Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles >>> GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE. I'M MELANIE COHEN, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ATTENDING, THOSE IN PERSON AND ONLINE. AT USUAL, LET ME GIVE YOU THE ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES FOR THOSE HUD EMPLOYEES WHO WANT TO GET CREDIT FOR THIS, TRAINING CREDIT. PLEASE SEND ME AN EMAIL AND WE'LL MAKE SURE WE PUT YOU ON THE LIST. FOR HUD EMPLOYEES HERE, PLEASE SIGN THE SIGN-IN SHEET AND WE'LL MAKE SURE YOU GET TRAINING CREDIT. LET ME START BY SAYINGÂ -- WE KEEP CHANGING THE FORMAT A LITTLE BIT. THIS HAPPENS TO INVOLVE ME BEING THE PRESENTER. I'M GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT A NEW AREA OF THINKING, WHICH IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN WE NORMALLY DO. AND IT'S GOING TO BE A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A PRESENTATION, BUT HOPEFULLY IT'S A PRESENTATION IN A DIFFERENT WAY THAT YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THAT'S GOING TO SPUR SOME IDEAS AND SOME NEW THINKING FOR YOU. SO DESIGN THINKING. I DON'T KNOW IF PEOPLE ARE TOO FAMILIAR WITH THAT IDEA OR NOT. I DON'T KNOW IF A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE EVEN HEARD ABOUT IT, SO LET'S DO THIS. LET'S GO TO THE FIRST SLIDE, THE NEXT SLIDE, WHICH TALKS ABOUT THE RIGHT BRAIN AND THE LEFT BRAIN. I'M NOT SURE, AGAIN, IF PEOPLE ARE TOO FAMILIAR WITH THIS IDEA, BUT LET ME TALK TO YOU A MINUTE ABOUT WHAT THE RIGHT BRAIN IS AND THE LEFT BRAIN. IF YOU TAKE A LOOK AT THE SLIDE, WHAT YOU SEE IS THE LEFT BRAIN, THAT'S ALL ABOUT ANALYTICAL THINKING, RATIONAL THINKING, SORT OF STRAIGHT-LINE FUNCTIONS AND WHEN YOU TAKE A LOOK AT IT, YOU GET THE VISUALIZATION OF PEOPLE IN THEIR CUBICLES, RIGHT? ISN'T THAT KIND OF THE IDEA YOU SEE? AND THEN WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT RIGHT BRAIN, DESIGN THINKING IS KNOWN AS THE AREA OF THE RIGHT BRAIN AND SO WHAT THAT INVOLVES IS, IT'S MORE ARTISTIC, MORE INVOLVED WITH INTEGRATING DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS AND MORE INVOLVED WITH IDEAS. WHEN YOU TAKE A LOOK AT THAT SLIDE, WHAT YOU SEE IS SORT OF THIS HAPPY PLACE WHERE PEOPLE AREN'T REALLY TIED UP TO BOUNDARIES. RIGHT? THERE ARE NO BOUNDARIES THERE BECAUSE IT'S THE WHOLE IDEA OF THINKING NEW, THINKING DIFFERENT, INTEGRATING IDEAS AND LOOKING BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF YOUR OWN AREA. SO LET'S GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE BECAUSE WHAT I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU VERY BRIEFLY IS JUST SORT OF THE FOUNDATIONS OF WHERE DESIGN THINKING CAME FROM. AND LET ME JUST MENTION, BECAUSE I SEE A COUPLE OF PEOPLE TAKING NOTES. NO NEED TO TAKE NOTES. I'LL BE SENDING OUT SLIDES FOLLOWING THE PRESENTATION, SO IT'S MORE IMPORTANT, REALLY, THAT YOU GET THE GIST OF AND AN UNDERSTANDING FOR WHAT'S BEING SAID BECAUSE YOU WILL GET ALL THE NOTES LATER. SYSTEMS THINKING. IF ANYONE IS FAMILIAR WITH SYSTEMS THINKING, THAT'S THE IDEA THAT BELIEFS ARE ABOUT WHOLISM. IT'S THE PIECES OF THE PUZZLE THAT CREATE THE WHOLE, OKAY? THAT'S REALLY THE MAIN THOUGHT BEHIND SYSTEMS THINKING. BUT DESIGN THINKING IS SOMETHING A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT ALTOGETHER, BUT ITS FOUNDATIONS CAME FROM SYSTEMS THINKING, SO I WANTED YOU TO GET THE