Ela Ben-Ur joins me in this episode to talk about the work that she’s done to make design thinking accessible and easy with the Innovators’ Compass. Ela spent 13 years at IDEO, and has taught courses from product design to life design at pioneering Olin College as an assistant adjunct professor since 2007. As you’ll discover, Ela has a breadth and depth of knowledge and experience with design thinking. She has seen its evolution over time, as well as how it functions in a variety of contexts. She’s here to share what she has learned over the last 20 years while teaching design thinking, and while working to make the Innovators’ Compass an accessible way for anyone to get started. Ela had a lot of free time during her childhood due to family circumstances, which she’ll explain in more depth in our conversation. This led to her seeking out places where people figure out how to get through challenges, which in turn explains her choices to study at MIT and work at IDEO. Through these experiences, she arrived at her current mission: making design thinking as accessible to any person in any moment as possible. In our conversation, Ela will talk about the five questions in the Innovators’ Compass: What’s happening, and why? What matters most? What ways are there to make things better? What’s a step to try? Who’s involved? Ela will also discuss other points, including what she would address if she were going to coach a design thinking coach, why it’s often better to give people less rather than more when it comes to design thinking, where she thinks design thinking is going in the next couple of decades, where big breakthroughs can come from, and why it’s important to go slow to go fast. In This Episode: [01:50] - Ela starts things off by explaining her origin story, or how she came into design thinking as a practitioner and educator. [07:18] - Since leaving IDEO six years ago, Ela has tried to tune into where design thinking feels as accessible as it should be, as well as where it isn’t accessible. [07:55] - We hear more about Ela’s desire to bring people into the space of accessibility she has mentioned, as well as the barriers and challenges. [09:53] - When Ela has found people who are really struggling with design thinking and the process, what has she done to help them? [13:31] - Ela talks in more depth about the questions in the Innovator’s Compass, and how she arrived at that configuration. [17:44] - Dawan takes a moment to mentally parse the many representations of a design process, and points out that in many ways they mask the inquiry that is the heart of seeking a pathway from the world we have to the world we want. [21:01] - Especially if you’re involved in a challenge, it can be so hard to explore questions and admit that you don’t know what’s happening or why. [27:04] - Dawan talks about some of the work that he has been doing with Elon University, which involves looking at ways to build out an approach to design thinking that syncs up with the university’s learning environment. [29:32] - When working with people who are new to design thinking, or others who are experienced with human-centered design, how does leadership flow? [35:46] - Ela talks about some of the key elements that she would address if she were in the role of coaching someone who will be the facilitator of design teams and activity inside an organization. [40:18] - If you layer on too much too fast, it’s not just diminishing returns, it’s negative returns, Ela points out. [44:11] - Where does Ela see design thinking, or the Innovators’ Compass, going in the next five, ten, or twenty years? [47:06] - Ela points out that so far the conversation has involved a lot of generalizations, and offers some concrete stories in contrast. [53:43] - Ela takes a moment to express gratitude for people who have Tweeted their stories to the #InnovatorsCompass hashtag. [54:14] - Where can people find out more about Ela and Innovators’ Compass? [56:19] - One of the things that Dawan ends up correcting in people is seeing design thinking as a recipe for innovation. He and Ela then discuss this concept. [60:04] - We hear about the ways that Dawan tries to get around the recipe concept. [60:57] - Ela responds to Dawan’s method for getting around the recipe problem, and shares some of her own patterns. [65:25] - Dawan invites listeners to get in touch with comments, suggestions for future guests, and requests for topics. You can contact him at [email protected]. Links and Resources: Ela Ben-Ur at Olin College Ela Ben-Ur on LinkedIn @ElaBenUr on Twitter Innovators’ Compass IDEO Olin College SXSW EDU David Kelley> Audrey O’Clair Garrett Mason #InnovatorsCompass Valeria Rodriguez

