When I was a child, I thought an inventor was a creative mastermind that crafted up magnificent machines that solved problems society didn’t even know it had. This narrative was very focused on eccentric individuals like Leonardi Davinci or Belle’s father from Beauty and the Beast. I never imagined an inventor going to the end user and asking them to identify problems they needed solved or for input. In my imagination there was no interaction between the end users and the inventor themselves- other than the purchase of the product. Inventors knew the best way forward.
In reality, it is unrealistic to expect someone to solve a problem they’ve never directly experience with no input from those who have. This is the value in an empathy probe/empathy interview. The individual attempting to meet a need can have direct interaction with individuals with that particular need. This allows the innovator to develop a deeper understanding of the complexity of the issue. Empathy probes are a fantastic method for uncovering aspects of the issue that may have gone unnoticed. Approaching designing in this manner prevents the product needing modifications after production and distributed to users has already begun. For example, in my COVID-19 empathy probe with my colleague, Eben, I was able to discover that his biggest struggles during the COVID-19 school year were health and social connection. When I prompted Eben to describe his experience during the COVID-19 school year, he first discussed how he was excited about optional assignments and bonding with his friends playing Minecraft for the first time. He continued, saying after a while the experience became more difficult as his friends moved on to a new game. “Social media became a lifeline,” he said. I would have assumed social connection to be an issue, as Eben expressed, he was an extrovert. However, I was surprised to hear what a struggle he had with extreme weight loss during COVID-19. Empathy probes are great tools to help uncover hidden informational gems, such as this one. Some of the most useful questions that moved me towards this information were “How did that make you feel?”, “What was the most disappointing part of this experience?”, and “Reflecting on this experience, do you have any regrets?”. Empathy interviews are a key component of our community action projects because of their value in understanding our user. Instead of going into the project with our minds set on a problem we’re going to solve, we use empathy interviews to let our end users identify the issue for us to solve. Using their input, we design a solution by putting ourselves in the position of the end users.
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In elementary school the phrase “Be a leader, not a follower,” always sent my head spinning. I understood the adults in my life wanted me to be successful, but as a child my perception of the term leader was essentially limited to the big-ticket leadership titles: president, teacher, principal, mayor, CEO. I viewed these leaders as individuals granted with absolute authority. It didn’t make sense that everyone was being told to be a leader if there was a finite number of professions. Not everyone could be president or CEO. Leadership was limited to a select few. At the time I had no clue what granted access to the exclusive club. I had not yet considered the existence or significance of responsible leadership versus leadership as solely an official title. Nor had I realized leadership roles existed in daily life despite the absence of labels.
Lacking exposure to responsible leadership, I found myself apprehensive of group work with my peers. These groups usually resulted in a power struggle between members who wanted the glory of being the group leader. Some children relished in the ability to boss around their fellow students and fell easily into the position when paired with less outspoken teammates. The “leader” would usually emerge to divide up tasks-never mind if the group members had a say in this leader’s election. It frustrated me when one person took charge of the whole project and bulldozed over the other members. The most upsetting part wasn’t the person’s vision for the assignment. Many times, they presented a solid course of action that award the group a respectable grade. My real frustration was in the self-proclamation of the position and lack of consideration for the rest of the group. Was a group project actually a group project if the entire product consisted of one individual’s ideas passionlessly thrown into a presentation by remaining teammates? There was no sense of pride or accomplishment under this dynamic. Personally, I felt somewhat uncomfortable in the role of leader. I felt bad about asserting myself- even if the rest of the group was hesitant to jump in. I was not yet equipped with proper communication skills to check in with my team members to form a collaborative effort. At the time, being the leader meant being overruling. I knew certain team members were less likely to share ideas openly. Being the ruling authority didn’t feel right for me if it meant turning a blind eye to the fact quieter members were not provided a space to contribute. I figured if I didn’t fall into the leader camp, I must be a follower. What made the least sense about the phrase, “Be a leader, not a follower,” was leaders were unable to lead if there were no followers to lead. The logic didn’t allow everyone to be a leader. Any sense of duality was absent from the phrase. I had to be one or the other, being both wasn’t one of the options provided. As I got older, my understanding of leadership expanded into a deeper complexity. I began to define leadership as much more than an occupation. It stopped being cut and dry. People were simultaneously leaders AND followers. There is no shame in being a follower. At times being a follower means opening yourself up guidance and learning experiences. All the best leaders likely followed another great role model at some point and likely still do. I stopped viewing people as leaders based on their title alone. Instead, I watched for those who demonstrated their ability to offer effective guidance and communication. I started to see potential leaders in everyone around me. Leaders are the people who held someone accountable if they made a joke in bad taste. Leaders are the friends who stop and wait while a friend ties their shoe when the rest of the group moves on. Leaders are the people who are consistently considering the effects of their actions on a larger scale. In my opinion, the most essential aspect of leadership is the ability to inspire a team. The function of a leader isn’t their ability to boss around a group of inferiors. Any average Joe can be paid millions of dollars to divide up tasks in a Fortune 500 company, but none of that labor division matters if the people on the team don’t express any genuine concern for the outcome of their duty. Rousing passion in a team is an essential skill in a quality leader, this is