Challenge 

 I am the operations manager for my international company ’s Asian business .   We service the engineering and   architectural design industry and my staff consists of 50 people spread over 6 departments . 

 We have had just over 5 years of rapid growth with some major success , but I have noticed recently a lack of   production and a decline in quality . To our credit we have retained the majority of our staff over our time of   operations therefore I needed to analyze the current state of operations , our projects and production to determine   what was first failing , and second how to fix the issues . 

 Part of my role was to restructure the company in an effort to improve efficiencies , production and sales .   To do this   required me to gather the key stakeholders across our departments to determine what we considered to be ineffective   or problematic with regard to the business . 

 There have been many times over the years where we have addresses some issues in an isolated context and have   generally used assumptions and biases to propose solutions which in general have had limited affects . Our team has   already gone through several design thinking activities / tools , so we are ready to try the learning launch tool . 

 Selection 

 I plan to keep the learning launch experimental meant to quickly test an idea and prototype quickly , seeing results   ( positive or negative ) early . 

 Application 

 In the weeks leading up to what I planned would be a learning launch , I individually interviewed each department ,   spending time watching how they interacted with their counterparts in other countries and within their team .   Independently of all of the departments I used SWOT analysis to identify common and unique strengths , weaknesses   opportunities and threats that I could use as a basis for initiating agile projects aimed at addressing the outcomes . 

 Along with my SWOT points , I set some very generic goals but left the path for getting to that goal undefined as I   required the input and experimentation from all stakeholders to define the path for itself . 

 I was determined to set the culture not only for the experiment and project but for the entire office . To do so required   me to loosely plan the approach with the key stakeholders , so together we determined some " organizational tenets ”   that would keep us on task towards the goal , but would not allow us to be manipulated with bias . The ended up   being : 

 •   Realization of the past , present & future    Now is the time to reflect on our purpose , we need a bold direction , and to marshal as a team toward   that goal , we will prioritize everything we do accordingly . Sustaining a forward - looking view .   •   Focus on the way things are done , not the structure .   While org charts are important to define some of the formal building blocks , we can not try and force   our business processes into a structure that does not suit reality . We will fix our structure last because   defining a structure will not fix the problem . We focus on execution improvement regardless of role to   a certain point , and revisit structure after ,   •   Make the most of our top talent   We design positions and roles to suit our talent , we respect commitment and determination and   implement training strategy to help them meet their aspirations where skill is lacking . We optimize   management by minimizing direct reports with the goal for every level of management to essentially   “ replace themselves ” that is the true gauge of their success as managers .      •   Focus on the controllable   There are issues we are aware of companywide that in the immediate term we can not control . That   does not mean we can not influence them or aim to fix them long term , but while we are focusing on 

 issues that are out of our control we will not fix things that are . We need to aim as a group to be second   to none in our duties before we can begin to fix others .      •   Accountability is paramount and will be rewarded   People will be accountable for their past and present work without being micromanaged . We will apply   RACI to everything we do , and it is those that strive to perform when responsible and manage when   accountable that we will foster for the future .       •   We do not benchmark ourselves against anyone else .   We have a unique business model with a set of goals and values that are no one else ’s , We need to   identify internally how we benchmark success as a business and what our products are required to be .   We do not take superficial competitor pricing as a benchmark for ourselves without first making an   informed business decision based on fact . We have an identity that is entwined with a business model .      •   Our organizational structure fits our purpose .   Traditionally we have been weak matrixed where we need to be balanced , we need our functional   managers and departments but we must put more focus on the project team . This will not happen by   itself , the leader of the project must stand up , be accountable and take charge .       •   Higher value on the informal   There is a lot of value in our formal processes , they are crucial to process and production . However I   want a strong focus to be on the informal , intrinsic motivation of our teams . Transparency and honesty   between business units is paramount and I expect to be aske anything and everything while being told   everything . The office junior should be told the big picture , while sharing their thoughts and concerns   on production .      •   Acknowledgement and exploitation of strength .   After 5 years of production and growth , we have tried many things .   At this point we have a good   understanding of what our strengths are ( see SWOT ) complimentary to “ focusing on the controllable ”   we need a sustained period of getting better at what we are already good at . This will mean putting   some long term goals on the shelf , but ultimately we will be more prepared for them in the future .                     Being guided by the tenets , the key stakeholders were given weekly tasks which were designed to address the   SWOT , goals and issues . These weekly experiments were small enough to not cause an impact but were discussed   informally followed up by an evaluation to determine their success and the approach for the next weeks tasks . 

 Insight 

 By being allowed to fail / succeed early with a higher value on observation and the informal over a document heavy   workflow , the buy in by the entire office is a lot more positive than it has been in the past . The teams see the instant   results of an initiative without the negative thoughts that usually meet “ yet another procedure ” 

 I am happy to say that after 2 months of this approach we have already met 4/14 of our major goals , and are well on   the way to meeting all of our targets by the end of the year . 

 I can honestly say that an open mind , in line with design thinking we are a lot more agile and adaptable to change . 

 Approach 

 I will continue to use design thinking to reach larger focused goals , as the only thing that is certain in any   organization is that there is uncertainty , design thinking allows for what is usually a negative ( uncertainty ) to be   used for the improvement of an organization . 


