Reflection- Storytelling / Visualization 

 Challenge :     I currently work in a large supply chain organisation and I am responsible for driving the   business   of Apple products ( iPhones and Apple Watches ) for the Western and Eastern Region of   India .   My Job entails managing a team of Employees and Distributors to ensure that the   products are made available in General Trade outlets ( Retail Outlets ) and Apple Stores across   my region .   In the past I have spent about 16 years in the Consumer Durable Industry , FMCG   Industry and Life Insurance Industry . I have managed multiple channels of business like Direct   Agency , Business Associate Model , Bancassurance and Direct Marketing Channel within the Life   Insurance Domain .   I would like to reflect upon events in this phase where I was managing   business for a large Global Life Insurance Company .       I had just joined the company in 2003 and was entrusted with Business Development and   setting up branches in two different Geographies , one in a metropolitan city Kolkata and other   in a town Durgapur in India .   The Business Associate Model was a newly introduced business   model where unlike standard Agency Model where Employees manage Agents ( Individual   Distributors who work on Commission ) , we were to develop a model where the Agents instead   of Employees would further recruit Agents and thereafter manage the team as Business   Associates .   This model was practised well in other countries across the globe ; it was now to be   introduced in India .   The Challenge was that there was no historic data available on this method   of business in India and it was a fairly new idea in the Indian Life Insurance Sector .   We were the   only company at that time with an ambitious plan to run this Business Associate Model .    Building the team of Agents and then grow them into Business Associates on Fast Track for both   geographies was a task which we had no knowledge of .   My KRA was to build this entire channel   and get business ( Revenue in terms of New Life Insurance Policy Premiums ) .   The main problem   was to sell this career opportunity where there was no fixed component in terms of Salary for   the Business Associates .   The career was a toilsome one where the Agents were to build a team   of their own without a fixed income component with an expectation of a rewarding returns in   terms of commission on own business and overrides over their team business post they got   promoted as Business Associates .   Such a career opportunity in Life Insurance Industry was not   available in India earlier .     Selection :     The challenge was large and ambiguous and I thought of using the Storytelling method and the   Visualization method similar to what I have now learnt in this Design Thinking for Innovation   Course .   My past diverse Repertoire in Consumer Durable Industry , FMCG Industry and Life   Insurance Industry enabled me to have an open mind in an attempt to take up this challenge .    Although the Challenge was intimidating , yet the thrill to take it head on was overpowering .      Application :     I along with my team travelled extensively across my locations including interiors and met a lot   of people like homemakers , retired executives , young college pass outs , other financial services   agents , Accountants , Public Servants , Shcool Teachers   and other centre of influences who could   be my prospects .   I developed a questionnaire and I tried to understand what were their 

 inherent needs and aspirations , their fears and their thought about an alternative unorthodox   career opportunity where they could have flexibility of time and also have financial freedom .     All of them had different occupations , different income levels , different aspirations but a   common thread was the need to be financially sound , free from the worries and toils of   traditional employment .       Thereafter I organised Saturday Seminars where I would then invite them over to discuss the   business opportunity .   These would usually be a high impact Storytelling exercise and   Visualization , where I would encourage participants to freely discuss their apprehensions and   aspirations about life and through penning down important points on the board would try to   capture the Cause which would Compel them to try to look for an opportunity   to rise   above   their apprehensions and meet their aspirations .   Once the cause was set in the seminar , there   would usually be a lot of energy and suspense as to how I would help them get out of their   mundane careers and provide them that blissful financial freedom .    I would then answer them   in a way which would make them feel like living that future moment in that seminar room .   Many in the seminar would get emotional and I would then pause and make them get   comfortable .   Thereafter I would give examples of highly successful entrepreneurs who have   had humble beginnings and had struggle full lives and how they have come out of the same and   have become successful .   I would also show them Visuals and short Video Clips of highly   successful Business Associates from all walks of life of my Organisation in other countries who   have made it big in Life .   I would also share that the path to this success would entail a lot of   hard work and challenge but it   was definitely worth giving it a try .   More so that they could try   this new opportunity keeping their current existing vocations in place and may either choose to   carry on doing both or later choosing to pursue the new opportunity full time .   This would sound   to many amongst the participants a golden opportunity to shape their lives the way they have   always dreamt of .    These seminars were a large success and we had high conversion rates   ( average of 30 % signups in an average seminar size of about 60 participants ) .     Meanwhile I had to sell the idea to my management that this method of Building the team   would work and I would present this idea to the Management using Storytelling again .   Of   course I used Visualization Technique as well trying to articulate my ideas through drawing and   sketches on board as well as having brain storming sessions to get my ideas across and to get   value additions from my peers and senior managers .   During this course I not only was able to   convince them about my idea , I also ended up getting valuable suggestions and feedback   regarding my idea which helped me in achieving my objective .      Within the first twelve months of my joining , we had succeeded in building a huge team of   Business Associates and Agents across Kolkata and Durgapur who in turn were greatly successful   in bringing in business ( New Life Insurance Business- premiums ) which was about 190 % of the   original annual business plan for my region .         Insight :     This successful handling of the challenge using the Storytelling and Visualisation methods helped   me unearth the secrets of managing ambiguity in a smart and efficient manner .   I had applied   the techniques oblivious of the fact that these were part of Design Thinking process which I was   never trained in .    It gave me the freedom to think beyond the set boundaries of experience ,   knowledge , and set methods of doing business and gave me the impetus to take challenges 

