Are we done already? Feels like we’ve just begun. Being a part of the Design Studio has been a great opportunity so far and I definitely feel as though I’ve got the tools to continue improving.
The design thinking process is a way to solve problems in a creative way and as a student I think it’s amazing to reflect back on some of the real-life problems we’ve encountered in this class. We’ve acted as consults for small start-ups and given them insights using the business canvas. This was a great opportunity to be able to look inside the beginnings of a business and help them to find holes or missing elements that they may not have seen before. In our project in particular, we faced problems with how our CEO learned to delegate responsibility as the company was growing and was big enough that he could not manage in the same way as before.
I think our final project was probably one of the more difficult ones I’ve had here in 4 years. As all our companies were so far into the greening process we found that they were leveling out and there were few ideas left that hadn’t been explored. However, I think the situations we were put in were much better suited for the class. Of course it would have been easier to take companies earlier in the greening process and tell them reduce your energy, use less paper, etc. but we aren’t environmental consultants. I think one of the reasons our group had so much success is because we didn’t come into the workshop knowing all the answers, we came into the workshop with the tools to figure out the answers. We didn’t have the knowledge of the company or sustainable background needed to solve these problems. What we had was a new way of thinking and we were able to use the people and resources the company already had to solve greening issues within the company. We were able to use their observations and insights to find creative ways to solve their greening problems while also coming up with a few extras.
This experience has helped me to deal problems and ambiguity and I think that these skills will be crucial when entering the work world. So much of what we learn at Sauder is to follow formula “x” to get to answer “y” and this is not how the real world works.