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 am the operations manager for my international company ’s Asian business .   We service the engineering and   architectural design industry and my staff consists of 50 people spread over 6 departments . 

 We have had just over 5 years of rapid growth with some major success , but I have noticed recently a lack of   production and a decline in quality . To our credit we have retained the majority of our staff over our time of   operations therefore I needed to analyze the current state of operations , our projects and production to determine   what was first failing , and second how to fix the issues . 

 Part of my role was to restructure the company in an effort to improve efficiencies , production and sales .   To do this   required me to gather the key stakeholders across our departments to determine what we considered to be ineffective   or problematic with regard to the business . 

 There have been many times over the years where we have addresses some issues in an isolated context and have   generally used assumptions and biases to propose solutions which in general have had limited affects . Our team has   already gone through several design thinking activities / tools , so we are ready to try the learning launch tool . 

 Selection 

 I plan to keep the learning launch experimental meant to quickly test an idea and prototype quickly , seeing results   ( positive or negative ) early . 

 Application 

 In the weeks leading up to what I planned would be a learning launch , I individually interviewed each department ,   spending time watching how they interacted with their counterparts in other countries and within their team .   Independently of all of the departments I used SWOT analysis to identify common and unique strengths , weaknesses   opportunities and threats that I could use as a basis for initiating agile projects aimed at addressing the outcomes . 

 Along with my SWOT points , I set some very generic goals but left the path for getting to that goal undefined as I   required the input and experimentation from all stakeholders to define the path for itself . 

 I was determined to set the culture not only for the experiment and project but for the entire office . To do so required   me to loosely plan the approach with the key stakeholders , so together we determined some " organizational tenets ”   that would keep us on task towards the goal , but would not allow us to be manipulated with bias . The ended up   being : 

 •   Realization of the past , present & future    Now is the time to reflect on our purpose , we need a bold direction , and to marshal as a team toward   that goal , we will prioritize everything we do accordingly . Sustaining a forward - looking view .   •   Focus on the way things are done , not the structure .   While org charts are important to define some of the formal building blocks , we can not try and force   our business processes into a structure that does not suit reality . We will fix our structure last because   defining a structure will not fix the problem . We focus on execution improvement regardless of role to   a certain point , and revisit structure after ,   •   Make the most of our top talent   We design positions and roles to suit our talent , we respect commitment and determination and   implement training strategy to help them meet their aspirations where skill is lacking . We optimize   management by minimizing direct reports with the goal for every level of management to essentially   “ replace themselves ” that is the true gauge of their success as managers .      •   Focus on the controllable   There are issues we are aware of companywide that in the immediate term we can not control . That   does not mean we can not influence them or aim to fix them long term , but while we are focusing on 

 issues that are out of our control we will not fix things that are . We need to aim as a group to be second   to none in our duties before we can begin to fix others .      •   Accountability is paramount and will be rewarded   People will be accountable for their past and present work without being micromanaged . We will apply   RACI to everything we do , and it is those that strive to perform when responsible and manage when   accountable that we will foster for the future .       •   We do not benchmark ourselves against anyone else .   We have a unique business model with a set of goals and values that are no one else ’s , We need to   identify internally how we benchmark success as a business and what our products are required to be .   We do not take superficial competitor pricing as a benchmark for ourselves without first making an   informed business decision based on fact . We have an identity that is entwined with a business model .      •   Our organizational structure fits our purpose .   Traditionally we have been weak matrixed where we need to be balanced , we need our functional   managers and departments but we must put more focus on the project team . This will not happen by   itself , the leader of the project must stand up , be accountable and take charge .       •   Higher value on the informal   There is a lot of value in our formal processes , they are crucial to process and production . However I   want a strong focus to be on the informal , intrinsic motivation of our teams . Transparency and honesty   between business units is paramount and I expect to be aske anything and everything while being told   everything . The office junior should be told the big picture , while sharing their thoughts and concerns   on production .      •   Acknowledgement and exploitation of strength .   After 5 years of production and growth , we have tried many things .   At this point we have a good   understanding of what our strengths are ( see SWOT ) complimentary to “ focusing on the controllable ”   we need a sustained period of getting better at what we are already good at . This will mean putting   some long term goals on the shelf , but ultimately we will be more prepared for them in the future .                     Being guided by the tenets , the key stakeholders were given weekly tasks which were designed to address the   SWOT , goals and issues . These weekly experiments were small enough to not cause an impact but were discussed   informally followed up by an evaluation to determine their success and the approach for the next weeks tasks . 

 Insight 

 By being allowed to fail / succeed early with a higher value on observation and the informal over a document heavy   workflow , the buy in by the entire office is a lot more positive than it has been in the past . The teams see the instant   results of an initiative without the negative thoughts that usually meet “ yet another procedure ” 

 I am happy to say that after 2 months of this approach we have already met 4/14 of our major goals , and are well on   the way to meeting all of our targets by the end of the year . 

 I can honestly say that an open mind , in line with design thinking we are a lot more agile and adaptable to change . 

 Approach 

 I will continue to use design thinking to reach larger focused goals , as the only thing that is certain in any   organization is that there is uncertainty , design thinking allows for what is usually a negative ( uncertainty ) to be   used for the improvement of an organization .
### Output: 