Developing Leadership By Examining Design Thinking & Business Models
Businesses and Education may look very different from the outside but both deal with change on a daily basis and work in the business of humans, meaning, convincing people to try new things and see things from different vantage points, which isn't often easy.
I think that in many ways, the design thinking model and business model are similar. Both models discuss creating a shared vision that calls for change, with a leader or leaders at the helm but with many other stakeholders or supporters on the side who have bought into the change. The business model suggests that instead of informing or forcing change, we discuss the benefits or positive vision for change and take the stigma or idea that “they will be changed” out of the equation. Shared ownership and acceptance of the vision makes the next steps of execution more easy to delegate or collaborate upon. Roadblocks and obstacles will be part of the process, but the leader and team should work to alleviate them and move past them as quickly as possible to maintain positivity. The process of changing a system or creating a new product or culture is never quick and problems aren’t solved perfectly the first go around, so the team should allow themselves to celebrate the small victories in each attempt or re-creation, and build upon that. As I move into a new Design Thinking Project, I want to keep in mind that the steps are cyclical and will loop back, and that I can draw on others for support of my vision and for perspective and feedback on what I cannot see from my vantage point. I will want to keep in mind the student “buy in” as they are my customers and may not welcome a change as I might. Once change is implemented, I’ll also want to remember that I need to embed those new changes into my classroom culture in order to sustain it; “Leaders must show employees how the new behaviors or actions have helped improve performance. The leadership ranks must be advocates of the change for it to stay” (Russell). Lastly, communication seems to be a huge piece in terms of comforting, explaining, learning, accepting, and sustaining change, so I’ll need to be a storyteller who articulates what I want and how I envision getting there, with their(admin, students, colleagues) collective help. |