SENSE OF WHERE THAT IDEA CAME FROM. SO LET'S GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE BECAUSE I WANT TO START TALKING ABOUT THE WHOLE IDEA OF TALKING ABOUT DESIGN THINKING, THINKING IN A DIFFERENT WAY, AND THINKING GENERALLY, BECAUSE THAT'S OFTEN HARD. THERE'S A COUPLE SLIDES THAT I HAVE A LITTLE BIT LATER IN THE PRESENTATION WHICH WILL REALLY LAY OUT FOR YOU THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE WAY WE THINK THROUGH PROBLEMS AND THE WAY WE TALK ABOUT PROBLEMS. BUT LET'S TALK ABOUT PROBLEMS REALLY BRIEFLY NOW BECAUSE WHAT I WANT TO GIVE YOU DEFINITIONS FOR AND IDEAS ABOUT ARE WHAT WICKED PROBLEMS ARE AND IF PEOPLE ARE REALLY ADDRESSING WICKED PROBLEMS. MOST PROBLEMS WE TALK ABOUT GENERALLY ARE NOT WICKED PROBLEMS, THEY'RE JUST GENERAL EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL PROBLEMS. BUT WICKED PROBLEMS HAVE NO DEFINITIVE FORMULATION, RIGHT? THEY'RE VERY ILL-STRUCTURED, SO THE IDEA IS, IT'S NOT REALLY YOU HAVE A BEGINNING AND YOU HAVE AN END. WHAT YOU HAVE IS THIS KIND OF COMPLEX THING THAT'S HAPPENING, OKAY? AND WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT PROBLEMS YOURSELF AND YOU THINK ABOUT THE PROBLEMS THAT YOU FACE AND YOU THINK ABOUT THE PROBLEMS IN YOUR ORGANIZATION, THERE PROBABLY IS A LITTLE BIT OF A BEGINNING AND AN END TO THEN, SO THEY'RE NOT NECESSARILY WICKED PROBLEMS. I'M NOT GOING TO GO THROUGH EACH ONE OF THESE, BUT I'M JUST GOING TO HIGHLIGHT A COUPLE OF THESE THUNTION. WICKED PROBLEMS ARE ESSENTIALLY UNIQUE. THEY'RE NOT THE EVERYDAY PROBLEM THAT YOU FACE IN YOUR OFFICE, THE EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL PROBLEM. WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE PROBLEMS THAT YOU ENCOUNTER EVERY DAY AT YOUR OFFICE, ARE THEY REALLY KIND OF THE SIMILAR PROBLEM OVER AND OVER AGAIN, BUT IT HASN'T REALLY BEEN SOLVED CORRECTLY? IT'S SORT OF MUTATING IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION, BUT IT'S REALLY NOT SO SIGNIFICANTLY FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT YOU JUST TRIED TO SOLVE BEFORE? A LOT OF TIMES, THAT'S WHAT THE PROBLEMS ARE. AND NUMBER NINE ON THIS LIST, MANY STAKEHOLDER PERSPECTIVES ABOUT THE PROBLEM, SO YOU HAVE A LOT OF DIFFERENT THOUGHTS AND IDEAS AND INPUTS INTO WHAT THAT PROBLEM IS ALL ABOUT. OKAY? SO KIND OF THINK THROUGH THE PROBLEMS YOU HAVE, THINK THROUGH WHAT WICKED PROBLEMS ACTUALLY ARE, AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO GO THROUGH SOME PROBLEM-SOLVING TECHNIQUES AND I'M GOING TO SHOW YOUÂ -- AND, OF COURSE, FEEL FREE TO ASK QUESTIONS ANY TIME BECAUSE THAT SORT OF ADDS TO THE WHOLE INTEREST OF THIS. SO LET'S GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE. NOW, THIS IS THE TRADITIONAL PROBLEM-SOLVING METHOD, OKAY? THE WATERFALL METHOD. WHAT HAPPENS HERE ISÂ -- AND THIS DOESN'T WORK FOR A WICKED PROBLEM. SO WHAT HAPPENS HERE IS WE SPEND A LOT OF TIME, BUT A FINITE TIME, GATHERING THE DATA OF WHAT THE PROBLEM IS, RIGHT? WE GATHER SO MUCH DATA. THEN WE SPENT ANOTHER FINITE AMOUNT OF TIME ANALYZING THAT DATA, RIGHT? AND THEN WE BEGIN TO FORMULATE A SOLUTION. BUT EACH OF THESE ARE DISCRETE ACTIVITIES. THAT'S THE WATERFALL PIECE. THEY'RE EACH DISCRETE ACTIVITY MUCH, AND THEN WHAT WE DO IS IMPLEMENT SOME SOLUTION. NOW, IN THE INTERIM, THAT'S WHAT I'M JUST SHOWING YOU RIGHT NOW IS THE TRADITIONAL PROBLEM-SOLVING METHOD. IN