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A visit to MindLab: the essence of innovation

Denise Withers — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:43:22 +0000

I was lucky enough to spend 90 minutes visiting Christian Bason, Director of Innovation, at MindLab on a frosty day in Copenhagen last week. Through the Sauder d.studio, Professor Moura Quayle and I have been invited to help shape a proposal for a new social innovation “change lab” in British Columbia with the B.C. Advisory Council …

Comparing Steve Jobs with Lean Startup & Customer Development « Iains Chips & Tech

Denise Withers — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:10:39 +0000

Great post by Iain Verigin to highlight the role of iteration and value of design thinking in product development. Iain’s blog is always a good read – check it out! Comparing Steve Jobs with Lean Startup & Customer Development « Iains Chips & Tech.

Stumbling into the problem space

Denise Withers — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:01:57 +0000

I just spent a snowy day in a workshop on Service Excellence at the business school. It was (apparently) the first time in recent memory that all staff have participated in a cross-departmental training initiative. Except that it wasn’t training, really. Nor was it planning, or team-building. In fact, upon discussion, it became clear that …

Managing perceived risk for design newbies

Denise Withers — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 07:00:31 +0000

We ran a design session the other day with a senior faculty member to explore options for making his course more active and engaging for students, while improving their higher order learning. The process and outcomes reminded me that perceived risk (un-managed) can be a massive barrier to innovation and change. The environment for the …

Reflections on the Design Advantage

Denise Withers — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 00:51:00 +0000

We wrapped up the second session of the eight-hour Design Advantage workshop with the UDI on Tuesday night. The workshop was developed at the request of their U40 (under forty) group, to help them expand their toolkit for dealing with complex problems. The issue of housing affordability is of particular concern to them, so we …