“Digital transformation” is one of those phrases that leadership and MBA-types love to throw around, especially when they think it will help make them sound like they know something about technology. Along with “innovation,” I’d say it’s one of the most hyped-up—and least understood—terms making the rounds among nonprofits and cultural organizations these days. So, […]
What does “digital transformation” even mean? Read More »
Design thinking isn’t a “magic bullet.” But in the hands of an experienced practitioner, design thinking does have some pretty terrific benefits: It generates better stakeholder buy-in. Because design thinking is, by definition, human-centric, addressing organizational effectiveness challenges using these methods will involve key stakeholders from the beginning. Listening and involving these individuals drives greater buy-in
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Someone asked me recently, “How can we bring innovation to our organization?” The question rubbed me the wrong way, but I wasn’t sure why. I stewed on it for a while and realized that it was because they had been thinking about innovation as a noun rather than a verb, as something you import from
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Cultivating a learning culture goes way beyond encouraging staff to get CEUs or cross something off of their professional development list. It’s much more than individual knowledge acquisition; it’s a shared organizational capability. A learning culture… Is built on a foundation of trust. Psychological safety is the most important element of a learning culture. This
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Design thinking is a practical, creative, and iterative approach to problem-solving that centers on a deep understanding of audience experience. It’s a non-linear way of thinking, starting with a deep understanding of what your audience needs (empathy) and working your way through problem definition, ideation, prototyping, testing, and iteration. Design thinking is especially good at addressing
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Before you can start creating solutions, you need to truly understand the problem. Working through this “problem space” is where you begin to really understand what your constituents need, learn their true pain points, and elicit the hidden realities of the task at hand. The problem space can be messy and uncomfortable, but it’s also
How can you turn solutions into problems? Read More »
If it were possible to be a professional devil’s advocate or “chief questionologist,” I’d be first in line to apply. One of my key strengths—stemming from persistent curiosity, some innate contrariness, and the ability to see things from multiple perspectives—is to be able to surface assumptions that are either too obvious or too uncomfortable for
What is it they say about assumptions…? Read More »
What is it FOR? This is hands-down my favorite question. Stemming from the thought-provoking work of marketing and entrepreneurship guru Seth Godin, “What is it FOR?” is a multi-purpose question that encourages you to look closely at both tangible and intangible goals. A meeting might be for getting the right people together in a room
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I like drawing. To be fair, I did spend a couple of years in architecture school… you pick it up fairly quickly when you have to pin your drawings on the wall three times a week. But even before architecture school, I’ve always been a visual thinker. I’m the one who brings her own dry-erase
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Problem-solving through design thinking is fundamentally an exercise in change: You begin by defining where you are now, you envision a future state, and you ideate, prototype, and test incremental changes along the way. But here’s the thing: Those changes are almost certainly reliant on other people. And you can’t change people who don’t agree
Why is empathy important? Read More »
I’ve been the Head of Knowledge Management at The Morton Arboretum since 2017. In that role, I’ve developed and implemented technology systems; designed processes, policies, and workflows; and created strategies to build organizational capacity in three main areas: online learning, digital asset management, and internal communication. Online learning: Worked with internal stakeholders to understand organizational
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I was recently asked to share my experiences as a “technology person” with a group of educators from across the country who had questions about how to translate their in-person programs to an online format. The shelter-in-place rules put into place in early 2020 changed the rules of engagement, but it wasn’t clear that everyone
What do you need to consider as you’re shifting to digital? Read More »
