min lee

Making sense of Design Thinking, Lean Startup, and Agile

March 6, 2019
by min lee

These days, it seems like everyone is talking about innovation and new ways of working. We hear of many organizations “going agile”, sending more people to “design thinking” courses, and trying out “lean startup” practices.

While we drown in these buzzwords, it seems like many people are confused about when to apply these methods. Where do these methodologies make sense? And how do they fit together? Let’s try to make sense of it all.

These modern innovation methods are part of human-centered innovation, which is the discipline of developing solutions in the service of people.

At its heart, the innovation sweet spot is to strive for DESIRABILITY (what customers love), VIABILITY (a sustainable business model), and FEASIBILITY (what is organisationally and technologically feasible), with the accompanying methods mapped as follows:

Design Thinking is a method that solves for desirability. By putting users at the centre of the innovation process, design thinking enables you to explore the opportunity space, and discover unique insights on WHAT will delight your users, so you can be sure that your innovation is going to be adopted.

But how do you know that your innovation will actually make money? This is where Lean Startup comes in to solve for business model viability. By testing various business models with real customers in rapid iteration, you quickly discover which business model survives, and become smart about what to actually build so that your innovation is financial sustainable.

Finally, we have the help of Agile methods to launch an innovation in small and rapid increments. This mindset helps you bring an innovation to market in weeks instead of years, allowing you to get your products and services in the hands of customers faster, before your competition.

It is important to understand that while these methods are complementary, they solve for very different things. Here’s another way to look at these methods:

In the early days of corporate innovation, we observe many companies that adopt agile first, and agile only. They have the agile manifesto plastered on their walls, cross-functional teams that are disciplined with stand-up meetings, a grand KANBAN board, and finally launch a mobile app quickly (relative to corporate timelines), only to be disappointed that no one seems to be using it. This is a classic case of not discovering desirability.

We have also seen a few examples of companies who are supporting a sexy new digital service that is in fact haemorrhaging cash behind the scenes – this is often because their business plans are mere projections made in boardrooms, informed by high-level market trends, without ever going “out of the building” to test if these risky assumptions actually hold up in the real world.

And without agile, we see highly energised innovation teams coming up with the most remarkable prototypes, only to find them getting stuck in corporate bureaucracy, as operational units are too busy with “other priorities”. A couple months later, they see their competition launch something similar, which is a sure-way to kill their motivation to bring up anything new again.

But for companies that master human-centered innovation, the rewards are enormous. Here we see design-led companies outperform others on the S&P by over 200%. McKinsey also has a fantastic report on the business value of design. The best news is that these methods are simple, fun, and provide a framework for repeatable innovation. It has never been easier and more accessible to start investing in these new ways of working.

Eski to ene JACK? Are you a Jack?

June 26, 2018June 26, 2018
by min lee

After publishing our last article on “How to Design a Culture”, the biggest reaction we got was this:

“I like what you’re saying, but it sounds so easy for you guys. You are designing a new culture from scratch! How do I build an innovative culture in a traditional organization, when there is a lot of resistance to change? You know, in Mauritius, there are a lot of people who are just working for a paycheck, waiting for pension payout, or who are so comfortable and set in their ways, that they just don’t want to change! Whereas others (like myself) understand that we really need to change, to be able to improve and stay competitive and even relevant, in our industry!”

Well first, congratulations, on wanting change. The good news is that it is possible. The even better news is that you can lead this change, no matter who you are.

The first thing to understand, is that in any organization, your entire population of employees will typically fall along this curve:

I know what you are now thinking. That in YOUR organization, it probably feels more like this..

The biggest mistake you can make, is trying to work on the majority, or even worse, the resistors. This completely drains your time and energy, and more critically, any sliver of hope you have left in your bones. Successful change-makers know that:
1) change starts small
2) change takes time
3) change begins with ourselves

The key is to first find the Innovators in your organization. These are what we call (in creole) bann JACK. They may sometimes be the CEO who has such a bold vision that nobody thinks it is even possible, or that manager who doesn’t toe the line and is often seen to take some personal risks, that millennial in your team who has somehow managed to introduce a small recycling program in your office, that front-line staff who found a better way to automate her workflow so she can do less admin and spend more time with customers, that technician dude who didn’t even complete Form-4 but somehow finds a way to fix everything that is broken (although not very beautifully!). These are all real people that we have met in Mauritius.

