We Not Me
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
Episode 59 - Bringing teams together around human-centred design
Show Notes
Innovation is a team sport and design thinking is a team activity. A great team involves multiple disciplines, diversity of perspectives, and a culture of permission to help guide each other towards good behaviours. Adam Billing is the founder of Treehouse Innovation and Sprintbase, and an expert in how design thinking can be used to fuel innovation. In his conversation with Dan and Pia, he explains the principles of design thinking, which involves deeply understanding what the customer cares about, inviting diverse perspectives to generate ideas, and rapidly moving those ideas towards solutions that are grounded in customer insights. Adam also talks about the importance of team dynamics and how a diverse team with individuals who have self-awareness, collaboration skills, and humility can make design thinking work effectively.
Takeaways from Dan and Pia
- Design thinking is a team sport and meeds diverse perspectives to generate ideas.
- It protects from leading with assumptions and quickly getting attached to ideas.
- Design thinking is a slow process that requires psychological safety and co-creation.
- Innovation requires letting go of expertise and dealing with your own internal workings to be open.
- Curiosity is fundamental to design thinking and can be applied to life.
- Don't spend too much time polishing the perfect thing before launching it.
Links
- Connect with Adam via LinkedIn
- Treehouse Innovation
- Why “culture fit” may not be what you want – Episode 55 of We Not Me, with Marsha Ramroop
- Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Tool Kit for Managers, by Jeanne Liedtka and Tim Ogilvie
- Experiencing Design: The Innovator's Journey, by Jeanne Liedtka and Karen Hold
- DesignKit by Ideo
- Leave us a voice note
.svg)
Meet the guests
.svg)
Adam is the founder of Treehouse Innovation, a London-based innovation consultancy. He specialises in collaborative design, innovation, design thinking, creativity and cross-boundary collaboration. He has led numerous innovation projects and design events for global organisations across sectors. In addition, he has designed and delivered learning programmes with leading business schools including Cambridge University, Imperial College London, Rice University and others. He is the author/co-author of several published works (IBA, Managing Partner, CIPD, Others) focused on strategy, innovation, and learning with special focus on the professional services industries. Adam has previously held positions at Ernst & Young LLP/Cap Gemini Consulting as well as The Institute for Learning at the University of Pittsburgh. He holds an MBA along with a Masters in Public & International Affairs with a special interest in India & China. He has lived and worked in the US, UK, Asia and throughout Europe. Adam is also a musician, whose original compositions have been published and distributed by Sony Music. Specialties: - Design Thinking
- Learning Program Design
- Innovation & Creativity
- International Relations/Global Political Economy
- Emerging Markets: India & China
- Legal, Entertainment, Healthcare & Energy Sectors
- Collaborative Design
- Large Group Facilitation
.svg)