Why the design thinking process is important for business today.
Identify: Paying attention to your challenges in addition to your successes gives you big picture thinking toward your business. As we all know this isn’t easy. When we do, it provides essential knowledge of where to focus the growth of your business and its next steps.
Research: By digging deeper into greater possibilities, new insight can be gained. Exploring these multiple avenues creates a new view on how to resolve your challenges and avoid the pitfall of autopilot.
Understand: Taking the time to make clear connections with your research, provides the vision essential for the growth of your business. When we just keep it at ‘business as usual’ we miss understanding what our business truly needs from us
Innovate: Resolving challenges with new and innovative solutions is the true essence of growth. It not only creates results but also keeps you on the leading edge as an innovator in your field.
Distill: Fine-tuning is an important element of running a successful business. When you actively distill your concepts then implement purposeful refinement new results evolve.
“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” — Steve Jobs
5 Things Travel Taught My Business
Since my business takes me from coast-to-coast, I often extend my trips to include a little something more. Taking this time away gives me the breathing room I need to make me more effective in my business. It also allows me to bring my new perspective back to my clients and fuels my creativity.
Here are a few ways my explorations have shaped my business:
1. Stepping Away from Technology
Since the majority of our work is now in computer form, it is essential to schedule technology breaks. This gives us a reality check and connects us back to "real world" experiences. In our daily business world, we utilize many forms of technology, software, online applications, email and social media. All these tools exist to enhance our business efficiency; unfortunately, it can also separate us from the real world. By stepping away from our digital routines, we can get back to personal and genuine experiences.
2. Changing the View
I think we all find ourselves on autopilot from time to time. When you don’t break out from your normal routine, we miss the stimuli needed to have a new and fresh perspective. Seeing new people, places, and things, shifts the way we look at life. A new viewpoint leads to new ways of addressing challenges.
3. Expanding Your Palette
Travelling and taking in new textures, colors, smells and new ways of doing business is so inspiring. Exploring new ways to awaken my senses puts a spark in my creativity that funnels back into my clients' work. Returning to work with a refreshed vision for ideas and business perspectives always elevates my work.
4. Connecting with People
Curiosity for new places and connecting with a new community deepens the experience of travel. In turn, understanding other cultures teaches us how to improve our communication skills and the way we relate with our day-to-day business relationships.
5. Breathing Room
Taking time to breathe and separate from our work is not unproductive time. It helps us to be in the moment and can free us from the routine labors of the 9-to-5 business world that can inhibit our creativity. It is important to allow space within our schedules to expand our learning, cultivate new ideas and to awaken your senses.