The JACKS are all around us. What we love about innovation, is that it is accessible and inclusive – education level or rank is never an indicator of our ability to innovate.

In general, we find that innovators have these qualities:

Joyful, optimistic and hopeful about the future
Activated, go beyond what you are “paid to do” and care deeply about something
Curious, not afraid to ask questions and challenge the status quo
Kind, shares and collaborates to help others grow
Solution-focused, comes up with constructive ideas and never makes excuses

Find them. And then create activities that get them WORKING together on something the group collectively cares about, and don’t just talk about it. Even without management support, this could start as informal activities such as creating a football team to promote a more healthy lifestyle, doing anonymous small acts of kindness to bring positivity in the office, participating as a team to a blood donation event, or starting a forum to share innovation successes and failure stories!

One of our favorite examples of this, is how a group of young civil servants in Singapore (who met at a Hackathon) felt so constrained by government bureaucracy, they started their own informal group called the under-gahmens (“under governments” in local slang, witty name!) as a magnet for other civil servants across various agencies, to work directly with communities in a more empathetic way.

If you have CEOs or managers who are also JACKs, you’re in luck! Take the opportunity raise a more formal project (e.g. digitizing core workflows to reduce paper and make your operations a lot leaner, or organizing a cross-functional group to tackle a strategic project to enter new markets, or create new products). You may even be able to negotiate a bonus for your group if you successfully complete strategic projects that affect the bottom line 😉

We found the JACKs in every organization we interacted with, and decided to bring everyone together, every month. We’ve had three Innovators Meetups, getting the JACKS across government, corporate, and social sectors.

Eski to ene JACK? (Are you a JACK?) Leave your email on the right to get updates, and come by our next meetup because there’s a community waiting for you!

How to design a culture

March 27, 2018
by min lee

A mentor once taught me that there are three levels of management:

人管人: People manage people
制度管人: Systems and processes manage people
文化管人: Culture manages people

There’s a full Chinese quote for this espoused by a Chinese company – “人管人累死人, 制度管人烦死人, 文化管人管灵魂”. Loosely translated, this means “When people manage people, people get tired to death. When systems and processes manage people, people get annoyed to death. But when culture manages people, it touches their spirit”.

The highest level of people management is through culture. Unfortunately, many companies leave culture to chance. Culture is one of those things in a company that are shaped very quietly but quickly, accumulating through every conversation, every decision, and what we unconsciously choose to put attention on. And culture is hardest to change once it is formed.

On our second day of starting Red Dot, our core team had a conversation about our values and culture, which lasted 6 hours into the night. Before this discussion, we had done an individual reflection of our personal ways of working – identifying what makes us come alive, and what completely drains us of energy. And from that, we found common ground to honour each other’s working style so we can all be at our best.

We then did a powerful Culture Mapping exercise, with slight modifications. After mapping out outcomes and behaviors, we discussed various company practices we wanted to adopt based on these values, so that our culture is not incidental, or just something we put on a wall or talk about, but becomes intentionally lived.

Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first. -Simon Senek

What emerged was an exciting tapestry of 5 core culture values that now defines the essence of the Red Dot culture:

Positive
This was an interesting one that emerged after a lot debate. A couple of us had initially written “FUN” (in capitals) on the wall, as it was important to us that this journey was enjoyable and engaging, and ultimately fun. We then realized that “fun” is highly subjective, because different people find fun in different things – while our idea of fun might be to read a book or bring good people together, others might expect a party and booze.
Digging deeper, we discovered that what we valued was in fact, was Positivity – the practice of seeing the best in every person and situation, that invites possibility. Positivity is reflected in the energy we bring into the room, to the quality of our questions, to having generative conversations. Positivity is a stand we take in the world, and at its root is grounded in trust, caring, and gratitude.
Impact

