Challenge and Selection 

 I am working in a Defense R&D industry in which deep expertise gained in a certain field is required to   perform the task . Although , these deep expertise are an asset to the company yet it comes with a   certain risk of skills obsolescence due to the ever - changing defense landscape . Any skills or technology   might be irrelevant as the threat around the world is moving towards “ grey zone ” conflicts and   becoming more complex . 

 As a result , I was tasked to lead a team to explore new opportunities on the problem of skill   obsolescence . The first few meetings were tough as no one seems to agree with the problem   statement of skill obsolescence . Every team members were from different department that were   striving and growing . 

 Using Visualisation tool ( such as visual thinking , visual understanding and diagrammatic   representation ) during alignment / exploration stage helps us to ( 1 ) understand the problem better and   ( 2 ) achieve a common understanding of the problem among diverse group of team members .   Visualisation also comes in handy during concepts development and stakeholders interview process .   For instances , during the stakeholders interview process , I have used the technique of using a stick   man / diagrams / chart / graph to represent the current “ What is ? ” ( an employee who is facing skill   obsolescence ) and follow by illustrating potential “ What if ? ” situations with a set of discussion   questions for the stakeholders to ( 1 ) appreciate the current situation ( defining the problem   boundaries ) , ( 2 ) ponder upon the possibilities and ( 3 ) provoke more questions on how to get it works .   This gives us more insights and feedbacks on what the stakeholders were concerned and most   importantly , to assure us that this is really an issue that the stakeholders are truly interested to   resolve . 

 Application 

 The following is the process that my team and I have tried to use the visualisation technique at   different phrases of the project : 

 1 ) Getting the team members to align on the problem statement - ( What is ? ) 

 The most critical part of the project is to get the team to understand and align our thinking on   the potential skill obsolescence issue . I suggested to use drawings ( in the form of diagrams ,   stick man and pictures ) to represent the answer for the following 2 questions : 1 ) What are the   major expertise that individual department had built over the years ? 2 ) What are the current   challenges that our customer in the defence ecosystem faced ?   From the diagrams that I presented , the team started to discuss and add on their pictures to   the whiteboard . This activity took approximately 2 hours and finally , all of us understood the   issue and started to achieve consensus among the team members . We started to arrange the   drawings to find patterns and relationship in the issues as well as the different stakeholders .   This visualisation activity lead us to identify the different categories of stakeholders using   pictures that we printed from the company intranet : ( 1 ) Influencer / sponsor ( major   stakeholder like the CEO and the department directors ) , ( 2 ) User ( employee facing potential   skill obsolescence ) , ( 3 ) Providers / Supporters ( back - end staff : HR , directors , admin executive )   and ( 4 ) fence - sitters ( people who might be against the idea or not participate in this project ) . 

 2 ) Stakeholder 1st Interview - appreciate the current What is ? 

 I will discuss 2 of the many stakeholders ’ interview ( ( 1 ) employees facing the potential skill   obsolescence issue and ( 2 ) Directors of the striving department ) that I have conducted .    For the employees that faced the potential skill obsolescence issue , they started to share their   current situation / issue , fear for the future , frustration about the company process and so   many more . I have literary use diagrams and pictures from the internet to rate the different   level of feeling / anxiety / frustration that they were facing . From there , I have truly understand   their real pain - point and empathise / connect with them using pictures .     For the directors in the striving department , stick man diagram do n’t really connect with them   well . I adapted and started to use charts / diagrams and graph to illustrate the issues faced by   other non - striving department . These were much more effective to communicate with them .   After the directors had visualised the issues , they shared their concerns about   sponsoring / piloting this project . Surprisingly , they also started to use simple diagrams and   flowchart to illustrate some important workflow and other stakeholders in the company that   I had missed out . 

 3 ) Brainstorming opportunities , exploring possibilities - What if ? 

 Once we have conducted all the identified stakeholders interviews , we gathered in a meeting   room and started to sketch diagrams , pasting photographs , writing and pasting post - it notes   on the whiteboard . After feeding the big whiteboard with all the necessary   information / pictures and diagrams , we started re - arranging the information to explore   different concepts , ideas and opportunities for growth .   I recorded the different possibilities , insights and the main obstacles in achieving the   possibilities . For each possibilities identified , we created a PowerPoint slide with simple and   understandable diagrams and pictures to engage our stakeholders and share with them the   possibilities . 

