Problem-Solving Bootcamp

We all have a number of problems that are either back or front of mind. How worrying are yours right now? How much is your most pressing issue costing you/your organisation financially for each month/quarter/year it’s not being solved? And how about the other costs – time, reputation, disengagement, frustration, not to mention the way it’s keeping you awake at night?

There’s probably 4 things you could do about this problem:

OPTION 1. Do nothing. And the cost for that will be the compounding affect of all the different costs you’ve just identified and a problem that still keeps festering away until it reaches crisis point – which is never a good time to do problem-solving. Plus you’ll still be losing sleep.

OPTION 2. Put more pressure on that person whose job it is to be solving this issue. How long has it taken them so far? If you upped the ante on this problem how quickly can you see them providing a reasonable solution?  Do they have even have the experience and/or training to develop a solution to such a problem? OR, perhaps you’re the person whose job it is to be solving this issue? How is the quality of your sleep going now?

OPTION 3. Use an external consultant to provide a solution for you to then implement. Apart from the fact that you may receive an off-the-shelf solution rather than a bespoke one, consultants are going to charge you a LOT of money. And that’s without factoring in the cost and time of your staff who need to provide advice, and do behind the scenes organising and support etc. But cost aside I wouldn’t recommend going that way for a range of reasons:

• They won’t have existing relationships within your organisation
• They won’t know who’s responsible for what, who are the influencers, who to believe.
• They won’t understand the culture and all its nuances
• They won’t really understand the problem and won’t know for sure if they’re actually working on the right problem.
• No-one internally will have ownership of the solution, so it will be difficult to bring people on board given they haven’t been part of the solution
• Implementation becomes very difficult, if not impossible, because of all of the above

OPTION 4. Attend or register one (or more) of your staff to Problem-Solving Bootcamp.

Why?

• It’s far more effective than putting more pressure on the shoulders of that person who hasn’t yet come up with a solution.
• It’s way, way cheaper than getting a consultant in.
• Off the shelf solutions are forbidden in Bootcamp J
• All solutions are bespoke and have the dual focus of providing the best outcomes and experiences possible for the people involved while also meeting the requirement for business success.
• Bootcamp participants use a proven successful process, as well as building their own expertise in problem solving and innovation
• They gain buy-in through that process from key stakeholders
• They are held accountable by the requirement to deliver outputs within specific timelines
• They receive expert mentoring and advice along the way and particularly when they hit road bumps
• They’ll be minimising risk and maximising creativity
• They’ll be prototyping, testing and iterating their solution/s
• Twelve weeks from the start of the program they will have designed a Minimum Viable Product
• On completion they’ll be able to start leading other design thinking projects within the organisation
• And you/they will start to sleep peacefully again

Which option is most appealing to you?

It begins with an 8-week Design Sprint. You may be thinking 8 weeks sounds like a dawdle, not a sprint. But if you take into account that most Bootcamp participants will still have some BAU activities to undertake, it’s definitely not a dawdle. To the point that there will be loads of accountability built into the program to ensure that by the end of Week 8 each participant has developed at least one solution. The Design Sprint is followed by 4 weeks of testing and refining the solution/s and the designing of a Minimum Viable Product.

Over the 12 week period we’re going to:

What to expect

You’ll be supported through this process with synchronous group activities such as training webinars and zoom group mentoring which will be recorded so you can access them asynchronously as well. Which makes this program accessible no matter where you are geographically, what time zone you’re in, or what availability you have to attend group get togethers. There’ll also be one-on-one zoom meetings and phone calls as you need them. You’ll be taking on the mindsets of a design thinker, following the process and using the tools. You’ll have guidance through each phase, each step, and each tool of the process as we sprint towards developing a solution to your problem and then as you test it and design an MVP. You’ll also be learning how to lead a design thinking project of your own, and how to facilitate the use of each of the tools we’ll be using.

If you’re the right sort of person for Bootcamp you’re probably feeling a rising sense of excitement by now (as well as a few butterflies at the thought of tackling a pressing problem)! If so, send an email to [email protected] and put Bootcamp in the subject line. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can to arrange a time to chat.