Design Thinking for Innovation Assignment - Reflection 

 By Abdiel Rios 

 Challenge     I work as a General Manager for one of my country ’s most prominent law firms .   As an engineer ,   project management professional and MBA , I have a strong orientation towards process   improvement , efficiency and innovation through the use of digital technologies .   Most of the   partners , lawyers and paralegals have common backgrounds on legal studies that do not include   business related courses , therefore , it becomes difficult for them to understand how business   processes work and the impact that their individual decisions have on the end customer ’s   experience with our services , as well as , the company ’s functionality as a whole .   One of my main   objectives as a business leader is to modernize the law firm and minimize the use of manual and   paper - based processes to which the personnel is very accustomed and attached to .   One of my   greatest challenges is to be able to transmit to them not only the benefits of creating efficient   digital processes , but also to help them visualize how things would work once they are   implemented so that they assist me in the process instead of resisting it .   On occasions , some key   personnel resists new ideas simply because they are afraid of change or because they can not   visualize the complete current process or the new idea .     Selection     To help solve this challenge , I chose the Visualization tool .   Visualization is a tool that can help   different individuals from various backgrounds get involved in the innovation process , as well as   assisting them to reach a common ground and understanding on the topic at hand such that a   more productive discussion can take place .   Specially in a situation like the one I described   previously , for innovation to take place and be accepted by the stakeholders , we all have to be on   the same page with regards to what is the problem we are trying to solve , what does the proposed   solution look like , how it can be implemented and what each stakeholder ’s contribution or role   will be once it is up and running .   Visualization can also help the participants become more   engaged in generating ideas or recommendations , as well as provide their buy - in to the solution .     Application     The way that I apply the tool , is by getting a group of around 6 of the key stakeholders in the same   room at the same time , in front of a whiteboard .   I usually like to start by getting everybody on the   same page as to what the current situation or process looks like .   I ask the group to take about 10   minutes so that each of them individually draws on a piece of paper what they think the current   process is like from their perspectives .   Then , each of them takes 5 minutes explaining their   drawing to the rest of the team and tapes the drawing to the wall next to the whiteboard .   After all   of them have completed their explanation , then I moderate a discussion and integrate the   drawings of the current process on the whiteboard , while making sure there is consensus and   agreement from all the members of the team .   The process is drawn using elements such as   arrows , squares , circles , writing , drawings or even taping elements to the whiteboard , depending   on what best describes what needs to be communicated .     Once the current process is fully recorded and consented , we proceed to discuss and brainstorm   about “ how may we … ” achieve a series of objectives .   For example , how might we make this easier 

 for the end customer , how might we make this paperless , how might we shorten the amount of   time it takes to complete this , how might we eliminate waste , how might we enrich the   experience , how might we achieve more than what we achieved with the standalone process , etc .       As some of the key stories become apparent , then we proceed to draw a how we would like the   new process to be .   Once again , we allow for some individual drawing and visualization , followed   by explanation by each member of the team , and then compiling the new process while reaching   consensus .   Finally , once we know where we stand right now ( A ) and where we want to go ( B ) , we   develop an implementation plan to get from A to B.     Insight     It is evident that visualization as a tool is a key element in not only reaching consensus , but also   getting all the key stakeholders involved in innovating a solution .   By allowing each person to first   draw their point of view of the process individually ( current and new ) , it provides an opportunity   for the team as a whole to understand that each one of the stakeholders has a different point of   view and sees certain aspects of the process that may be completely invisible to others .   By   unifying the drawing and creating consensus of the process ( current and new ) , we make sure that   everybody understands verbally and graphically what is being discussed , and therefore minimize   the risk of people thinking they are talking about the same thing , while imagining or visualizing   completely different things inside their minds .   By literally “ putting it out there ” on the wall , it   allows the team to identify things that become apparent when drawn , but that were not apparent   when written or imagined .   And finally , by drawing out the current and proposed solutions ,   visualization provided increased engagement from the team and better idea generation .     Approach     With regards to visualization , one thing that could be done differently is to allow individuals to   work on their respective drawings prior to the meeting , such that we may do a more efficient use   of time .   Another key point that I noticed during the meetings , is that it may be helpful to have two   whiteboards or large format post it notes taped to the wall .   This way , it is not necessary to erase   what was drawn about the current process before starting to draw the new one .   It is of great   value for the team to be able to visualize both the current and new solutions simultaneously ,   specially when we are developing the implementation plan to get from A to B. 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: Abdiel Rios
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: Design Thinking for Innovation Assignment - Reflection 

