Charles Burnett, an educator who pioneered Design Thinking, defines it as ‘A process of creative and critical thinking that allows information and ideas to be organised, decisions to be made, situations to be improved and knowledge to be gained.’
Entrepreneurship is a rocky road
Some of the problems faced by entrepreneurs are unique to their situations with no obvious solutions. There is no need to despair. There are many methods that alleviate the ‘growing pains’ of entrepreneurship, with Design Thinking being one of the more effective ones. At whichever stage an entrepreneur happens to be on her journey, Design Thinking methods can help. First by creating problem awareness and then setting the stage for innovative solutions to emerge.
Design thinking at work. Case study one
The challenge: The core committee members of Hong Kong Momtrepreneurs (HKM), a recently founded non-profit organization had to arrive at a consensus on ways to achieve their organizational aims. The committee had met formally a few times, and were fundamentally in agreement, but there was no clarity on which items to prioritize and how to actually set things in motion.
Participants drew themselves and what they hoped to achieve before the workshop
The same cards with comments after the workshop
HKM Workshop details: This 2-hour workshop for HKM’s 9-member core committee began with a creativity matrix to spark off ideas. The matrix was specially designed to stimulate ideas that aligned with their organizational aims and targeted their main stakeholders. Collaboratively, a whole lot of ideas were generated, then ranked, first for effectiveness and then for ease of implementation.
HKM’s takeaways: The workshop ended with a clear visual roadmap of which of the ideas could be executed immediately and which had value but needed time and organizational resources to succeed. HKM’s diverse 9-member core group, which had met formally just a few times earlier, achieved consensus, amicably, over wine and cheese, without a single argument. The advantages of working together and drawing on everyone’s strengths came to the fore.
HKM founder and entrepreneur Lena Wong with workshop facilitator Deepa Kamath
Post workshop comments:
‘A way of thinking and collecting ideas without arguments.’
‘Clear the objectives and actions for the social enterprise.’
‘How to put ideas into action.’
Creativity Matrix and Roadmap created collaboratively by the HKM Core Committee
Design thinking methods are not hazy. Using them entrepreneurs accurately pinpoint and then grapple with the issues before them. They can also reorganize, pivot and/or arrive at ways to resolve troublesome issues. With some of these methods at their disposal, when the next business challenge emerges, entrepreneurs are able to face them with confidence.
To help you with your own business, join the upcoming Boss Mom Academy’s workshop on April 30 to draw a roadmap for yourself:
Fast-Forward Your Ideas to the Market 將您的點子推向市場
Design Thinking Workshop for new entrepreneurs 初創設計思維研討會
Date: April 30, 2019 日期：2019年4月30日 Time: 9:30am to 12:30pm 時間：上午9:30至下午12:30 Place 地點: Ucommune Sheung Wan Price 費用: $280 Facilitator 導師: Deepa Kamath Interactive Workshop Conducted in English 以英語互動教授
Deepa Kamath is the founder of Amplify, a Hong Kong based design studio. She has more than 30 years of experience of working in and running different businesses. She is also a LUMA-certified Design Thinking practitioner.
Great appreciation to workshop facilitator Deepa Kamath. This article is reposted from her blog on company website.
