The social impact and design thinking, where did the story begin?

I spent three months within the organisation then I interviewed more than ten leaders to shed light on different levels. My gut instinct dealt with swirling questions after I finished my research project at Croydon Council in London last September.

Why am I doing what I do? Where is the purpose of it?

How can I apply this approach in the near future?

The research was brought forward considering how can Design Thinking support organisational cultural change. Croydon Council work experience along with the qualitative research questioned the perception of change in the organisation. Change seemed to be seen as a hindrance to the usual smooth running of the organisation, by its nature disruptive. Change is accepted when it is disguised by the need to fix a problem. Consequently when someone proposes some innovative change, they would first need to raise an awareness of a problem. There is a culture of fear of engagement. A Design Thinking culture does not champion failure. Instead its iterative design journey acknowledges that it is unlikely to get things right in the beginning.

McKinsey research shows that two-thirds of business transformations do not sufficiently meet their objectives. Programs show sometimes inconsistency in meeting needs or are poorly executed. In most scenarios the sprain in the plan has been capabilities. On the whole successful programs are those that output needed capabilities.

Organisations make remarkable investments in learning and development, but very little of it actually it focuses on behavioural change in the workplace. Like change programs, learning and development challenges can lose sight of their objectives for a variety of reasons, often in combination. Participants may not be adequately informed of the reasons the new skills are needed; the learning experience may be too abstract and unrelated to the actual missions it is meant to serve. The effort, additionally, may not identify the value of personal motivation or encourage a new attitude and mind-set.

In the aftermath of the research I have found out few insights that flow into social entrepreneurship and design thinking.

1.Change is an agonistic process and the strategies that enable change, creativity and innovation ought to be more aware of the socio-cultural context.

2.There are no universal prescriptions on how to handle change, creativity or innovation. Finally, the research brought up new questions how today’s organisations need to become aware of a new paradigm in the work environment.

3.Design Thinking can support cultural change in organisations. It shifts the organisational focus on design that sheds light on authentic opportunities.

4.Design is empathetic, it inherently drives a deeper thoughtful human approach to the business world.

5.The opportunity to call for motivation towards projects that unveil meaningful social impact is powerful.

Those three questions are still open as much there is a new map to explore with a clear direction on a river called Social Entrepreneurship.

 

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