Design Thinking 101: Creative Problem Solving Workshop Series

EVENT POSTPONED – If interested in learning more about this workshop series, contact IMC Business Advisor, Rick Terry at rickt@imcpa.com or call 570-329-3200.

An innovative enterprise is one which has a creative culture and creative processes. Design Thinking is a human-centered approach to problem solving which begins with understanding complex problems through the lens of the clients in order to generate creative, viable solutions. Design Thinking can be used anywhere in your organization to bring about innovative solutions to all manner of problems. This workshop series will equip your organization with tangible tools, replicable processes, and confident ways forward as you move your organization into the future.

These four workshops will be facilitated by Mitch Marcello and Ben Conrad of Imago Innovation and offered bi-weekly, each as a four-hour session around how to develop tools, processes, and mindsets around creative problem solving. Workshop #1 will center on the topic of the innovative culture and introduce the overview of Design Thinking, and subsequent sessions will focus on the elements of the Design Thinking process itself.

Resources provided to each participant for the workshop series include a copy of The Design Thinking Toolbox: A Guide to Mastering the Most Popular and Valuable Innovation Methods (Design Thinking Series) by Michael Lewrick, Patrick Link, Larry Leifer.

Design Thinking Workshop Sessions:

Workshop #1: Designing an Innovative Culture – April 12, 2023

Becoming an industry leader in innovation doesn’t happen by accident. Attention to the cultural climate inside your organization is necessary in order to create a space where creative ideas and innovative work occur consistently. Throughout this workshop, you will:

• Gain further understanding of what gives rise to an innovative culture.
• Explore the “collective genius” concept of opening floodgates of creativity and innovative impulses in your organization.
• Learn what makes the Design Thinking process one of the most important elements your organization can adopt.

Workshop #2: Observation and Defining – April 26, 2023

Complex problem solving requires an understanding of the true nature of the problem itself. Without this, we inevitably design insufficient solutions which end up costing more time and resources for an ill-suited product. Observation and empathy allow us to clearly define what the root problem is that needs to be solved. From this workshop, you will receive:

• Understanding of what potential human-centered creativity and innovation practices can unlock in your organization.
• Tangible tools to employ in any setting in order to develop a thorough understanding of any problem.
• Guiding principles to empathy-driven design that can be used to drive new product development, internal organization cultural thriving, more tailored and insightful marketing, and more.

Workshop #3: Ideate – May 10, 2023

Imago’s research has shown that only 4% of businesses actually set aside time to come up with new ideas that could fuel the business’ innovation. Additionally, there is an art and science to coming up with ideas that few teams know how to live into. This workshop offers:

• Practical tools and techniques for creativity in your organization.
• How to guide your team through an experience that will teach you to work collaboratively and equip you with creative work tools.
• Processes to launch your team towards innovations.

Workshop #4: Prototype/Test – May 24, 2023

Acquiring a prototyping mindset is essential for design thinkers. When done well, you are able to reduce the risk and cost of implementing new ideas, while gaining clarity as to how you need to adjust what you are designing along the way. During this workshop you’ll learn how to:

• Implement low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes in your own context.
• Develop processes for gaining helpful and accurate feedback to incorporate into your design.
• Why and how to incorporate feedback into your tests, ultimately helping you turn the ‘blue sky’ thinking into real life innovations.

IMC Design Thinking 101 Series Flyer

Facilitator:

Mitch Marcello, Founder and director, Imago Innovation – a creativity and innovation firm.

Driven by the belief that a complex world needs innovative solutions, Mitch is passionate about assisting leaders, teams, and organizations to understand and realize their creative potential.

With a wide portfolio of innovation work, Mitch has assisted communities, colleges, architecture firms, law firms, and more to build workplaces where innovation occurs consistently. As an international speaker, Mitch challenges audiences to merge both science and art while contemplating the area of innovation. He holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University, a Master of Science in Creativity and Innovation from Drexel University and is the recipient of the Fredricka K. Reisman award in Creativity and Innovation.

This training may qualify for WEDnetPA funding with the full registration fee reimbursable for qualified participants.