After spending so much time using their critical thinking (left brain) skills during the discovery and diagnosis phases, many design teams have difficulty making the shift to the creative (right brain) activities of design and development. 

Designing a new system requires several related activities including: imagining the ideal, developing a doable design, developing a detailed design, prototyping, design deployment, and reflection and refinement.

Step one: Ideal Conceptual Design - Imagine the ideal system or process. The challenge is to stretch the team’s thinking to develop a vision of how the organization could be in an ideal world. In this case, an ideal world is defined as one with unlimited resources and technology as well as an ideal culture. Experience suggests that if the organization first develops an ideal vision then a doable design, they will end up with a better (more mature) design than if they had gone directly to the doable design. When attempting to redesign a system or process, individuals and groups are often “prisoners” of their previous experiences and learning. Most design teams that attempt to go directly from the “As Is” design to the desirable but “Doable” design fall well short of what is actually possible.  Read more...

Creatively adapt appropriate aspects from the various examples into a new design that addresses the opportunities for improvement and moves the approach to the next level. Best practice examples can help the ideal system visioning process. These best practices must be creatively adapted to the unique needs of the particular organization. Organizations that achieve performance excellence are constantly learning from others, and not just others in their particular industry.  In several well-known examples, now successful organizations went outside their industries to learn and innovatively adapt.  For example, an often told story describes how when Southwest Airlines wanted to learn how to improve their ability to turn airplanes around on the ground quickly, they didn’t go to other airlines; instead they went to study Indy pit crews. To help with the creative adaptation process, the BUG book includes examples of over 20 high performing organizations. While these approaches will not perfectly fit any organization, except the one for which they were designed, the concepts described may be creatively adapted for use in other organizations. The use of examples is also helpful during step two a doable design and step three a detailed design.

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Read more on creativity and watch the TED video.

Step two: Doable Design - Develop a “doable” conceptual design. Once the design team has stretched their thinking and developed the ideal design, it is time to identify the constraints to achieving that design. First, review the ideal design and discuss any challenges or obstacles to developing the design. Once the obstacles and challenges are identified use creativity exercises and techniques to overcome the obstacles and challenges. If a creative solution isn’t identified, then work on refining the design to be doable.

Step three: Detailed Design - Develop a detailed design. There are many ways to develop a detailed design. One technique that design teams have found particularly useful is the one that was used by Leonardo da Vinci to draw some of his “grotesque heads and famous caricatures” (Michalko, 1998, p. 115). After identifying the various options from the example systems and processes, the design team then mixes and matches the individual components to create a new combination. Once the components are chosen they are creatively adapted to the specific situation and system.

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Note: Don’t confuse this approach with a recent book titled: The Da Vinci Method. For more information on the Da Vinci technique I recommend Michalko, 1998 - see below.

Step four: Prototype - Develop a prototype to test with a limited group. Depending on the nature of the process it might be useful to develop a prototype and test that design with a small group prior to full-scale implementation. This will allow the design team to learn from the deployment and refine the design before it is fully implemented. This is a common practice for systems and processes that have a major technology component (e.g., ERP systems).

Test the feasibility of the new or modified design. Apply or custom fit the new model to your unique organization. Designs are only feasible if they meet key criteria and serve the interests of multiple stakeholders.  Design is part art and part science.  There are several dimensions to consider when testing for feasibility including the design principles selected in step 5. Once the new design has been refined to meet the feasibility criteria, it is ready for full-scale implementation.

Step five: Deploy - Deploying a system or process throughout the appropriate parts of the organization is an exercise in leading change. Successful full-scale implementation of a new design requires a plan, trained employees, resources, and a process to review progress. The first step is to plan the implementation of the new design. This plan should include key activities, a timeline, and the resources required. Experience suggests that including the five key elements of both Richard Beckhard’s formula and Robert Quinn’s three elements of change in the deployment plan increases the probability of success (refer to the chapter titled – Transformation). In addition, the workforce cannot execute the new or redesigned process unless they understand how it works. Of course, the easier it is to execute, the less training is required. Most new processes, however, require some level of training. Making the plan a reality requires resources, including the valuable time of talented employees. Once deployed, continue to fully develop the system and processes as more groups in the organization use the process and identify areas for improvement.

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Step six: Reflect and Improve - Reflect on the system or process performance and develop plans to improve the design. All systems and process should have learning loops built in to the system to ensure continuous improvement of the organization’s ability to execute the new system and to improve the system itself and keep it current with changing business needs. A periodic review process is needed to record progress and keep the implementation on track. Each implemented change should be monitored and the approach improved if the anticipated results are not achieved. If performance does not improve, additional changes to the approaches need to be made.

Reference

Michalko, M. (1998). Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative Genius. Ten Speed Press, Berkley, California

john latham (c) 2000 - 2012  all rights reserved