s important that leaders then create a culture that allows this mindset to unfold. Which will lead into having an overall more innovative organisation.

A mindset based on three things.

Design Thinking is a collaborative process that connects three things together: the customers’ needs, the technical achievable goals and an executable strategy. 

By adopting this mindset – method, Design Thinking minimizes the uncertainty and risk of innovation. By using customers insights obtained from field research. And by working agile and experimenting a lot. 

In a way Design Thinking is all about improving quality of life and creating a desirable future. – Linda Naiman

The Design Thinking Process

When The Argonauts work with clients to help them innovate, they integrate the 5-step process. 

• Empathize: Doing intensive research about which problem you want to solve. What’s your goal or desired future? What do you need to understand? What opportunities are embedded in the problems? But also researching your customers; their experiences, their needs, who they are and what the do. Meaningful innovation is achievable by searching for interesting – rich customers’ insights.
• Define: The toughest part, the part that determines the overall solution, is framing the right problem. By reframing questions and looking for patterns in your customers’ insights you can change the problem into opportunities.   
• Ideation: After embedding yourself with insights, data and a right problem statement it’s time to let creativity do his thing. Organise creative sessions (like a brainstorm) where individuals and groups can generate ideas for solutions that will deliver value for your customers. 
• Prototype: After the ideation it’s time to make your ideas tangible. Combine, expand, and refine ideas in the form of rough models or sketches. Test your prototypes and use the feedback to improve your ideas even more. 
• Validate: Design is an iterative process. You should continually improve your products – services and ask for feedback. 

Design thinking is a co-creative, collaborative process that helps people become more creative and innovative solutions.