5. FINAL: Hire a Design Thinker

DAU_DAUmil_News_Workflow Learning Director Hire_20170509

Due: On or Before Wednesday, May 8th at 5:00 p.m. upload to Canvas

Additional Resource Links:

Assignment Description:

Your FINAL assignment is an opportunity for you to demonstrate your understanding of the principals of Design Thinking by applying it to a practical business situation. You are to imagine that you are the principal partner of a new startup company that is in the process of developing a team of innovative thinkers and designers. This team will have primary responsibility for initiating and directing new product lines, diversification of company interests and overall product development. This kind of special group is commonly known as a Research and Development (R & D) group or might be associated with an Innovation Lab at other companies or institutions. (Examples of such companies include Nike, Starbucks, Apple, Facebook, Google, Amazon, Health and Pharmaceutical industry, etc.)

You need to hire a Creative Director for this group.

The focus of your company at this stage is NOT what you will be making, but instead HOW you will work as a team—working together to be innovative. What will be your business model? Your workflow? Your Creative Process? Your guiding  principles? Your business philosophy? The person you pick to be your Creative Director will be instrumental in implementing that business direction. Choose wisely!

R & D groups may focus specifically on topics such as new technologies, new procedures, alternative approaches, development, preventative measurements or methods of evaluation. Innovation Labs are typically dedicated to launching new products and services that improve the community as a whole. Discussions, brainstorming sessions, presentations, inventing, prototyping, product improvements/development and product testing are some examples of what goes on there. In short, an Innovation Lab or R & D Group is meant to be an incubator for ideas.

“Clichés about thinking outside the box might seem appropriate here, but real innovation requires thinking outside the warehouse where the boxes are stored.”
—“Criteria for Evaluating a Creative Solution”, Robert Harris, Virtual Salt, July 2012

To succeed in today’s rapidly changing, globally competitive environment, the only option is to innovate—to either make change or be changed. Innovation is the driver of change, and change is the most important driver of corporate and organizational strategy. Design Thinking is the link between innovation and business success.

design thinking applied

So, you must evaluate past performance and infer from those examples an individual’s ability to meet the challenges of  leadership in the position of Creative Director of a team of highly diverse thinking individuals from various backgrounds.—You must apply the basic principles of Design Thinking yourself to do this.

Assignment:

Your responsibility is to hire a Creative Director—a leader—for this team of diverse innovators. Everyone on the list below will be a part of the design team. You must decide who from this list to recommend as the Creative Director/Leader? You need to write a detailed recommendation that endorses or declares your choice to hire. Your recommendation must be written from one of four different Hiring Points-of-View that are each detailed below. You are to pick one of those points-of-view to direct how your report should be written or phrased.

The job description for this position includes the following desired qualifications. The ideal candidate should have a sound design philosophy grounded with the following goals in mind:

    • Empathy: design thinkers readily identify with the perspectives
      of colleagues, clients, end users, and customers. They use this insight to create desirable solutions and fulfill product needs
      that even the user didn’t know they had—A Desire to Create Emotional Impact.
    • Integrative Thinking: design thinkers can grasp all aspects of a complex problem. By negotiating between conflicting ideas about the right way forward, they can develop a better solution. They integrate the best elements of those different ideas—Adaptable to changing conditions, situations, or requirements.
    • Optimism: design thinkers believe that there is always a potential, a confidence yet unrealized, that a solution exists that is better than what is already or presently being done—A Desire to Inspire People to Act.
    • Experimentation: design thinkers imagine radical change rather than trying to make incremental improvements. By doing this
      they drive innovation—Must demonstrate an ability as a
      visionary thinker.
    • Collaboration: design thinkers readily work with others, particularly those from different disciplines. Often, they themselves have significant training and experience in several fields—Must be knowledgeable of a variety of materials and processes, not just a specialist within one industry.
    • Environmental Concern: design thinkers see long term consequences of their decisions affecting the greater world—A Desire to have Minimal Environmental Impact.

INDICATING YOUR CHOICE

  • Indicate your choice by ranking your candidates strengths and weaknesses using the Hire a Design Thinker—Choice For Hire rubric (below). Use this rubric first as a tool to rank the qualifications detailed above (Empathy, Integrative Thinking, Optimism/Confidence, Experimentation, Collaboration, Environmental Concern) for each of your top three choices. Secondly, use the results about your final top choice in your letter/report.
    • Screen Shot 2021-04-21 at 1.24.53 PM

HIRING POINT OF VIEW

Next, indicate which one of the following points of view you are choosing to base your recommendation. Which ever one you pick will tell you what role you are assuming in this hiring process.  (pick one of the following Hiring Points-of-View) 

    1. You are the sole principal owner. So your report is phrased as a letter–of-hire to the specific person you have chosen.
    2. You are one of a small group of several principal owners. So your report is phrased to be a recommendation to your partners.
    3. You were charged with making the final hiring decision and so your report to the shareholders of your company is an announcement to them declaring your decision.
    4. You’re charged with making the report to your board of shareholders as a recommendation that they will make the final decision on.
  • Your Letter of Recommendation, Letter of Hire or Report (based on your hiring point of view) should start by using the appropriate template (see links above) and the Hire a Design Thinker rubric as guides. This is the main part and what you turn in. Your letter/report should be convincing and persuasive based on your candidate’s past experience. You will need to reference outstanding examples from your candidates past experiences as evidence to support your choice. Your ability to research that candidate and summarize their Design Thinking strengths is essential to your success. The way that you phrase this information in your letter/report depends on what specific point of view you have chosen.

Whatever hiring point of view you choose you are an advocate for that candidate. Your letter or report should generally emphasize your candidate’s strengths and address any perceived weaknesses. It should accomplish the following:

  • The purpose of your letter or report is to organize and formulate your reasons for hiring one of the candidates on the list as its Creative Director. Use the Hire a Design Thinker—Choice For Hire rubric (above) as a tool to help you identify specific areas of strength. The rubric should also help you identify areas where your candidate is not as strong. Address those weaknesses as well. Remember you are their advocate—he/she is your choice. Use the letter template that is appropriate for your point of view to guide you in formatting your letter/report. Use the Hire a Design Thinker rubric (found on the Canvas page) as a checklist of the main points that should be in your letter/report. That rubric is for your own reference. It is what I will use to grade your efforts.
  • Your hiring choice must be supported by referring to examples of your candidates previous work. Answer the question how his/her experience influenced his/her abilities in the past and therefore, make him/her the ideal candidate for Creative Director.
  • Your hiring choice must be supported by referring to examples of your candidates ability to show successful leadership. Answer the question how his/her leadership influenced his/her successes in the past and therefore make him/her the ideal candidate for Creative Director.
  • Your hiring choice must be supported by examples of your candidates method of Design Thinking Philosophy. You must link those examples to how/why they would be successful at this new job. Answer the question how his/her philosophy influenced his/her abilities in the past and therefore make him/her the ideal candidate for Creative Director.

Upload your letter or report to Canvas on or Before Wednesday, May 8th at 5:00 p.m.