Storytelling Task For Design Thinking 

 Challenge & Selection 

 Storytelling forms an interesting part of my work . In my job I process loans for people from all kinds   of different backgrounds living many different kinds of situations . The reasons why my customers   require the loans are also rather diverse . Despite it not necessarily being a part of the job description   I tend to end up listening to people talk about the details of their personal situations , and sometimes   these can be indeed very intimate . I believe that this sharing on the part of the customer is on one   end an unintentional means of ingratiating themselves to a person who will play a big role in   deciding whether they are granted the money they are asking for . But on the other end , and I think   more importantly , it ’s because sometimes people just really need someone to talk to about their   problems , and a stranger is often a better option than the people we already know . Getting to know   my customers like this actually often plays an important role in how I judge their request in my   capacity . 

 Application 

 I can recall one particular instance where storytelling helped me to judge the outcome for a   particular loan applicant . This unusually closed off client was only willing to give the barest minimum   of details concerning the reasoning for their loan application and their capacity to pay it back when   the time for it came . I had the general sense that she was a trustworthy person , but ofcourse in this   line of work the more details we have on a person ’s personality , history , and personal   circumstances , the easier it is for us to make a decision on their application – whether by approving   of denying it . Sensing this , I eventually resorted ( though not intentionally ) to storytelling as a means   of arriving at a judgement about their application . I did this during a face - to - face meeting with the   client . 

 Insight & Approach 

 I told the client a story about a particular financial difficulties I had experienced in my past . I have   always been a private person , and so sharing intimate personal details has never been easy for me .   But I needed money in order to secure an important family artefact after a close family member had   died . I had very few options for securing the money back then , and even though I tried to work for it   there was no chance I was going to make it in time to secure the artefact . It was only during the peak   of desperation , on a particularly stressful night , that I uncharacteristically shared my situation with   some people from my extended social circle . I was lucky to discover that there was someone there   who had been looking to invest in just the thing I was trying to secure , and so in exchange for their   financial patronage I allowed them access to the artefact for their use in a specific period of time ,   this worked out great ! 

 The client , somehow freed by my story , suddenly became willing to share how she needed the loan   because she had trusted someone untrustworthy and now felt as though sharing about herself was   risky – even in such an official capacity . But she did share , telling me the painful story about how she   came to need the money after she had had serious trouble with her then husband and eventually 

 revealing to me of her own accord the personal documents that would make it easier for me to help   her , as opposed to simply dismissing her . 

 I was able to confirm the legal details that allowed me to differentiate her financial means from   those of her husband , whom she had been entirely unwilling to discuss before . Knowing that she had   the personal context and means to be able to pay back the loan ( if she eventually got it ) was a big in   step for me in being able to assist her . And eventually she did get the loan , thanking me for my   willingness to share with her and for my patience in listening to her story and understanding her   position . 

 It is down the line that I am doing this course in design thinking , which is helping me to contextualize   this particular case that I ’ve detailed , but also the usefulness of such a tool as storytelling as an   effective technique in business . I see that things do not always have to be strict , straightforward and   by the books . Sometimes we need to allow room for a more personal , more context specific , and   more personal touch – element that are embodied in design thinking . However , in my future   application of the tool I would like to be more intentional in the application of the tool , because in   this instance it only happened as a matter of chance . I have had some similar situations in addition   to this one , but I did n’t respond in the same manner , and generally this led to customer   dissatisfaction . I also think other tools may help in future , for example , visualization may help a   clients and myself to better I understand our respective positions in the relationships , so as to allow   us both to better make decisions that do n’t make it more difficult on the other . 


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: Storytelling Task For Design Thinking 

 Challenge & Selection 

 Storytelling forms an interesting part of my work . In my job I process loans for people from all kinds   of different backgrounds living many different kinds of situations . The reasons why my customers   require the loans are also rather diverse . Despite it not necessarily being a part of the job description   I tend to end up listening to people talk about the details of their personal situations , and sometimes   these can be indeed very intimate . I believe that this sharing on the part of the customer is on one   end an unintentional means of ingratiating themselves to a person who will play a big role in   deciding whether they are granted the money they are asking for . But on the other end , and I think   more importantly , it ’s because sometimes people just really need someone to talk to about their   problems , and a stranger is often a better option than the people we already know . Getting to know   my customers like this actually often plays an important role in how I judge their request in my   capacity . 

 Application 

 I can recall one particular instance where storytelling helped me to judge the outcome for a   particular loan applicant . This unusually closed off client was only willing to give the barest minimum   of details concerning the reasoning for their loan application and their capacity to pay it back when   the time for it came . I had the general sense that she was a trustworthy person , but ofcourse in this   line of work the more details we have on a person ’s personality , history , and personal   circumstances , the easier it is for us to make a decision on their application – whether by approving   of denying it . Sensing this , I eventually resorted ( though not intentionally ) to storytelling as a means   of arriving at a judgement about their application . I did this during a face - to - face meeting with the   client . 

 Insight & Approach 

 I told the client a story about a particular financial difficulties I had experienced in my past . I have   always been a private person , and so sharing intimate personal details has never been easy for me .   But I needed money in order to secure an important family artefact after a close family member had   died . I had very few options for securing the money back then , and even though I tried to work for it   there was no chance I was going to make it in time to secure the artefact . It was only during the peak   of desperation , on a particularly stressful night , that I uncharacteristically shared my situation with   some people from my extended social circle . I was lucky to discover that there was someone there   who had been looking to invest in just the thing I was trying to secure , and so in exchange for their   financial patronage I allowed them access to the artefact for their use in a specific period of time ,   this worked out great ! 

 The client , somehow freed by my story , suddenly became willing to share how she needed the loan   because she had trusted someone untrustworthy and now felt as though sharing about herself was   risky – even in such an official capacity . But she did share , telling me the painful story about how she   came to need the money after she had had serious trouble with her then husband and eventually 

 revealing to me of her own accord the personal documents that would make it easier for me to help   her , as opposed to simply dismissing her . 

 I was able to confirm the legal details that allowed me to differentiate her financial means from   those of her husband , whom she had been entirely unwilling to discuss before . Knowing that she had   the personal context and means to be able to pay back the loan ( if she eventually got it ) was a big in   step for me in being able to assist her . And eventually she did get the loan , thanking me for my   willingness to share with her and for my patience in listening to her story and understanding her   position . 

 It is down the line that I am doing this course in design thinking , which is helping me to contextualize   this particular case that I ’ve detailed , but also the usefulness of such a tool as storytelling as an   effective technique in business . I see that things do not always have to be strict , straightforward and   by the books . Sometimes we need to allow room for a more personal , more context specific , and   more personal touch – element that are embodied in design thinking . However , in my future   application of the tool I would like to be more intentional in the application of the tool , because in   this instance it only happened as a matter of chance . I have had some similar situations in addition   to this one , but I did n’t respond in the same manner , and generally this led to customer   dissatisfaction . I also think other tools may help in future , for example , visualization may help a   clients and myself to better I understand our respective positions in the relationships , so as to allow   us both to better make decisions that do n’t make it more difficult on the other .
### Output: 