From Insights to Impact: A course into unknown that got personal 🩵
Reflecting on the “Design Thinking for Social Innovation” course, my experience has been nothing short of transformative — got got way more personal than expected. Why? I will explain in the end. 🩵
LET’S SAIL INTO THE UNKNOWN — HARD FOR AN OVERTHINKER LIKE ME
As the course started, I was filled with a mix of eagerness and uncertainty, knowing only that I wanted to approach complex social problems from a fresh, creative angle. This course promised to arm me with the tools and mindset necessary to do just that.
The pivotal moment for me came early in the course, during our first meeting with Emad, our project consultant. Emad’s personal journey, shared during that first encounter, provided a tangible, human connection to the challenges we were addressing. Hearing about his aspirations and the hurdles he faced upon moving to Lisbon — ranging from bureaucratic hassles to the language barrier — imbued our project with a sense of urgency and purpose that secondary research alone could never have achieved. It was a vivid illustration of the difference between knowing about a problem and understanding the people living that problem.
UNCLEAR WATERS AND WAVES OF UPS AND DOWNS — HELD TOGETHER BY A CALM AND COLLABORATIVE CREW
As the course progressed, every session seemed to add a piece to the puzzle, gradually clarifying our path forward. Our understanding deepened with each interaction, and as we iterated on our prototype, the partners and experts like Graham / mezze and HighGate Hotel Group were instrumental. Their insights helped refine our approach, ensuring our solutions were viable and aligned with what the System Partners really needed.
Sounds smooth right? What was difficult? For example, the moment after the second meeting with Mezze: First, they told us they need partners and such an initiative for hotels (not only restaurants) — then we meet again and they say anothr type of program for entrepreneurs would be way more helpful and they already have hotel partners.
WHAT NOW? In this moment I relied on the “crew” and their judgement if we should deviate from our prototype for hotels so far to entrepreneurial trainings or keep our path. While we have different backgrounds and characters — we always rely on each other. I really didn’t know what to do and instead of overthinking (as usual), I fully trusted the group’s decision, that turned out great to continue with what we had found so far.
A teachable moment personally. Even though I felt in charge of getting conversations going or guiding and scheduling the interviews with Grahem / Mezze / HighGate as I am naturally extraverted and curious — this moment showed me that the group is highly involved and I can “lean back” and trust in their judgement. Their calmness gave me a feeling of trust.
SEEING LAND! INTEREST IN THE PROTOTYPE IS HIGH
The enthusiasm shown by the Lisbon Project and HighGate to bring our project to life was particularly energizing. It underscored the potential impact of our work and served as a potent reminder of the power of collaborative efforts in social innovation. This engagement was not just about solving a problem but about sparking a movement, about igniting a “fire” of positive change.
This course taught me to move beyond overthinking and to embrace the messiness and unpredictability of real-world problem-solving. The willingness of others to collaborate and contribute to a purposeful cause was a revelation. It showed me that when you step out of the theoretical bubble and engage directly with the world, people are often eager to help and to do good.
THE FINAL DESTINATION:
Sadly, our journey in the frame of the DT4SI comes to an end. But at least we made it a great EXPERIENCE: Our team took the words that were repeated during the course seriously and did exactly that:
SHOW DON’T TELL!
Istead of writing elaborate texts and hoping peole can empathize how hard it must be to work in the different areas of the hospitality industry we made them do it! Our parcour was born with the goal to get people into doing — as we did during the course. And by going through the program and getting a certificate people really understood what our program is about. Also it helped to co-create as they got really interested in our project when passing by and seeing people running with water glasss. As the picture shows — not easy!
OKAY LET’S WRAP IT UP AND GET EVEN MORE PERSONAL
In summary, the “Design Thinking for Social Innovation” course was not merely academic; it was a catalyst for my energy to initiate change that has a tangible, positive impact. It has equipped me with the skills and confidence to not only envision but also enact meaningful change, demonstrating that with the right approach and collaboration, it is indeed possible to “start a fire” and make a significant difference.
ON A PERSONAL NOTE:
It fills me with a sense of gratitude to be able to be part of such a project — using the privilege that I was (sometimes uncomfortably) confronted with. The feeling of humbleness and this experience also filled me with gratitude towards my own families journey — my parents migrating from Romania to build a better life as doctors in Germany and battling authorities that wouldn’t see them as the certified doctors they were.
This course got more personal than I expected when bidding for it but I am more than grateful to have had the privilege to be part of this course.
I’M CURIOUS TO SEE WHAT OUR PROGRAM BRIDGE TO HOSPITALITY WILL DEVELOP INTO! 🩵