what separates an okay leader from an exceptional one. In order to create the “eyes sparkling” Benjamin Zander celebrated during his 2013 TED Talk, a leader needs infectious enthusiasm. It is unlikely a team will be eager to dive into an enterprise if their leader isn’t matching the energy they are hoping to spark in their team. When a leader is able to make a team authentically excited, individuals can not only work more efficiently, but also create a shared a culture of creativity, passion, and pride in their contribution. To foster this environment, leaders must also possess the ability to both give and receive constructive feedback. Members of a team want to feel seen and appreciated. A responsible leader is the one who leads by checking in on their teammates. Responsible leaders can recognize the natural disposition of their teammates. Leaders can use knowledge about individuals to effectively divide tasks to play to strengths, schedule check ins to ensure fulfillment, and make appropriate space for all teammates to collaborate. This is a stark contrast from the elementary school group leader who suppressed the ideas of others or never bothered to ask teammates about their thoughts on the matter. This style is what I would consider irresponsible leadership, as its primary interest is in oneself. Decisions are often made solely to benefit the end goal or self-advancement of the leader. On the other hand, responsible leaders make decisions that is not only beneficial to the end goal but respect the needs and experiences of their team. Teams are more likely to respect authority and guidance if they feel as if they can trust their leader. Leadership is a different journey for everyone. It’s certainly not the rigid expression that was stressed to me as a child. Through my own experiences I’ve seen the best teams are built on mutual respect between the leader and individuals. When people gather to work as a legitimate unit where ideas can be shared, feedback can be received, and people feel valued- amazing work can be done. Of course, irresponsible leadership like that of dictators can be efficient in getting tasks complete, it’s almost never sustainable. As I grow into my journey as a leader, my only hope is I can make it known to my team that they matter and create an experience of “eyes sparkling”. The image of a rockstar shredding an electric guitar on stage, screaming out lyrics, may not be what first comes to mind when thinking of what a leader is. Guitarists are often not even considered the leaders of a band. Most often, the primary attention is given to the lead singer with guitarists and other instrumentalists viewed more as accessories. However, when looking further into the role of guitarists like Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge that perspective begins to quickly shift. All these musicians, though completely unique in their styles, demonstrate the qualities of effective leaders.
Jimmy Page played electric guitar for Led Zeppelin, one of the biggest rockstars of the 1970s. Zeppelin’s songs are heavily dependent on the tone set by electric guitar. Page’s contributions act as the element that give Zeppelin’s songs the sound that make them so iconic even today. Page described his playing on “Stairway to Heaven” as building up slowly to an epic climax that keeps the audience hooked as the story of the song lyrics paint progresses. Page described the collaboration between band members necessary to create their masterpieces. Each member would communicate their unique vision through their instruments, eventually meshing as one cohesive musical piece. Before being a member of the famous band, Page worked as a freelance guitarist. He worked on a variety of projects, often never having practiced the pieces before recording the final take. Page could effectively work with a group of new people on a new project, which displays enormous amounts of flexibility and collaborative ability. Jack White’s style is more difficult to pin down. There is a folksy element to his style, but there is also heavy punk influence. White discussed how his style of playing is like picking a fight with your guitar. There are images of guitars White played during shows covered in blood. It is common for White to get so violent while playing that his fingers bleed. He has been known to walk on guitars, kick, and yell. Despite this gruff style, Jack White is very capable of collaboration. He played in a band with his sister who plays drums. White described his sister’s playing as, “like a little kid”. White chose to take his sister’s style into account by shaping the band’s image around the theme of childishness. The duo adopted candy red and white as their colors. They played simplistically with an emphasis on emotion, just as White admired in his favorite artists. Jack White’s ability to work with the skill set of his team (his sister) demonstrates his ability to recognize the skills of his team and apply them through collaboration. The Edge is a guitarist for the longest running band. He uses a great deal of technology to morph the sound of his instrument. He is known to be a revolutionary of sorts in the music world for his use of technology in this manner. Not only is his use of sound morphing amazing, but the fact his band from high school is still together is likely most astounding. The longevity of the band shows a great deal of leadership skills such as communication, conflict resolution, and collaboration from the members. These men have acted as leaders in their own groups of musicians, though they have also lead generations of fans. Counterculture music acts as a space for the emotions and experiences of others to be seen while expressing those of the musician. Representation of the true range of human emotion is essential. These musicians matter to their audiences and the musical world because they not only innovate new ways to play their instruments, but also dare to show up as their authentic selves. The best leaders are those who can show up genuinely and still be capable of collaboration. These authentic musicians work together as teams to contribute their art to the world The word at the top of my list when imagining my ideal self is authentic. Authenticity is a quality I have always revered in others. When people feel genuine, I feel comfortable forming deeper connections and expressing vulnerability. In my opinion, authenticity is the ultimate state of vulnerability. When I’m with new people, especially my age, I often struggle to feel like I’m the truest version of myself. I’m especially conscious of what I’m saying and the reactions of others. I feel many of us put ourselves under a microscope to pick out all our potential flaws when we’re faced the opportunity to form new relationships. We think if we minimize any potential flaws, we can maximize the potential for successful connection. While addressing flaws and working towards self-growth is essential, the biggest favor to ourselves and others is showing up authentically.
