This is Mona

Oftentimes it’s quite hard to change what you know: that sandbox of familiarity. What many don’t realize is that even though the sandbox they know and love seems like a haven for play, its actually quite limiting in terms of the possibilities for new forms of play, or value if you will.

What I find in many cases is that while businesses know that the status quo might not be reaching new levels of innovation or consumer value, they find themselves incapable of discovering ways in which to deliver new found value. There’s that word again, value.

Helping clients uncover new ways to be relevant in today’s times ladders in both directions to design thinking. Design thinking is a core discipline and (should be perpetual) practice to help businesses align themselves with solutions, services and long-term vision that is prepared for customers’ dynamic behavior and needs. It’s a customer centric era we’re living in, where core audiences are also core advocates. They are the ones that will help steer the business. The key element is to identify where they are intending to go, and to properly channel their needs through insight and strategy.

In an interview, Paul Bennett, Chief Creative Officer at IDEO discusses ideas around what winning organizations will look like in 18 months. He considers the fact that people (companies, businesses, individuals) should stop focusing on the answer and starting emphasizing the right questions. He talks about businesses coming to IDEO not to help them with answers but to help them discover the questions to ask. I think this is the culprit for insights and pattern generation that help businesses uncover value driven solutions to their customers. This is design thinking. It’s taking the play out of the proverbial sandbox and into a world that allows for deeper connections to be made and for innovation to bud.