Reflection – Learning Launch 

 Challenge   During my job , I worked as a senior technical associate for High Voltage Electrical field installation   products . The role involved design and development for products , mitigating issues with vendors and   supporting the operations team with process improvement opportunities . 

 During the tenure , we were faced with a challenge , which was to reduce the number of operating test   cycles for routine product testing from 50 to 25 . This was a practice which was prevalent in other units   of Bulgaria but in India , we have not implemented it yet . To some extent , the team of old experienced   people hung onto the idea that 50 operating test cycles would be necessary as a routine test to check   the reliability of the product . Though this was a practice prevailing over years , unquestioned , there   was no substantiated proof that this was the best practice . Even there were no standards involved ,   which mentioned the need to perform such extensive operational cycles . So eventually this challenge   was to prove that the reduced cycle of operations would work just fine and also challenging the   mindset of people who have been doing this activity over a period of time in a certain way and were   not ready to change it . 

 Selection   As we had a certain benchmark in mind , we thought of doing a learning launch to reduce the operating   test cycle from 50 to 25(Bulgarian Benchmark ) . Internally , we involved the stakeholders who were   affected by this change which involved the quality testing team , production team , R&D , Operations   and Services Team . It was important that I highlight the pros of the change as well as take actions to   eliminate the negatives that surface during the stakeholder meeting by doing a low - cost field test .   Hence , learning launch was the tool selected . To identify the negatives , we brainstormed and   highlighted the possible negatives which were brought up by the stakeholders which had to be   monitored during the learning launch . 

 Application   After doing thorough internal tests to prove the validity of reducing the routine test cycles to 25 , I had   to address a specific point that came up in the stakeholder meeting , which was that , internal tests   which are in simulated lab conditions can not completely represent field conditions . Hence , we had to   do learning launches to understand behaviour of the product in the field . Hence , I identified specific   domestic customers who were in close proximity to the manufacturing locations . This was done to   ensure that at any moment if there is any issue with the customer operations due to the impending   change , we could easily deploy service engineers or if required , components to address this issue   immediately . We made our learning launches in areas near the Indian states of Maharashtra and   Gujarat which in addition to proximity had rugged environmental conditions pertaining to very high   temperature , high rainfall and some regions were exposed to coastal environment . Harsh   environment would ensure that working conditions will further stress the equipment . 

 Our objective was to measure the quality of operations for which output metrics were measured viz .   time of operation , torque required to operate , travel involved . In addition to the output metrics , it   was also important to measure the ambient conditions to calibrate the operations under situations   which can be applicable globally for any environment . On doing this learning launches , we could   substantiate the claim , through a prolonged exposure of the equipment for 6 months and monitoring ,   that reducing the routine test cycles from 50 to 25 , does not impact the operations of equipment . 

 With tangible results , we could also convince the sceptics about the proposed changes and thereby   brought around this change in mindset and in a way reduced the overall testing time and reduced the   lead time to manufacture . 

 Insight   The key takeaway from doing this exercise is that it is an efficient way because here we can lay down   the plan to understand whether an idea generated is worth applying or not . This is also an   unambiguous way as stakeholders are initially taken into loop to understand their concerns and these   concerns are incorporated in learning launch design to ensure that the doubts are eliminated . Learning   launches are an essential tool because it gives the necessary confidence among decision makers who   would otherwise be relying only upon assumptions or gut feelings . But in carrying out this process it   is critical to eliminate any confirmation bias by having a diverse team where everybody has the   freedom to express themselves and be sceptic about the outcome . 

 Approach   Given an opportunity to go back , I would like to improve and work upon other design thinking tools   which I feel could have been instrumental here . I could have used Story Telling or Visualisation   techniques to communicate with the stakeholders about the need to address the problem and the   advantages , which this could bring around . Mind Mapping is another essential tool that I have added   to my kitty . This tool could have been used here to understand what are the other possible ways to   implement the learning launches . Post this , If I would have implemented the learning launch , it could   have had an overall solid combined effect on the project . 


