I’m one of life’s fixers. If there’s a problem, I’ll do my whatever I can to sort it out. You’ll often hear me say “they put a man on the moon, I’m sure we can figure this out”. If there is a way, I’ll do whatever I can to find it… and I’m in my element when I’m solving a problem, nothing gives me a buzz like a challenge!
And while this often has its uses, any strength overplayed can be a weakness. I 100% appreciate that this side of my personality can be annoying at times (the times when friends don’t want a fix, just someone to listen to)….and especially the times when I’m so focused on the solution, that I forget to check that I’m solving the right problem in the first place.
When I first trained to be a coach (many years ago), I used to actually sit on my hands to stop me offering helpful advice or solutions. And our employee experience ‘design sprint’ approach does the same; it gently guides the thought process to really explore the problem statement before getting anywhere near solving it. We use a mash up of tools from positive-psychology, design-thinking, and more, to do this. But what I really love about our process, is that it ensures we don’t rush straight to solutions.
Over the last few weeks while running a number of ‘design sprints’ for clients, I’ve been reminded of the power, and benefits of not jumping straight to solutions.
Think you’re solving an off-boarding process issue? Think again, this is actually about the role of your line managers, setting their expectations and making managing a team easier for them.
Think you’re addressing a lack of awareness of your recognition scheme? Think again, this is actually about the fundamental way your people want to be appreciated.
Think you’re talking about your rewards? Think again, this is actually about your culture…
You get the picture… and when I’m facilitating a design sprint, I love the lightbulbs moments that happen as everything becomes clearer.
It’s always an energizing and engaging process to go through. And there’s no doubt that the solutions we land on deliver way more using this approach. Why? Because we have spent time really understanding what it is we are trying to solve in the first place.
If you want to find out more about our design sprint process and how we use it in employee experience and engagement drop us a line, we’d love to hear from you.