 4 ) 2nd round of interview- Engaging stakeholders 

 In this round , we gave each stakeholders post - it notes to make comments and also for   answering the following questions : ( 1 ) What do you like ( green post - it)/dislike ( pink post - it )   about the concepts presented ? ( 2 ) Is there any change you would like to make ? ( orange post- it ) ( 3 ) Any missing information ? ( blue post - it ) ( 4 ) Any insights that you would like to share ?   ( yellow post - it ) . We gave them roughly 20 mins after each presentation to make the necessary   comments .   After completed the 2nd round of interview , we shared the insights and made adjustment to   the plan in order for the major sponsor stakeholder to pilot the project with us . 

 Insight and Approach 

 Visualisation is a powerful tool in engaging team members and stakeholders as it helps to reinforce   alignment on the issues and concepts , draw attention on the diagram and visualise the next move for   the project . I was surprised that some stakeholders were being influenced by the diagrams and started   stretching their own diagrams to explain their current situation and their wish for the future . From the   discussions , our team had gained valuable insights in the problem definition , root causes of the issue ,   relationship between the different stakeholders and also opportunities for growth and improvement . 

 The key thing that I have learnt is that everyone is always shy to draw or display / present their diagrams   first . Once someone started to share his / her diagrams , the discussion will be much more smooth- 

 sailing . With this insight , I will surely make a point to start sharing my drawings first to trigger more   valuable sharing and discussion . 

 Another thing that I learnt is that when handling different stakeholders ( as mentioned previously in   the 1st interview process ) , different types of diagrams works well for them . Stick man is not the only   drawing for visualisation process . Simple diagrams , graph and pictures are also a good form of   visualisation tool that I can use . 

 I have also discovered that visualisation is an iterative process and there is a need to engage the   stakeholders multiple times to seek clarification and agreement on the problem definition and the   opportunities for growth . The insights and feedback gained from the 1st round of interview can be   used to improve the initial diagrams and serve as a new centerpiece for discussion in the next few   meetings . 

 Finally , pattern finding after exploration is another key element that I need to practise on , as putting   many information / diagrams together to see their connections is not an easy task . If pattern finding   process is done right , it helps to ( 1 ) display connection between different stakeholders , ( 2 ) connect   every element of the issues and eventually discover opportunities for growth and improvement . 


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 and Selection 

 I am working in a Defense R&D industry in which deep expertise gained in a certain field is required to   perform the task . Although , these deep expertise are an asset to the company yet it comes with a   certain risk of skills obsolescence due to the ever - changing defense landscape . Any skills or technology   might be irrelevant as the threat around the world is moving towards “ grey zone ” conflicts and   becoming more complex . 

 As a result , I was tasked to lead a team to explore new opportunities on the problem of skill   obsolescence . The first few meetings were tough as no one seems to agree with the problem   statement of skill obsolescence . Every team members were from different department that were   striving and growing . 

 Using Visualisation tool ( such as visual thinking , visual understanding and diagrammatic   representation ) during alignment / exploration stage helps us to ( 1 ) understand the problem better and   ( 2 ) achieve a common understanding of the problem among diverse group of team members .   Visualisation also comes in handy during concepts development and stakeholders interview process .   For instances , during the stakeholders interview process , I have used the technique of using a stick   man / diagrams / chart / graph to represent the current “ What is ? ” ( an employee who is facing skill   obsolescence ) and follow by illustrating potential “ What if ? ” situations with a set of discussion   questions for the stakeholders to ( 1 ) appreciate the current situation ( defining the problem   boundaries ) , ( 2 ) ponder upon the possibilities and ( 3 ) provoke more questions on how to get it works .   This gives us more insights and feedbacks on what the stakeholders were concerned and most   importantly , to assure us that this is really an issue that the stakeholders are truly interested to   resolve . 

 Application 

 The following is the process that my team and I have tried to use the visualisation technique at   different phrases of the project : 

 1 ) Getting the team members to align on the problem statement - ( What is ? ) 

 The most critical part of the project is to get the team to understand and align our thinking on   the potential skill obsolescence issue . I suggested to use drawings ( in the form of diagrams ,   stick man and pictures ) to represent the answer for the following 2 questions : 1 ) What are the   major expertise that individual department had built over the years ? 2 ) What are the current   challenges that our customer in the defence ecosystem faced ?   From the diagrams that I presented , the team started to discuss and add on their pictures to   the whiteboard . This activity took approximately 2 hours and finally , all of us understood the   issue and started to achieve consensus among the team members . We started to arrange the   drawings to find patterns and relationship in the issues as well as the different stakeholders .   This visualisation activity lead us to identify the different categories of stakeholders using   pictures that we printed from the company intranet : ( 1 ) Influencer / sponsor ( major   stakeholder like the CEO and the department directors ) , ( 2 ) User ( employee facing potential   skill obsolescence ) , ( 3 ) Providers / Supporters ( back - end staff : HR , directors , admin executive )   and ( 4 ) fence - sitters ( people who might be against the idea or not participate in this project ) . 