 By Abdiel Rios 

 Challenge     I work as a General Manager for one of my country ’s most prominent law firms .   As an engineer ,   project management professional and MBA , I have a strong orientation towards process   improvement , efficiency and innovation through the use of digital technologies .   Most of the   partners , lawyers and paralegals have common backgrounds on legal studies that do not include   business related courses , therefore , it becomes difficult for them to understand how business   processes work and the impact that their individual decisions have on the end customer ’s   experience with our services , as well as , the company ’s functionality as a whole .   One of my main   objectives as a business leader is to modernize the law firm and minimize the use of manual and   paper - based processes to which the personnel is very accustomed and attached to .   One of my   greatest challenges is to be able to transmit to them not only the benefits of creating efficient   digital processes , but also to help them visualize how things would work once they are   implemented so that they assist me in the process instead of resisting it .   On occasions , some key   personnel resists new ideas simply because they are afraid of change or because they can not   visualize the complete current process or the new idea .     Selection     To help solve this challenge , I chose the Visualization tool .   Visualization is a tool that can help   different individuals from various backgrounds get involved in the innovation process , as well as   assisting them to reach a common ground and understanding on the topic at hand such that a   more productive discussion can take place .   Specially in a situation like the one I described   previously , for innovation to take place and be accepted by the stakeholders , we all have to be on   the same page with regards to what is the problem we are trying to solve , what does the proposed   solution look like , how it can be implemented and what each stakeholder ’s contribution or role   will be once it is up and running .   Visualization can also help the participants become more   engaged in generating ideas or recommendations , as well as provide their buy - in to the solution .     Application     The way that I apply the tool , is by getting a group of around 6 of the key stakeholders in the same   room at the same time , in front of a whiteboard .   I usually like to start by getting everybody on the   same page as to what the current situation or process looks like .   I ask the group to take about 10   minutes so that each of them individually draws on a piece of paper what they think the current   process is like from their perspectives .   Then , each of them takes 5 minutes explaining their   drawing to the rest of the team and tapes the drawing to the wall next to the whiteboard .   After all   of them have completed their explanation , then I moderate a discussion and integrate the   drawings of the current process on the whiteboard , while making sure there is consensus and   agreement from all the members of the team .   The process is drawn using elements such as   arrows , squares , circles , writing , drawings or even taping elements to the whiteboard , depending   on what best describes what needs to be communicated .     Once the current process is fully recorded and consented , we proceed to discuss and brainstorm   about “ how may we … ” achieve a series of objectives .   For example , how might we make this easier 

 for the end customer , how might we make this paperless , how might we shorten the amount of   time it takes to complete this , how might we eliminate waste , how might we enrich the   experience , how might we achieve more than what we achieved with the standalone process , etc .       As some of the key stories become apparent , then we proceed to draw a how we would like the   new process to be .   Once again , we allow for some individual drawing and visualization , followed   by explanation by each member of the team , and then compiling the new process while reaching   consensus .   Finally , once we know where we stand right now ( A ) and where we want to go ( B ) , we   develop an implementation plan to get from A to B.     Insight     It is evident that visualization as a tool is a key element in not only reaching consensus , but also   getting all the key stakeholders involved in innovating a solution .   By allowing each person to first   draw their point of view of the process individually ( current and new ) , it provides an opportunity   for the team as a whole to understand that each one of the stakeholders has a different point of   view and sees certain aspects of the process that may be completely invisible to others .   By   unifying the drawing and creating consensus of the process ( current and new ) , we make sure that   everybody understands verbally and graphically what is being discussed , and therefore minimize   the risk of people thinking they are talking about the same thing , while imagining or visualizing   completely different things inside their minds .   By literally “ putting it out there ” on the wall , it   allows the team to identify things that become apparent when drawn , but that were not apparent   when written or imagined .   And finally , by drawing out the current and proposed solutions ,   visualization provided increased engagement from the team and better idea generation .     Approach     With regards to visualization , one thing that could be done differently is to allow individuals to   work on their respective drawings prior to the meeting , such that we may do a more efficient use   of time .   Another key point that I noticed during the meetings , is that it may be helpful to have two   whiteboards or large format post it notes taped to the wall .   This way , it is not necessary to erase   what was drawn about the current process before starting to draw the new one .   It is of great   value for the team to be able to visualize both the current and new solutions simultaneously ,   specially when we are developing the implementation plan to get from A to B.
### Output: 