THE INTERIM, WHAT SOMETIMES HAPPENS ISÂ -- AND LET ME JUST MENTION TOO, THIS IS A VERY RATIONAL MODEL. THIS IS WHAT NORMALLY GETS DONE, BUT IN THE INTERIM, SOMETIMES THE PROBLEMS CHANGES AND SOMETIMES YOU GET NEW DATA. SOMETIMES YOUR ANALYSIS BEGINS TO TAKE ON DIFFERENT SHAPE, BUT YOU HAVEN'T TAKEN ANY OF THAT INTO EFFECT BECAUSE YOU'RE BUSY ON THE NEXT STEP. SO WHAT I WOULD SUGGEST TO YOU, THIS IS A VERY RATIONAL MODEL AND THIS IS WHAT WE DO EVERY DAY AND THIS IS WHAT'S DONE ALMOST ALL THE TIME, IT'S DOOMED TO FAIL, OKAY? THIS IS DOOMED TO FAIL. SO LET'S GO TO THE NEXT ONE. WHAT'S DESIGN THINKING ANYWAY? SO I TALKED TO YOU JUST VERY BRIEFLY ABOUT WHAT SYSTEMS THINKING IS. DESIGN THINKING HAS A NUMBER OF DEFINITIONS AND PICTURES AND WE'LL GO THROUGH THAT. HERE'S THE IDEA BEHIND IT. IT'S THE IDEA OF INTEGRATING ANALYTICAL THINKING WITH ABDUCTIVE THINKING. OKAY? AND I'LL EXPLAIN WHAT THAT IS. BUT IT'S THE IDEA OF, WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT ISSUES, YOU CAN EITHER DO ONE OF TWO THINGS. YOU CAN EITHER USE STATISTICS AND TRENDS AND QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS AND SURVEYS AND HISTORICAL DATA, WHICH IS GOING TO PRODUCE SOME SORT OF RELIABLE RESULT, RIGHT? IT ALWAYS PRODUCES A RELIABLE RESULT BECAUSE YOU'RE USING ACTUAL ANALYTICS. OR, OR, WHAT DESIGN THINKING IS, YOU CAN BEGIN TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING AND FRAMING OF WHAT THE REAL PROBLEM IS BY UNDERSTANDING THE CONTENT AND THE CONTEXT OF THE PROBLEM. WHICH IS WHAT MOST PEOPLE DON'T DO. MOST PEOPLE HAVE A PROBLEM AND THEY LOOK FOR A QUICK SOLUTION. YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, IS THAT WHAT OFTEN HAPPENS? YOU SORT OFÂ -- YOU HAVE A PROBLEM, YOU WANT TO SOLVE IT, AND YOU WANT TO MOVE ON TO WHATEVER THE NEXT THING IS, BUT YOU DON'T TAKE THE TIME TO REALLY THINK ABOUT AND UNDERSTAND THE COMPLEXITY OF WHAT THAT PROBLEM IS ALL ABOUT. AND THAT'S THE IDEA BEHIND DESIGN THINKING. IT'S THE IDEA OF UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM, SORT OFÂ -- I USE PROTOTYPING, BUT I USE PROTOTYPING IN A DIFFERENT WAY. I DON'T MEAN PROTOTYPING LIKE PROTOTYPING SYSTEMS OR PROTOTYPING, YOU KNOW, A PRODUCT. I MEAN PROTOTYPING SOLUTIONS, SO THAT YOU CAN TAKE THAT POTENTIAL PILOT SOLUTION, SEE IF THAT SOLVES THE PROBLEM. NORMALLY IT WON'T SOLVE THE PROBLEM, SO YOU NEED TO CONTINUE TO ADJUST THAT BECAUSE THE PROBLEM CONTINUES TO MUTATE, AND THEN COME UP WITH SOMETHING ELSE. SO IT'S REALLY AN ITERATIVE TYPE OF APPROACH, WHICH IS SOMETHING VERY DIFFERENT THAN THE TRADITIONAL PROBLEM-SOLVING. SO IF WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. AND WHAT THAT IS IS ESSENTIALLY I JUST WANT TO GIVE YOU SOME DEFINITIONS BECAUSE, REALLY BECAUSE I'M AN ACADEMIC AND I LOVE DEFINITIONS. BUT THAT'S NOT REALLY THE PART OF IT. I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND, ALTHOUGH I'M EXPLAINING IT, I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND WHAT SOME OF THE DEFINITIONS ARE. SO IT'S DEFINED AS THE ABILITY TO COMBINE EMPATHY FOR THE CONTEXT OF THE PROBLEM. THAT'S REALLY KEY. EMPATHY FOR THE CONTEXT OF THE PROBLEM, UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE PROBLEM REALLY IS, THE FOUNDATION OF THE PROBLEM BEFORE YOU RUN AND TRY TO GET A SOLUTION BASED ON WHAT YOU THINK THE PROBLEM IS AND IT'S ABOUT CREATING, RECREATING, AND