 2 ) Stakeholder 1st Interview - appreciate the current What is ? 

 I will discuss 2 of the many stakeholders ’ interview ( ( 1 ) employees facing the potential skill   obsolescence issue and ( 2 ) Directors of the striving department ) that I have conducted .    For the employees that faced the potential skill obsolescence issue , they started to share their   current situation / issue , fear for the future , frustration about the company process and so   many more . I have literary use diagrams and pictures from the internet to rate the different   level of feeling / anxiety / frustration that they were facing . From there , I have truly understand   their real pain - point and empathise / connect with them using pictures .     For the directors in the striving department , stick man diagram do n’t really connect with them   well . I adapted and started to use charts / diagrams and graph to illustrate the issues faced by   other non - striving department . These were much more effective to communicate with them .   After the directors had visualised the issues , they shared their concerns about   sponsoring / piloting this project . Surprisingly , they also started to use simple diagrams and   flowchart to illustrate some important workflow and other stakeholders in the company that   I had missed out . 

 3 ) Brainstorming opportunities , exploring possibilities - What if ? 

 Once we have conducted all the identified stakeholders interviews , we gathered in a meeting   room and started to sketch diagrams , pasting photographs , writing and pasting post - it notes   on the whiteboard . After feeding the big whiteboard with all the necessary   information / pictures and diagrams , we started re - arranging the information to explore   different concepts , ideas and opportunities for growth .   I recorded the different possibilities , insights and the main obstacles in achieving the   possibilities . For each possibilities identified , we created a PowerPoint slide with simple and   understandable diagrams and pictures to engage our stakeholders and share with them the   possibilities . 

 4 ) 2nd round of interview- Engaging stakeholders 

 In this round , we gave each stakeholders post - it notes to make comments and also for   answering the following questions : ( 1 ) What do you like ( green post - it)/dislike ( pink post - it )   about the concepts presented ? ( 2 ) Is there any change you would like to make ? ( orange post- it ) ( 3 ) Any missing information ? ( blue post - it ) ( 4 ) Any insights that you would like to share ?   ( yellow post - it ) . We gave them roughly 20 mins after each presentation to make the necessary   comments .   After completed the 2nd round of interview , we shared the insights and made adjustment to   the plan in order for the major sponsor stakeholder to pilot the project with us . 

 Insight and Approach 

 Visualisation is a powerful tool in engaging team members and stakeholders as it helps to reinforce   alignment on the issues and concepts , draw attention on the diagram and visualise the next move for   the project . I was surprised that some stakeholders were being influenced by the diagrams and started   stretching their own diagrams to explain their current situation and their wish for the future . From the   discussions , our team had gained valuable insights in the problem definition , root causes of the issue ,   relationship between the different stakeholders and also opportunities for growth and improvement . 

 The key thing that I have learnt is that everyone is always shy to draw or display / present their diagrams   first . Once someone started to share his / her diagrams , the discussion will be much more smooth- 

 sailing . With this insight , I will surely make a point to start sharing my drawings first to trigger more   valuable sharing and discussion . 

 Another thing that I learnt is that when handling different stakeholders ( as mentioned previously in   the 1st interview process ) , different types of diagrams works well for them . Stick man is not the only   drawing for visualisation process . Simple diagrams , graph and pictures are also a good form of   visualisation tool that I can use . 

 I have also discovered that visualisation is an iterative process and there is a need to engage the   stakeholders multiple times to seek clarification and agreement on the problem definition and the   opportunities for growth . The insights and feedback gained from the 1st round of interview can be   used to improve the initial diagrams and serve as a new centerpiece for discussion in the next few   meetings . 

 Finally , pattern finding after exploration is another key element that I need to practise on , as putting   many information / diagrams together to see their connections is not an easy task . If pattern finding   process is done right , it helps to ( 1 ) display connection between different stakeholders , ( 2 ) connect   every element of the issues and eventually discover opportunities for growth and improvement .
### Output: 