What design thinking can teach us   about teamwork in a world on pause 

 How might we create trust and psychological safety in teams when   some of the assumptions of being and working together are   challenged ? The truth is that every challenge creates opportunity if   we take the time and make the effort to ask the right questions and   build for tomorrow . 

 Design thinking , or human - centered design , can help us do that . By   focusing on the human needs , we can navigate ambiguity through   empathy , expansive thinking , and experimentation . We as leaders ,   innovators , and designers , can use the following three mindsets and   tools to help navigate the future in these times of crisis and change . 

 Embrace empathy 

 In times like these , we need to listen more than usual . Designers   focus on understanding human needs and shift their perspective   using techniques borrowed from cultural anthropology and   psychology . Empathy helps you take inspiration from people ’s needs ,   feelings , and motivations , so you can start creating meaningful   solutions to actual problems . 

 Listening deeply to understand what people actually need is a skill   that can be learned and practiced . You might find that you ’ve made   some assumptions about others based on your own needs .   Challenging those assumptions helps to create a solution that is   essential and useful . 

 We believe that empathy is one of the most   important skills of the future . 

 At Google , we believe that empathy is one of the most important skills   of the future . We provide our leaders and Googlers chances to   practice empathy with small acts , such as virtual meetings in the   morning and evening to check in with each other on a personal level .   My team ’s weekly meeting starts with a mindful ritual to simply “ breath   together . ” We ’re also doing an experiment in which a team member   shares an artifact important to them and the emotion it evokes , giving   the rest of us a chance to put ourselves in their shoes . 

 Ask the question , “ How might we … ? ” 

 Most people think that innovation starts with a great idea , but the truth   is that it starts with a great question — a problem to solve . Most of us   are great at having ideas . We are also good at noticing problems ,   especially when we try something new . A key skill we all can improve   on is expansive thinking by framing problems and turning them into   questions — good questions — which we then can solve for . 

 Let ’s frame good questions using a design- thinking tool called the   “ How might we ” ( HMW ) question . For example : 

  Problem : We are required to work from home and training 

 sessions might not establish that crucial human connection .   HMW : How might we make training via video conference even   more useful than those delivered in person ? 

  Problem : Working from home is tough for me . I struggle to stay 

 focused and I ’m distracted by family . HMW : How might we help   people at home accommodate a range of working styles ? 

 Once we turned a problem into a question , creative ideas to   solve this problem began to flow . 

 I recently led a “ questionstorm ” with The Google School for Leaders   to be able to surface all the questions on people ’s mind . The same   rules as with brainstorming apply : Go for quantity , defer judgment , be   visual , build on ideas , write headlines , go wild . After that we were   able to select the most important questions to focus on moving   forward . Once we turned a problem into a question , creative ideas to   solve this problem began to flow . 

 Cultivate your experimental mindset 

 After exploring what ’s possible , it ’s time to tap into your   experimentation mindset . Experimentation hearkens back to that old   mantra : “ Fail fast . ” But it ’s not about failure — it ’s about learning from   failure . By failing , you quickly find out what works and what does n’t   work so you can build toward a solution . 

 Experimentation can be hard ; our brains want to save energy , so we   pursue the ideas and solutions that we know worked in the past and   shy away from trying something new . That ’s why we need to establish   an environment where people and teams feel safe enough to take   risks and experiment with new things — even virtually . 

 This means encouraging teams and leaders to push the boundaries   and be vulnerable with each other , and invest in psychological safety .   When that happens you can better evaluate ideas , truly understand   your users , identify your strengths as a leader or team , and   experiment toward a desired future , faster . 


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: What design thinking can teach us   about teamwork in a world on pause 

 How might we create trust and psychological safety in teams when   some of the assumptions of being and working together are   challenged ? The truth is that every challenge creates opportunity if   we take the time and make the effort to ask the right questions and   build for tomorrow . 

 Design thinking , or human - centered design , can help us do that . By   focusing on the human needs , we can navigate ambiguity through   empathy , expansive thinking , and experimentation . We as leaders ,   innovators , and designers , can use the following three mindsets and   tools to help navigate the future in these times of crisis and change . 

 Embrace empathy 

 In times like these , we need to listen more than usual . Designers   focus on understanding human needs and shift their perspective   using techniques borrowed from cultural anthropology and   psychology . Empathy helps you take inspiration from people ’s needs ,   feelings , and motivations , so you can start creating meaningful   solutions to actual problems . 

 Listening deeply to understand what people actually need is a skill   that can be learned and practiced . You might find that you ’ve made   some assumptions about others based on your own needs .   Challenging those assumptions helps to create a solution that is   essential and useful . 

 We believe that empathy is one of the most   important skills of the future . 

 At Google , we believe that empathy is one of the most important skills   of the future . We provide our leaders and Googlers chances to   practice empathy with small acts , such as virtual meetings in the   morning and evening to check in with each other on a personal level .   My team ’s weekly meeting starts with a mindful ritual to simply “ breath   together . ” We ’re also doing an experiment in which a team member   shares an artifact important to them and the emotion it evokes , giving   the rest of us a chance to put ourselves in their shoes . 

 Ask the question , “ How might we … ? ” 

 Most people think that innovation starts with a great idea , but the truth   is that it starts with a great question — a problem to solve . Most of us   are great at having ideas . We are also good at noticing problems ,   especially when we try something new . A key skill we all can improve   on is expansive thinking by framing problems and turning them into   questions — good questions — which we then can solve for . 

 Let ’s frame good questions using a design- thinking tool called the   “ How might we ” ( HMW ) question . For example : 

  Problem : We are required to work from home and training 

 sessions might not establish that crucial human connection .   HMW : How might we make training via video conference even   more useful than those delivered in person ? 

  Problem : Working from home is tough for me . I struggle to stay 

 focused and I ’m distracted by family . HMW : How might we help   people at home accommodate a range of working styles ? 

 Once we turned a problem into a question , creative ideas to   solve this problem began to flow . 

 I recently led a “ questionstorm ” with The Google School for Leaders   to be able to surface all the questions on people ’s mind . The same   rules as with brainstorming apply : Go for quantity , defer judgment , be   visual , build on ideas , write headlines , go wild . After that we were   able to select the most important questions to focus on moving   forward . Once we turned a problem into a question , creative ideas to   solve this problem began to flow . 

 Cultivate your experimental mindset 

 After exploring what ’s possible , it ’s time to tap into your   experimentation mindset . Experimentation hearkens back to that old   mantra : “ Fail fast . ” But it ’s not about failure — it ’s about learning from   failure . By failing , you quickly find out what works and what does n’t   work so you can build toward a solution . 

 Experimentation can be hard ; our brains want to save energy , so we   pursue the ideas and solutions that we know worked in the past and   shy away from trying something new . That ’s why we need to establish   an environment where people and teams feel safe enough to take   risks and experiment with new things — even virtually . 

 This means encouraging teams and leaders to push the boundaries   and be vulnerable with each other , and invest in psychological safety .   When that happens you can better evaluate ideas , truly understand   your users , identify your strengths as a leader or team , and   experiment toward a desired future , faster .
### Output: 