 head on .   The journey since then has been exciting and challenging till today .    There have been   times where I have been successful and there have been times I have not .   Learning and   relevant application of Design Thinking tools became the cornerstone of my career and that of   my team .   Not only me as an individual but as the entire team as a whole we evolved , we used   Visualisation Techniques and Storytelling exercises in handling our day to day challenges and it   has since been a part and parcel of our lives .         Approach :     The learning and experiences of unknowingly applying the Design Thinking Methodologies in the   past , in the current and now my formal introduction to the Design Thinking for Innovation   Course has now made me to delve deep into this subject .   I will now study more regarding this   through the reference material suggested in the program videos and enrol for subsequent   higher programs on this subject .   I will also encourage my team and peers to enrol for this   amazing program , which would definitely help them succeed in the ambiguous business world .      I would continue to use the Design Thinking Tools I have used earlier and intend to use all   Design Thinking tools in the near future depending upon the Challenge which I would face .   For   now in my current assignment I intend to use the Learning Launch tool to face current   distribution challenges .   The reason I wish to use this tool is to quickly and economically   understand the best approach to widening our product distribution strategy in the increasingly   competitive environment . 


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- Storytelling / Visualization 

 Challenge :     I currently work in a large supply chain organisation and I am responsible for driving the   business   of Apple products ( iPhones and Apple Watches ) for the Western and Eastern Region of   India .   My Job entails managing a team of Employees and Distributors to ensure that the   products are made available in General Trade outlets ( Retail Outlets ) and Apple Stores across   my region .   In the past I have spent about 16 years in the Consumer Durable Industry , FMCG   Industry and Life Insurance Industry . I have managed multiple channels of business like Direct   Agency , Business Associate Model , Bancassurance and Direct Marketing Channel within the Life   Insurance Domain .   I would like to reflect upon events in this phase where I was managing   business for a large Global Life Insurance Company .       I had just joined the company in 2003 and was entrusted with Business Development and   setting up branches in two different Geographies , one in a metropolitan city Kolkata and other   in a town Durgapur in India .   The Business Associate Model was a newly introduced business   model where unlike standard Agency Model where Employees manage Agents ( Individual   Distributors who work on Commission ) , we were to develop a model where the Agents instead   of Employees would further recruit Agents and thereafter manage the team as Business   Associates .   This model was practised well in other countries across the globe ; it was now to be   introduced in India .   The Challenge was that there was no historic data available on this method   of business in India and it was a fairly new idea in the Indian Life Insurance Sector .   We were the   only company at that time with an ambitious plan to run this Business Associate Model .    Building the team of Agents and then grow them into Business Associates on Fast Track for both   geographies was a task which we had no knowledge of .   My KRA was to build this entire channel   and get business ( Revenue in terms of New Life Insurance Policy Premiums ) .   The main problem   was to sell this career opportunity where there was no fixed component in terms of Salary for   the Business Associates .   The career was a toilsome one where the Agents were to build a team   of their own without a fixed income component with an expectation of a rewarding returns in   terms of commission on own business and overrides over their team business post they got   promoted as Business Associates .   Such a career opportunity in Life Insurance Industry was not   available in India earlier .     Selection :     The challenge was large and ambiguous and I thought of using the Storytelling method and the   Visualization method similar to what I have now learnt in this Design Thinking for Innovation   Course .   My past diverse Repertoire in Consumer Durable Industry , FMCG Industry and Life   Insurance Industry enabled me to have an open mind in an attempt to take up this challenge .    Although the Challenge was intimidating , yet the thrill to take it head on was overpowering .      Application :     I along with my team travelled extensively across my locations including interiors and met a lot   of people like homemakers , retired executives , young college pass outs , other financial services   agents , Accountants , Public Servants , Shcool Teachers   and other centre of influences who could   be my prospects .   I developed a questionnaire and I tried to understand what were their 

