Challenge 

 I work in a team where we build digital products to support business operations in a traditional   economic sector . Our company is a infrastructure developer and had most expertise in linear project   planning using waterfall methodology . My team of 5 consists of engineers and software developers   who are more used to working in an agile and iterative manner with a decentralized decision - making   process . The specific challenge I face daily is how might we direct our product development activities   more effectively to accommodate the linear planning process at a wider division level where most of   the planning are linear and non - iterative . 

 Selection 

 I select the mind - mapping tool to address this challenge . Mind - mapping , according to week 3 ’s   video , is a visual technique for identifying patterns in a complex situation with an aim to arrive at   new insights around design criteria that can help drive the design thinking process from what - is to   what - if . I picked this tool for 2 reasons : 1 . The mind - map can help chart all the projects and   workstreams within the division and give greater clarity to my team on how our work impacts our   colleagues ’ initiatives to help identify values and overlaps ; 2 . The mind - map allows us to understand   underserved areas and discover opportunities and set pace for what we should develop and at what   speed and scope . 

 Application 

 What we did was that I hosted a 1 - hour workshop for my team . I started the session with a high- level nodes and branches on the major initiatives , then my team would spend the next 20 minutes to   collaboratively fill - out the mind - map ( I used a free online mind - mapping tool ) , with a focus on the   objectives , key results of each of the project we have in the team and how they map to the major   initiatives in the division . Then in the following 20 minutes , we discuss the key observations around   overlaps and areas of neglect and prioritized our projects . In the last 20 minutes , the team added   tasks as the left - nodes on the mind - map over the areas that we collectively prioritized and reviewed   the validity of those tasks . The resultant set of tasks were then turned into self - assignments in our   workflow management system and scheduled accordingly . 

 Insight 

 Doing a collaborative mind - mapping exercise was very helpful in seeing different perspectives from   the team . Areas of focus immediately gained clarity and apparent contradictions in certain projects ’   executions are highlighted . One surprise that I learned was that what the team sees as priority   would sometimes collectively deviate from what I viewed as priority from the business perspective .   The level of details on tasks also reveal a different understanding on the problems at hand , between   division leadership and the team . 

 Approach 

 I ’d say the mind - mapping exercise was very helpful , although far from ideal as it was practiced . 2   things I would do differently as I run it next time : 1 . A shorter exercise with a more focused objective   would help the team not to wander across too many problem and project domains . 2 . Allowing   anonymous editing and collaborations would encourage the team to flag issues more freely . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Challenge 

 I work in a team where we build digital products to support business operations in a traditional   economic sector . Our company is a infrastructure developer and had most expertise in linear project   planning using waterfall methodology . My team of 5 consists of engineers and software developers   who are more used to working in an agile and iterative manner with a decentralized decision - making   process . The specific challenge I face daily is how might we direct our product development activities   more effectively to accommodate the linear planning process at a wider division level where most of   the planning are linear and non - iterative . 

 Selection 

 I select the mind - mapping tool to address this challenge . Mind - mapping , according to week 3 ’s   video , is a visual technique for identifying patterns in a complex situation with an aim to arrive at   new insights around design criteria that can help drive the design thinking process from what - is to   what - if . I picked this tool for 2 reasons : 1 . The mind - map can help chart all the projects and   workstreams within the division and give greater clarity to my team on how our work impacts our   colleagues ’ initiatives to help identify values and overlaps ; 2 . The mind - map allows us to understand   underserved areas and discover opportunities and set pace for what we should develop and at what   speed and scope . 

 Application 

 What we did was that I hosted a 1 - hour workshop for my team . I started the session with a high- level nodes and branches on the major initiatives , then my team would spend the next 20 minutes to   collaboratively fill - out the mind - map ( I used a free online mind - mapping tool ) , with a focus on the   objectives , key results of each of the project we have in the team and how they map to the major   initiatives in the division . Then in the following 20 minutes , we discuss the key observations around   overlaps and areas of neglect and prioritized our projects . In the last 20 minutes , the team added   tasks as the left - nodes on the mind - map over the areas that we collectively prioritized and reviewed   the validity of those tasks . The resultant set of tasks were then turned into self - assignments in our   workflow management system and scheduled accordingly . 

 Insight 

 Doing a collaborative mind - mapping exercise was very helpful in seeing different perspectives from   the team . Areas of focus immediately gained clarity and apparent contradictions in certain projects ’   executions are highlighted . One surprise that I learned was that what the team sees as priority   would sometimes collectively deviate from what I viewed as priority from the business perspective .   The level of details on tasks also reveal a different understanding on the problems at hand , between   division leadership and the team . 

 Approach 

 I ’d say the mind - mapping exercise was very helpful , although far from ideal as it was practiced . 2   things I would do differently as I run it next time : 1 . A shorter exercise with a more focused objective   would help the team not to wander across too many problem and project domains . 2 . Allowing   anonymous editing and collaborations would encourage the team to flag issues more freely .
### Output: 