Reflect on “Reimagining Design: Unlocking Strategic Innovation” by Kevin G. Bethune

Interview:

Listened to an interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAB6WMhbX3U

Reflection

Overview (main takeaways I gravitated towards):

·      Coffee Chats (learners’ mindset)

·      Cross functional mentality

·      Multi-disciplinary puzzle (Breath and depth)

·      Walk with tack (Constructive feedback)

·      Design thinking (Philosophy of design thinking)

·      Rigor in teams (double diamond)

·      Time is key (calendar blocks)

·      Kick off meetings (open conversation on how to collaborate and norming)

·      Curiosity (understand human level needs)

·      Principles (hiring - subjectivity and missing out)

·      Watching and learning (AI tools, what makes us human and leverage platforms in our creative work, climate we are in - layoffs, etc.)

·      Source of influence and who leads these conversations

·      What are you doing as a company to cut costs?

I related a lot to the interview I listened to about Kevin G Bethune's book "Unlocking Strategic Innovation". I have identified key takeaways that I would like to expand on based on my career and personal development.

First, coffee chats. When I graduated from artcenter College of Design, I went on so many informational interviews to better understand the organization, the way they defined designer roles and responsibilities as well as share with them my design perspective to better understand if (x) company is where I wanted to work. It also helped me understand what their goal was when hiring someone.

 I graduated with a focus in spatial and interaction design, and I developed a strong point of view of how to interpret space and how it directly makes correlations to digital experiences. The end goal was always how do customers and end users navigate their way through an experience that is seamless, considers design needs and meets goals. I received feedback that did not allow space for my point of view, and it was articulated to me that, they were only looking for a "technical designer" with a deep "T" understanding of the role and could execute. Although I could deliver in both areas, I was still developing my hard skills.

 This leads me to the opportunity to work on cross-functional teams at frog design. This was my dream job and an opportunity that I will never forget where I found a mentor, learned business and design skills as well as sharpened my research methodology toolbox.

 I learned so much from working at frog that directly relates to the talk where Kevin describes, constructive feedback, double diamond, timing as a key driver and curiosity.

 At frog we would be collaborative on teams to design solutions needed for stakeholders, users, customers and development of a strategy that could be tested in field to bubble up insights for a successful launch moving forward. We were able to accomplish any task at hand by aligning as team. This includes:

- Team structure (best time to work, obligations, preferred method of contact, what we love)

- Daily standups (how are you feeling, what are you working on, what would you like to show in standup, any blockers you might have)

- Retros (how are you achieving your tasks, what can we change, blockers, successes)  

This allowed us to stay on track with our timeline while also supporting the team as needed. I have had the opportunity to take these skills sets into my career and develop them every day by staying curious, offering suggestions, yes and thinking, having a learner’s mindset and staying open to feedback from both my mentor, my colleagues and those I work with.

I valued this talk because it helped me reflect on past experiences and future experiences I hope to have. I hope I articulated clearly my journey and understanding but always open to feedback.

My mentor always said, "understand the why before you get to the how".