Reflection – Storytelling 

 Challenge   After an organization change , the email product is transferred to our team without the headcount . I   was assigned as the product manager of the product . We had to get a good grip on the product and   the market . We had a lot to do in a short period in order to meet our goals . 

 Being a fairly old technology , email market is a well saturated one . Our competitors are long time   players with well - established products . On the other hand , besides having several complaints about   some features and general clumsiness of their current email services , potential customers have a   comfort zone in using our competitors ’ products . 

 Our goal was meeting our penetration and sales goals under these circumstances . 

 Selection   I selected storytelling for this challenge . As stakeholders tend to feel unsafe about meeting their   goals under these difficult conditions , I believed utilizing a method different from the ordinary goal   setting ways would be what the team needs in order to perform up to their potential .   Communication around a story rather than analyses and numbers would arose emotional connection   among the team . This would help them to get rid of the stress and engage to a larger purpose . 

 Application   First thing we did was to gather around the idea of being a part of the team which launches Turkey ’s   first enterprise scale individual and corporate email platform . And how it would contribute to the   national data security . It was all about being independent technologically . This would make the   whole team feel to have a purpose , larger than just meeting some financial goals . 

 Being in a financially disadvantageous national economy , especially about currencies , serving a   product with local currency provides the upper hand to the corporations as predictable costs . With a   broader view , it will help raising the savings and financial development in national scale . Our team   was composed of all local professionals that is why being a part of national benefit makes a perfect   sense in making emotional connections . 

 We prepared a quick survey , sent to our early adapters and collected their responses . The responses   of real people who experience our product , the product we built with extra care and a lot of hard   work . We combined the responses and composed a story in which real people tell us how we help   them in their businesses . At this point , it was obvious that for the team being in this project and   putting all the effort was not about solving some technical , financial or marketing problems . It was all   about partnering people in their business and making it easier to succeed instead . It was not about   solving problems one after another , now they feel they have a cause . A cause in which they solve a   number of problems on the way without noticing . 

 All in all , with the design thinking approach the project was a success which may easily be otherwise   should we decide to focus on problems and goals traditionally . 

 Insight   I think it all comes down to the motivation that pulls people to their duties instead of the duties   themselves . Most of the time , people get bogged into the daily deeds and the turmoil around them .   We all tend to disregard or even forgot why we do what we do . Or what values we contribute to the   masses of people . Design thinking breaks this loop and make us remember and be mindful about our 

 larger purpose . I believe that was what makes the difference on our project and one of the biggest   pillars behind our success . 

 Approach   Storytelling has become a valuable asset in my arsenal . I believe if I support storytelling with other   design thinking tools such as , visualization , mind mapping and learning launch we would benefit from   a broader perspective of design thinking on other projects , specifically where the definition of the   problem is ambiguous , there are a lot of data but it is difficult to tell which are relevant and it is hard   to predict cause and effect . 


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 

 Challenge   After an organization change , the email product is transferred to our team without the headcount . I   was assigned as the product manager of the product . We had to get a good grip on the product and   the market . We had a lot to do in a short period in order to meet our goals . 

 Being a fairly old technology , email market is a well saturated one . Our competitors are long time   players with well - established products . On the other hand , besides having several complaints about   some features and general clumsiness of their current email services , potential customers have a   comfort zone in using our competitors ’ products . 

 Our goal was meeting our penetration and sales goals under these circumstances . 

 Selection   I selected storytelling for this challenge . As stakeholders tend to feel unsafe about meeting their   goals under these difficult conditions , I believed utilizing a method different from the ordinary goal   setting ways would be what the team needs in order to perform up to their potential .   Communication around a story rather than analyses and numbers would arose emotional connection   among the team . This would help them to get rid of the stress and engage to a larger purpose . 

 Application   First thing we did was to gather around the idea of being a part of the team which launches Turkey ’s   first enterprise scale individual and corporate email platform . And how it would contribute to the   national data security . It was all about being independent technologically . This would make the   whole team feel to have a purpose , larger than just meeting some financial goals . 

 Being in a financially disadvantageous national economy , especially about currencies , serving a   product with local currency provides the upper hand to the corporations as predictable costs . With a   broader view , it will help raising the savings and financial development in national scale . Our team   was composed of all local professionals that is why being a part of national benefit makes a perfect   sense in making emotional connections . 

 We prepared a quick survey , sent to our early adapters and collected their responses . The responses   of real people who experience our product , the product we built with extra care and a lot of hard   work . We combined the responses and composed a story in which real people tell us how we help   them in their businesses . At this point , it was obvious that for the team being in this project and   putting all the effort was not about solving some technical , financial or marketing problems . It was all   about partnering people in their business and making it easier to succeed instead . It was not about   solving problems one after another , now they feel they have a cause . A cause in which they solve a   number of problems on the way without noticing . 

 All in all , with the design thinking approach the project was a success which may easily be otherwise   should we decide to focus on problems and goals traditionally . 

 Insight   I think it all comes down to the motivation that pulls people to their duties instead of the duties   themselves . Most of the time , people get bogged into the daily deeds and the turmoil around them .   We all tend to disregard or even forgot why we do what we do . Or what values we contribute to the   masses of people . Design thinking breaks this loop and make us remember and be mindful about our 

 larger purpose . I believe that was what makes the difference on our project and one of the biggest   pillars behind our success . 

 Approach   Storytelling has become a valuable asset in my arsenal . I believe if I support storytelling with other   design thinking tools such as , visualization , mind mapping and learning launch we would benefit from   a broader perspective of design thinking on other projects , specifically where the definition of the   problem is ambiguous , there are a lot of data but it is difficult to tell which are relevant and it is hard   to predict cause and effect .
### Output: 