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: Reflection – Learning Launch 

 Challenge   During my job , I worked as a senior technical associate for High Voltage Electrical field installation   products . The role involved design and development for products , mitigating issues with vendors and   supporting the operations team with process improvement opportunities . 

 During the tenure , we were faced with a challenge , which was to reduce the number of operating test   cycles for routine product testing from 50 to 25 . This was a practice which was prevalent in other units   of Bulgaria but in India , we have not implemented it yet . To some extent , the team of old experienced   people hung onto the idea that 50 operating test cycles would be necessary as a routine test to check   the reliability of the product . Though this was a practice prevailing over years , unquestioned , there   was no substantiated proof that this was the best practice . Even there were no standards involved ,   which mentioned the need to perform such extensive operational cycles . So eventually this challenge   was to prove that the reduced cycle of operations would work just fine and also challenging the   mindset of people who have been doing this activity over a period of time in a certain way and were   not ready to change it . 

 Selection   As we had a certain benchmark in mind , we thought of doing a learning launch to reduce the operating   test cycle from 50 to 25(Bulgarian Benchmark ) . Internally , we involved the stakeholders who were   affected by this change which involved the quality testing team , production team , R&D , Operations   and Services Team . It was important that I highlight the pros of the change as well as take actions to   eliminate the negatives that surface during the stakeholder meeting by doing a low - cost field test .   Hence , learning launch was the tool selected . To identify the negatives , we brainstormed and   highlighted the possible negatives which were brought up by the stakeholders which had to be   monitored during the learning launch . 

 Application   After doing thorough internal tests to prove the validity of reducing the routine test cycles to 25 , I had   to address a specific point that came up in the stakeholder meeting , which was that , internal tests   which are in simulated lab conditions can not completely represent field conditions . Hence , we had to   do learning launches to understand behaviour of the product in the field . Hence , I identified specific   domestic customers who were in close proximity to the manufacturing locations . This was done to   ensure that at any moment if there is any issue with the customer operations due to the impending   change , we could easily deploy service engineers or if required , components to address this issue   immediately . We made our learning launches in areas near the Indian states of Maharashtra and   Gujarat which in addition to proximity had rugged environmental conditions pertaining to very high   temperature , high rainfall and some regions were exposed to coastal environment . Harsh   environment would ensure that working conditions will further stress the equipment . 

 Our objective was to measure the quality of operations for which output metrics were measured viz .   time of operation , torque required to operate , travel involved . In addition to the output metrics , it   was also important to measure the ambient conditions to calibrate the operations under situations   which can be applicable globally for any environment . On doing this learning launches , we could   substantiate the claim , through a prolonged exposure of the equipment for 6 months and monitoring ,   that reducing the routine test cycles from 50 to 25 , does not impact the operations of equipment . 

 With tangible results , we could also convince the sceptics about the proposed changes and thereby   brought around this change in mindset and in a way reduced the overall testing time and reduced the   lead time to manufacture . 

 Insight   The key takeaway from doing this exercise is that it is an efficient way because here we can lay down   the plan to understand whether an idea generated is worth applying or not . This is also an   unambiguous way as stakeholders are initially taken into loop to understand their concerns and these   concerns are incorporated in learning launch design to ensure that the doubts are eliminated . Learning   launches are an essential tool because it gives the necessary confidence among decision makers who   would otherwise be relying only upon assumptions or gut feelings . But in carrying out this process it   is critical to eliminate any confirmation bias by having a diverse team where everybody has the   freedom to express themselves and be sceptic about the outcome . 

 Approach   Given an opportunity to go back , I would like to improve and work upon other design thinking tools   which I feel could have been instrumental here . I could have used Story Telling or Visualisation   techniques to communicate with the stakeholders about the need to address the problem and the   advantages , which this could bring around . Mind Mapping is another essential tool that I have added   to my kitty . This tool could have been used here to understand what are the other possible ways to   implement the learning launches . Post this , If I would have implemented the learning launch , it could   have had an overall solid combined effect on the project .
### Output: 