The design leadership gap - connecting the business of design with the design of business

Transcript

1. DESIGN LEADERSHIP 2019 with Ali Sharp and Karina Smith @alisharp @kreategirl @wearemeld Crossing the Great Dividing Range in our organisations
2. Hello! It’s so nice to be here. Thank you.
3. Why is it important to close the gap? What is this gap we speak of? How? Strategies for bridging the gap. 1 2 3 TODAY 3 @wearemeld
4. Ali Sharp, General Manager @alisharp Business management Design mindset and methods Diverse background drives focus on inclusion and equality Karina Smith, Principal Designer @kreategirl Design, technology, and psychology + AltMBA Worked across scales and industries Designing organisations ABOUT US 4 @wearemeld
5. What is this gap we speak of? It is an opportunity space. 5 @wearemeld
6. @wearemeld Why is it so hard convincing our management teams and other business functions to make the organisational changes required to deliver the great experiences we design? OUR CURRENT SPACE 6
7. 7 Customers and Citizens Boards and Parliament STRATEGY OPERATIONS THE GREAT DIVIDING RANGE THE GREAT DIVIDING RANGE We see a disconnect between different groups due different drivers, mindsets, approaches and language. @wearemeld
8. 8 Customers and Citizens Boards and Parliament STRATEGY OPERATIONS Strategic decision making Accountability Politics Risk and compliance Financial outcomes Short term targets Traditional approaches Quantitative insights THE GREAT DIVIDING RANGE @wearemeld
9. 9 Customers and Citizens Boards and Parliament STRATEGY OPERATIONS THE GREAT DIVIDING RANGE Execution People and context Collaboration Long term impacts Ethics and sustainability Human outcomes Contemporary approaches Qualitative insights @wearemeld
10. 10 Customers and Citizens Boards and Parliament STRATEGY OPERATIONS LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITY THE GREAT DIVIDING RANGE Strategic decision making Accountability Politics Risk and compliance Financial outcomes Short term targets Traditional approaches Quantitative insights Execution People and context Collaboration Long term impacts Ethics and sustainability Human outcomes Contemporary approaches Qualitative insights We see a disconnect due different drivers, mindsets, approaches and language. @wearemeld
11. OUR LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITY If we are going to help organisations create better outcomes for our world, we need to lead the way in connecting the business; combining our drivers, mindsets, approaches and language. 11 @wearemeld
12. OUR LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITY Use our mindsets and skills — empathy, inclusion, storytelling, prioritisation, experimentation — to model and inspire a more cohesive, collective approach to achieving an organisation’s purpose. 12 @wearemeld
13. Why is it important to close the gap? 13 @wearemeld
14. @wearemeld “A realisation is beginning that for companies to be successful they have to have a broader purpose than just making profits in the short term.” David Gonski Speech to AICD’s 2018 NSW Fellows’ Diner WHY IS CLOSING THE GAP IMPORTANT? 14
15. WHY IS CLOSING THE GAP IMPORTANT?
16. WHY IS CLOSING THE GAP IMPORTANT? 16
17. WHY IS CLOSING THE GAP IMPORTANT? “Our workplace culture and forward-leaning approach created significant operational and cultural challenges that have in the past harmed, and may in the future continue to harm, our business results and financial condition.” Uber’s IPO filing - April 2019 17 @wearemeld
18. @wearemeld “The APS is too often perceived by stakeholders to be a closed book, reflecting a risk averse culture, reluctance to provide information and sometimes tokenistic approaches to consultation.” WHY IS CLOSING THE GAP IMPORTANT? 18 “It is important that APS managers are incentivised to deliver outcomes in the long-term interests of Australia, build capability of their staff and agency, and are responsive to immediate priorities.” “The lack of unifying purpose plays a significant role in the weaknesses the APS has in collaboration and coordination, governance, strategic decision-making and organisational performance management” The Independent Review of the APS - March 2019
19. @wearemeld “When design takes centre stage, it can have a direct impact on tangible business results, like revenue, valuation, and time to market.” Invision - The New Design Frontier WHY IS CLOSING THE GAP IMPORTANT? Source: The New Design Frontier - Invision 19
20. @wearemeld A design-led approach brings: • Happier customers • Greater customer loyalty • Higher staff satisfaction • More efficiency • Better culture • Better financial performance WHY IS CLOSING THE GAP IMPORTANT? 20
21. WHY IS CLOSING THE GAP IMPORTANT? “Only 5% of organisations are tackling design in a truly integrated way that is elevating strategy, increasing market share, and surging employee impact.” INVISION - The New Design Frontier, 2018 21 @wearemeld
22. OUR LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITY If we are going to help organisations create better outcomes for our world, we need to lead the way in connecting the business; combining our drivers, mindsets, approaches and language. 22 @wearemeld
23. @wearemeld “It’s not my job. I didn’t sign up for this. I’m here to get on with making sure we design great customer experiences.” WHY IS CLOSING THE GAP IMPORTANT? 23 What we’ve heard “I don’t have the connections to influence at that level.” “I don’t have the right skills, knowledge or language.” “It’s too hard. I’m burnt out trying.”