Welcome to the Design Thinking podcast! I’m Dawan Stanford, your host. In each episode, you’ll learn to apply design thinking to your goals and challenges. Our guests, who come from a wide variety of industries, will share stories, lessons, ideas, experience, and insights from practicing, leading, and teaching design thinking. In this first episode, our guest is the incredible Jeanne Liedtka. Jeanne has been involved in the corporate strategy field for over 30 years. She’s a Harvard Business School graduate and a professor at the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia. In addition, she’s a prolific author whose works include The Catalyst: How You Can Lead Extraordinary Growth, which won the Business Week best innovation books of 2009, and, most recently, Design Thinking for the Greater Good Jeanne wandered into design thinking when she was searching for a way to be more effective in teaching managers about strategic planning. In contrast, she points out, most people think of strategic planning as a deadly, dull task of filling out paperwork that never goes anywhere. In her search for ways to make the process more interesting and to convey its importance, she hit on design. In our conversation today, she relates how she began using architecture as a metaphor for strategic thinking. In this episode, Jeanne offers insight into how to teach design thinking. The learning experience should be project-based, she explains. The project should matter to the people who are working on it. The learning experience should also be delivered in a way that meets where these people are in that project and avoids overwhelming them. She’ll also discuss some of the challenges that are facing design thinking as it continues to evolve. Jeanne explains why it is that the more you move into designing strategy and policy, the harder it is to use some of the powerful tools of design thinking. In This Episode [02:17] — Jeanne kicks things off by sharing some of the journey that brought her to where she is today, and explores how she discovered and developed an interest in design thinking. [06:48] — After spending five or six years exploring design thinking in business, it became obvious to Jeanne that a lot of the most powerful uses were happening in the social sector. [08:08] — What were some of the surprises that Jeanne found while writing her most recent book? [10:25] — Jeanne talks about what she would say or what advice she would give if she encountered someone at a party who was interested in bringing design thinking into what they do. [13:07] — We hear more about Jeanne has seen the initial steps of getting out into the world (and out of the conference room) in terms of common challenges. [16:38] — Jeanne discusses an example of what she has been talking about being done particularly well. [20:05] — What are some of the emerging challenges facing design thinking as a methodology or toolkit? [22:55] — Dawan takes a moment to talk about design thinking at the organizational level, in terms of reliability. Jeanne then talks about how things in design thinking are evolving on the measurement front. [27:38] — From Dawan’s perspective, one of the benefits to having more measurement tools is related to having conversations with funders or people who need a different kind of evidence before trying a new way of solving problems. [27:59] — In order to promulgate the method, we need to get serious about measurement, Jeanne explains. [29:10] — Jeanne expands on the previous topic of emerging developments in the realm of strategy and design thinking by giving a specific example of the Children’s Medical Center Dallas. [34:17] — One of the things that Jeanne is committed to is thinking about how to help people take this toolkit and accelerate the ways we’re using it toward more strategic policy-level questions. [34:53] — What are some of the key things to keep an eye on with regard to how design thinking pushes into strategy and implementation? [37:12] — Dawan is often asked how we prototype the intangible. [39:41] — Jeanne talks about how design criteria factor into her approach to design thinking. [43:51] — Jeanne offers a specific example of what she has been talking about. [46:12] — What Jeanne has been talking about goes back to the idea of “job to be done,” she explains. [47:22] — One of the other things that comes to mind for Dawan involves people’s first introduction to design thinking. Jeanne then talks about the relationship between design thinking and the assumptions that we carry into creating new stuff. [51:08] — Jeanne talks more about making a good design team inside an organization. [57:18] — We hear more about bringing people to a point where they can comfortably facilitate or lead design experiences with others. [61:54] — What does Jeanne think about the “inside outsiders” in larger organizations? [64:11] — Jeanne talks about what she would do if she had a magic wand she could wave and get thousands of people excited about researching a particular topic, and sharing the results with her. [67:41] — Where can people find more about Jeanne, her work, and her books? Links and Resources Jeanne's website Jeanne at the University of Virginia Jeanne on LinkedIn Jeanne on Twitter The Catalyst: How You Can Lead Extraordinary Growth by Jeanne Liedtka Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Tool Kit for Managers by Jeanne Liedtka The Physics of Business Growth: Mindsets, Systems, and Processes by Jeanne Liedtka Solving Business Problems with Design Thinking: Ten Stories of What Works by Jeanne Liedtka The Designing for Growth Field Book: A Step-by-Step Project Guide by Jeanne Liedtka Design Thinking for the Greater Good: Innovation in the Social Sector by Jeanne Liedtka Frank Gehry Children’s Medical Center Dallas Peter Senge