Category Archives: Reflections (4952)

Design thinking is a problem-solving approach that can look different in every scenario. It is a powerful system that I intend to learn more about and apply to my work outside of school to solve difficult problems that I have not succeeded in the past. As I described in Assignment 1, I am currently using the early stages of design thinking to create a better proposal for a potential client, to increase the probability of being hired. I look forward to practicing design thinking as I believe I will improve at it each time. I can see myself empathizing more, bringing fewer assumptions, forgoing solutions early on to sufficiently immerse myself in the problem. I would like to learn more about how design thinking is used for non-product, more abstract problems such as structures.

Assignment 1 allowed me to hear others’ thoughts about design thinking, comparing their words, and contrasting their actions. I found the IDEO shopping cart video particularly interesting as I think it led to insights about their process. For example, the way interviewee talked about their organizational structure was flat made sense when they emphasized not shooting down ideas and even enforced it by publicly calling them out. Also, how a more junior member was a group leader simply because was better suited to the task. A final example is how they leverage experts on the problem they are solving rather than learning everything themselves. Creating a more meritocratic, open-minded culture allows them to better work together and leverage their resources.

Innovation occurs when something new is created. I typically think of it through the lens of business but innovation can be anything from the new improving the camera on the new iPhone every year to a new way of doing something. Simply put, innovation is doing something or creating something new that has benefit. I view innovation in my personal life as a perpetual process, as I try to improve one day to the next, from changing my diet, implementing a new routine, or using a new product, all with the goal of making my life more enjoyable in one form or another.

It is easy to confuse innovative ideas with true innovation as innovative ideas have no value unless acted upon, which in doing so is innovation. This is also clear to me in my personal life, as me hearing about something I could do to improve my life doesn’t actually improve my life unless I actually do it. The same is for businesses, innovative ideas must be implemented in order to create value.

It is also important to recognize that innovation doesn’t only come from ground-breaking ideas such as the iPhone but it can be a small improvement in the way we approach a problem or complete a process that can have a tremendous impact over time.

The question, “What does innovation mean to me?” implies that there are many definitions of innovation and people use different ones interchangeably. Whichever definition we choose to use, we should make sure that we focus on not only how we can foster innovative ideas but how we can implement them to benefit from true innovation.