Recently there was a trend where brides posted videos of them practicing “soft smiles” for their wedding photos. Then they showed the actual candid photos captured at the wedding. The brides always had these big, beautiful, toothy grins. These authentic expressions were exactly what the brides were trying to avoid, likely because they had grown to dislike their real smiles as many of us have. But in those photos, you can FEEL the joy of these strangers. In that moment of happiness they couldn’t hold back the real emotion. I used to find myself doing a similar thing looking at pictures of myself mid-laughter. I was disgusted by these images of myself. Lately, I look at off guard pictures and appreciate the moment I was experiencing. Life isn’t a posed picture. My ideal self is someone who will show up authentically in all the moments, even the ones that aren’t picture perfect. The film “Extreme by Design” was my first tangible representation of design thinking on a large scale. However, my first encounter with design thinking on a much smaller scale was on my Scott Scholar’s interview day. I was asked to use the process to design the perfect wallet for my partner. I began by asking my partner the best things and their biggest issues regarding their current wallet. Though I didn’t know it yet, this was my first empathy probe.
Empathy is considered the first step of design thinking. This is the stage where you connect to your end user to see the task at hand from their perspective. Going into the design process as a blank slate is beneficial as it allows you to go into the process with fewer biases or attachments to ideas that may not best suit the end user. In the film, the team working on the water collection and storage project went into their empathy probe expecting to use a pipe system to deliver water to the towns. To their surprise, there was a functioning water pipeline that effectively provided water to much of the island. The team had to throw out everything they thought they knew about the end user’s needs and sit down to understand the plight at hand was actually more centered around water storage. Having these close interactions with the people you are working to solve problems for also helps motivate teams. In the film, a member of the IV team spoke about how when first presented with the briefing of the project he really only considered the technical aspects of developing a medical device. When he visited the hospital and could see the ill children, doctors and families that would benefit from a cheaper IV delivery, he was able to feel a greater sense of passion for the project at hand and the people who would use the final product. Being on the ground at the root of the issue also allowed his team to see the supplies available to the doctors in the area. They were able to discover that the pumps themselves weren’t the lofty cost, but rather the IV tubing necessary for the specific pump. Knowing this intimate information of the area helped the IV team zero in their focus on a pumpless system that would significantly decrease the cost of the treatment and therefore expand access. Despite identifying how issue, the IV team struggled most with collaborating effectively as a team. There was serious tension between members who struggled to see each other’s perspectives. They struggled with individual consistency and the ability to trust other teammates to do tasks effectively. I do feel every group is a team of unique individuals who must find their preferred balance. The breathing device team decided having one member act as somewhat of a team lead to be helpful to avoid hemming and hawing over decisions. However, this strategy may not be a fit for separate group. Some groups argued over design plans in circles which ate away at precious time. Often, people struggle to move forward an idea that did not originate from them. All these conflicts hinder the success of projects. Ultimately, design thinking is about solving a problem. Team members must be willing to genuinely consider the ideas of others and participate in civil discourse to attempt to see the viewpoint of teammates. I believe passion for solving the problem aids in reducing ego in teams because the individuals are most concerned with how to best address the issue rather than personal gain. The most effective design thinking teams are those with the ability to effectively communicate their grievances and gratitude with one another while remaining passionate about their task. |