We are not Silicon Valley — and we are proud of it!
Several times I fought against an invisible enemy: mysteriously vanishing motivation despite a perfectly organized workshop. You’ll never guess the reason.
Years ago, when I started to consciously use Design Thinking (as a product designer I used to work with these methods and tools as a natural thing) I several times experienced the following: We started a workshop, jumped right into it, full speed, were totally motivated, and our enthusiasm was felt by all participants - rock ’n roll! Let’s create something great!
And then, suddenly the mood of the group changed. The team became quiet, insecure, hesitant, a nervous tension filled the room and finally we were totally out of focus and the energy was gone.
That really dragged me down because we had the right team setup, creative space at our fingertips, the right tools and the best coaches ;) So why didn’t it fly? It really took me a while to get behind it, but in the end, it was rather simple. They started with enthusiasm, but soon the group became just uncomfortable. What the hell had happened?
It lays in the culture
It really gave me sleepless nights and I started to discuss the phenomenon with my closest colleagues. Through these talks, we detected an interesting pattern: It turned out that my mainly German colleagues experienced exactly the same thing but Design Thinking coaches from the US rarely reported these problems. It finally came to me — this was a cultural issue. In the US, groups are much more open and tend to follow their “I have a dream”-roots …trust the process — trust the moderator, and off we go. In Europe, and especially in Germany, we have a very different working culture. And this is the main reason for the negative dynamics.
The definition of work, especially in Germany, is strongly defined by the post-World War 2 mindset that contributed to the “Wirtschaftswunder”. During this massive economic boom in the 1950s, there was the belief that “if you work hard, you will be successful” and “work is no fun and has to hurt a bit”. Being the cradle of inventive genius (remember the bike and the car, just to name two world-changing German innovations) and product design (Werkbund, Bauhaus, Ulmer Schule) served to strengthen our pride in our engineering talents. But this more rational, technical mindset also carries with it an initial scepticism towards new, joyful, and agile methods. In Germany, I’m sure some of our workshop participants might initially have the following thoughts: “look at those freaks who just put coloured stickies on whiteboards” or, “give me a break, this is not serious work.“ And with these thoughts in the back of their heads, they immediately doubt that this approach will yield valuable results.
At sovanta, we identified that in order to succeed, we have to break this pattern. This is the key insight we had: No matter which way you look at it, it’s all about comfort zone. Innovation happens outside the comfort zone. But humans are fearful, they don’t move outside their safe space without a good reason. And if they decide to move, they need a whole lot of support and safety gear. This is our role: we guide participants and enable them to take the necessary steps. But the steps need to be taken one at a time — you can’t just leapfrog 5 steps and this is exactly the mistake we made in our initial workshops. We jumped and expected participants to nimbly follow suit.
Guided Mastery
How can we provide this so called “guided-mastery“?
First, we take time to explain Design Thinking and point out the benefits of it. It turns out that even today there is a huge lack of knowledge about the methodology, especially in larger organisations.
Next, before we start working, we spend some time to explain the PROCESS. The best way to do this is to put up an illustration of the Design Thinking process, go through the different phases and highlight the RESULT or outcome of every phase. Later in the workshop we use this canvas to show where we exactly are and what we achieved so far.
It seems ridiculous, but this invest in orientation was a complete game changer. The group stayed positive and focussed. They felt at ease and strongly believed in the results, because they had a solid understanding of the process and this served to anchor them and ultimately allowed them to let go and engage with the new method.
Another big issue for the participants was the fear of not to be able to report findings on the day. According to the Stanford approach, documenting progress isn’t required because the group is empowered to take every decision. This may work in the US but fails miserably in Germany. People get nervous if they can’t show some documentation. Not because they are not empowered (this may happen but is a rarer case) but more to show that there REALLY was work done that resulted in tangible solutions. If you communicate upfront that there will be a (photographic) documentation of the workshop, the group is put at ease.
In a nutshell, the adaption of the Design Thinking method to our working culture is a key to our success. We strive to meet people where they are and help them to forget their inherent worries. This allows us to create a setting where the new tools, methods, and mindset unleash the creative power of the German engineering spirit.
Auf geht’s!
This article is part of a series under the title “10 out of 100 — Learnings I wish I had known years before”. Get an overview here.