24. How? Strategies for bridging the gap 24 @wearemeld
25. OUR LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITY Use our mindsets and skills — empathy, inclusion, storytelling, prioritisation, experimentation — to model and inspire a more cohesive, collective approach to achieving an organisation’s purpose. 25 @wearemeld
26. Understand the realities, drivers and language of business. Connect with other groups and understand where they’re coming from. Create a shared purpose, shared outcomes and shared approaches to fit your organisation. 1. Build relationships 2. Expand our toolkit 3. Create a movement 26 BRIDGING THE GAP @wearemeld
27. 27 BRIDGING THE GAP 1. Build relationships: mindsets and behaviours - Truly embrace diversity of thought and inclusion - Map drivers, mindsets, approaches, language, strengths, opportunities and overlaps - Align your strengths with others, don’t go it alone, there is a role for everyone to play, and we need that - Use language that resonates across all groups - Frame everything as an experiment - Be brave and resilient, accepting risk and failure - Build confidence to question status quo and push back, in a respectful way @wearemeld
28. BRIDGING THE GAP 28 We need to understand all angles so we can influence better decision making. 2. Expand our toolkit: ‘business’ training for designers Feasible What can we do? Viable What do we want to do? Ethical Should we? Desirable What do people need? @wearemeld
29. 29 BRIDGING THE GAP - Economic models (including alternate frameworks) - Organisational psychology and human behaviour - Organisational mapping - Design-making frameworks - Financial modelling - Measurement and metrics - Risk and compliance - Emerging technology beyond digital - Emotional intelligence / soft skills - Ethics 2. Expand our toolkit: ‘business’ training for designers @wearemeld
30. 30 The Milky Way Business Geography - Annika Klyver. Business Architect BRIDGING THE GAP Tools Cynefin framework - Dave Snowden
31. 31 BRIDGING THE GAP Expanding your toolkit - Formal and informal learning - Connect with other parts of the business - Create your own grad program - Get a ‘business mentor’ - Go to non-design conferences and meetups - Read the Financial Review!
32. 32 BRIDGING THE GAP 3. Create or join a movement to bridge the gap Core factors, regardless of what you call it: - Shared purpose, outcomes, approaches, language - Training, coaching and mentoring - Experiment with what your combined approach looks like, and showcase that @wearemeld
33. BRIDGING THE GAP 33 Less - Gap between strategy and execution - Conflicting KPIs - Strategy wars - Fighting for budget - Teams sabotaging each other - Poor decision making: narrow, short term, ill-informed decisions More - Alignment on purpose and priorities - Connection between strategic goals and everyday activities - Collaboration and inclusion - Better decision making: informed with insights from all angles, considering short and long term impact Outcomes of bridging the divide @wearemeld
34. 34 BRIDGING THE GAP: CASE STUDY Increasing focus on org design More organisations are: - Recognising the need to redefine internal structures, processes, culture and decision making to deliver better external experiences - Redefining what HR, change management and staff engagement looks like - Applying design mindsets and methods to achieve this, with the organisation itself being the object of design
35. 35 BRIDGING THE GAP: CASE STUDY Recent projects - Employee experience and internal service delivery for a global tech company - Operational structures, ways of working and staff wellbeing for the ABS - Internal service delivery model for a major city council - Coaching new ways of working at ING - Mindset and methods training at two big banks
36. 36 BRIDGING THE GAP: CASE STUDY 36 https://www.forgov.qld.gov.au/human-centred-design-resources Embedding HCD at scale We helped Queensland Government to change the way staff approach collaboration, community engagement, and service delivery. How? We co-created tools and tested them on two pilot projects. Tools included: - Mindset training - Processes for engaging complex stakeholders groups - Tactics to overcome common barriers in a government context.
37. 37 37 BRIDGING THE GAP: CASE STUDY 37 Proof points More than a year later: - More collaboration across agencies - Public tenders call for the human-centred approach - Staff have increased confidence in bringing stakeholders along on the journey and influencing their decision making - Greater cross agency collaboration in designing for better customer outcomes - Directors report of improved staff culture
38. BRIDGING THE GAP: CASE STUDY Experiments at Meld Hypothesis: High-functioning organisations define these things well. We’re experimenting with: - Advocacy Framework - Financial transparency - OKRs for shared goals - Structured decision making - Skills Matrix to support career growth - Working groups rather than traditional org functions and hierarchy - Rituals for checking in virtual and in person. 38 @wearemeld
39. Wrap up 39 @wearemeld
40. Closing this gap will help us to work more collectively and effectively, creating better outcomes for people and our planet. The Great Dividing Range: the disconnect between groups impedes us from achieving our full potential. It is wasteful and unsustainable. Our leadership opportunity: apply the skills we have plus some new ones to a new object of design: human behaviour at an organisational level. 1 2 3 KEY POINTS 40 @wearemeld
41. Thank you! Ali Sharp, General Manager alison@meldstudios.com.au Karina Smith, Principal karina@meldstudios.com.au www.meldstudios.com.au