Over the years of delivering business technology transformations, we have barely managed to stay still or within our comfort zone for long. However, like almost every other technology-focused company, we have suffered along the way. "What company did not?" We have been championing all things technology and, with a lot of passion, hiring one of the best programmers. We even invested a lot of resources and energy in training students or those who were about to leave as graduates. Fresh and warm. "What could go wrong? No! What could have been going so wrong?

A few years ago, we did not even know we had an in-house design team or a team of UX designers with the weapons to make an impact with new strategies and scale the business. Sound familiar?

Back then, the trend was to be part of a group of executives trying to find the key to differentiate their technology products. These products were unwieldy, or in other words, not very well designed. However, their programming was close to perfection. They were products designed for programmers' minds. That was the industry, but now the status quo has changed. At least for us.

Research your way 

We wanted to change the way we think about a problem and, for some time, we kept quiet. We opened the doors to a wider audience and invested in research. Apart from other, no less important, transformational activities such as changes in the hierarchical infrastructure, the accommodation of agile processes, scrum-mastering, etc.

We found that Design Thinking could work well for us and could be applied much more broadly than we thought. A way of thinking about the same thing we did yesterday, but through innovation, unpacking what we haven't seen before. We discovered that everything we do, it can be well designed. In addition, we found that Design Thinking could also help us through cultural evolution.

Therefore, I guess the next question on your mind is: How do I sell this recipe to my executives?  There is no easy way. However, with a lot of patience and courage, anything is possible. Of course, you need an agile person, as that person will also be in contact with the experts in your organization. 

Often, someone in the team has already thought of something similar, if not the same. That person, an expert, might have an idea about the solution, the failed executions, or perhaps some work in progress. And you should examine them first. Many efforts are triggered by refreshing an unfinished one. This approach always unpacks some surprises as well as shortcuts. This process has another long-term packaging. By talking to experts in the early stages about the possible improvement of the design process, they become part of the investment in the latter outcome. And everyone needs such an investment. Luckily for Emergya: passion or belief is not something we are lacking. On the contrary!

In the next chapter, we will examine "Design Thinking" our challenge (part II).