 inherent needs and aspirations , their fears and their thought about an alternative unorthodox   career opportunity where they could have flexibility of time and also have financial freedom .     All of them had different occupations , different income levels , different aspirations but a   common thread was the need to be financially sound , free from the worries and toils of   traditional employment .       Thereafter I organised Saturday Seminars where I would then invite them over to discuss the   business opportunity .   These would usually be a high impact Storytelling exercise and   Visualization , where I would encourage participants to freely discuss their apprehensions and   aspirations about life and through penning down important points on the board would try to   capture the Cause which would Compel them to try to look for an opportunity   to rise   above   their apprehensions and meet their aspirations .   Once the cause was set in the seminar , there   would usually be a lot of energy and suspense as to how I would help them get out of their   mundane careers and provide them that blissful financial freedom .    I would then answer them   in a way which would make them feel like living that future moment in that seminar room .   Many in the seminar would get emotional and I would then pause and make them get   comfortable .   Thereafter I would give examples of highly successful entrepreneurs who have   had humble beginnings and had struggle full lives and how they have come out of the same and   have become successful .   I would also show them Visuals and short Video Clips of highly   successful Business Associates from all walks of life of my Organisation in other countries who   have made it big in Life .   I would also share that the path to this success would entail a lot of   hard work and challenge but it   was definitely worth giving it a try .   More so that they could try   this new opportunity keeping their current existing vocations in place and may either choose to   carry on doing both or later choosing to pursue the new opportunity full time .   This would sound   to many amongst the participants a golden opportunity to shape their lives the way they have   always dreamt of .    These seminars were a large success and we had high conversion rates   ( average of 30 % signups in an average seminar size of about 60 participants ) .     Meanwhile I had to sell the idea to my management that this method of Building the team   would work and I would present this idea to the Management using Storytelling again .   Of   course I used Visualization Technique as well trying to articulate my ideas through drawing and   sketches on board as well as having brain storming sessions to get my ideas across and to get   value additions from my peers and senior managers .   During this course I not only was able to   convince them about my idea , I also ended up getting valuable suggestions and feedback   regarding my idea which helped me in achieving my objective .      Within the first twelve months of my joining , we had succeeded in building a huge team of   Business Associates and Agents across Kolkata and Durgapur who in turn were greatly successful   in bringing in business ( New Life Insurance Business- premiums ) which was about 190 % of the   original annual business plan for my region .         Insight :     This successful handling of the challenge using the Storytelling and Visualisation methods helped   me unearth the secrets of managing ambiguity in a smart and efficient manner .   I had applied   the techniques oblivious of the fact that these were part of Design Thinking process which I was   never trained in .    It gave me the freedom to think beyond the set boundaries of experience ,   knowledge , and set methods of doing business and gave me the impetus to take challenges 

 head on .   The journey since then has been exciting and challenging till today .    There have been   times where I have been successful and there have been times I have not .   Learning and   relevant application of Design Thinking tools became the cornerstone of my career and that of   my team .   Not only me as an individual but as the entire team as a whole we evolved , we used   Visualisation Techniques and Storytelling exercises in handling our day to day challenges and it   has since been a part and parcel of our lives .         Approach :     The learning and experiences of unknowingly applying the Design Thinking Methodologies in the   past , in the current and now my formal introduction to the Design Thinking for Innovation   Course has now made me to delve deep into this subject .   I will now study more regarding this   through the reference material suggested in the program videos and enrol for subsequent   higher programs on this subject .   I will also encourage my team and peers to enrol for this   amazing program , which would definitely help them succeed in the ambiguous business world .      I would continue to use the Design Thinking Tools I have used earlier and intend to use all   Design Thinking tools in the near future depending upon the Challenge which I would face .   For   now in my current assignment I intend to use the Learning Launch tool to face current   distribution challenges .   The reason I wish to use this tool is to quickly and economically   understand the best approach to widening our product distribution strategy in the increasingly   competitive environment .
### Output: 