How can you gain support from middle management for design thinking?
That is what we discussed at a virtual Innovation Roundtable a few weeks ago. Here are my takeaways.
We used the Beckard-Harris Change Model to come up with some suggestions:
- Dissatisfaction with status quo. Before people want to embed design thinking into their business, they need to understand that their current practices no longer work. One may use innovation ambassadors to share experiences and success stories. Also, clear rewards and recognition are important.
- Vision of a preferred future. People find it often difficult to relate to a mission. Involve middle managers to make that vision more concrete. Sometimes, you need connect with each person individually so they understand what’s in it for them.
- First steps to achieve the vision. You need to provide people a way to make first move. Instead of promoting mindsets, it may be more helpful to translate this into concrete behaviors. Also, you need to remind people about being customer-centric. Finally, innovation culture starts with hiring the right people and for that HR needs to be on board.
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