Impact is the reason why we started Red Dot, and requires us to do what is right rather than what is easy. We like taking on bold projects, and enjoy working with partners with the same shared sense of ambition and integrity.
Impact might seem very exciting and loud on the surface, but in fact, requires a very quiet quality of inner cultivation and contemplation. For sustainable and meaningful impact requires deep personal and social awareness, to choose wisdom in our decision making, and to act from a foundational place of honesty and integrity. This might be the most difficult of all our values, but is what makes the journey most worthwhile.
Entrepreneurial
Entrepreneurship is in our blood, and this value surfaced early. We are energized working with others who are not afraid to take risks, who don’t ask for the rules but who make the rules, who challenge the status quo, and who are ruthlessly resourceful, finding many ways to get hard things done, and in a smart way, not just by working harder. Tip: this is something we test a lot for in our interviews.

We hire people onto the team who are, or would like to be entrepreneurs, and offer Red Dot as a stepping stone in their journey, giving a high level of ownership and mentorship to discover what it takes to be an entrepreneur, and to take ownership of a part of Red Dot that is in line with their personal calling. It energizes us to see people grow and flourish into their own.
Curious
Curiosity is the birthplace of insight. A beginner’s mind requires humility: questioning our own assumptions, discovering our blind spots, and always be experimenting and trying things out. In a fast-paced startup, we find ourselves short of time to ponder, reflect, and contemplate. What has been useful is practicing “reflection in action” – the ability to reflect on one’s thinking while acting. Doing this intentionally and sharing our learnings as a team, allows us to look for the larger picture that lies beyond our individual perspectives.

We take great inspiration in building a learning organization from The Fifth Discipline – “Learning in this context does not mean acquiring more information, but expanding the ability to produce the results we truly want in life.” It is lifelong generative learning, and learning organizations are not possible unless they have people at all levels who practice it.
Excellence
We expect every company to have a vision, but do we have a vision for ourselves? We ask for this personal vision at the start of every interview, because we believe it is important that we understand each other’s dreams and goals, invest in each other’s growth, and develop our own personal and professional mastery. We believe that a company only excels, when its people excel.

As a team, we implement the same practice of excellence using a system of Objectives and Key Results (called OKRs). This method was first practiced by Intel, popularized by Google, and is now the standard practice of many tech startups. We love it for its simplicity and agility (OKRs are reset every quarter with new information), and to communicate and monitor our goals and progress. Designing our own OKRs was a challenging but enriching process, as it forced us to think about high-value activities vs. just “checking off traditional KPIs”. It has helped us stay focused, be accountable, work smart, and get organized with a series of coordinated actions among us where the sum of our individual contribution is greater than the whole.

And yes, all our OKRs are fully transparent to everyone in the team, tracked on google sheets in real time, and it’s rewarding seeing our progress indicators turn from red, to yellow, to green!

Two months in, we’ve seen these practices go from our discussions and into our decisions, which is where these values really come alive – Do we take on this project? Do we hire this person? Can we find the courage to be honest with our client? These choices shape our culture, turn into stories that become baked into our institutional memory and legacy.

Also, little did we realize, that these five culture core values spell out the word “PIECE”, I guess that’s what it means to be a little PIECE of Red Dot! If you’d like to join our tribe, check out a few positions we’re hiring for.

Why we started Red Dot

March 3, 2018March 6, 2018
by min lee

After living in Silicon Valley for seven years, I was faced with a tough choice — to move back to Singapore where I am from, or to Mauritius, where my husband’s family lives?

I chose Mauritius. Beyond its postcard beaches, I saw the beginnings of an innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem that reminded me of Singapore 15 years ago, and felt a timeliness to be able to contribute to the development of the country in exciting ways.

On panel discussing the Mauritian Development Model in view of 50th years of independence

Here were some of my seed observations:

In almost every business, government agency, or social sector, I always meet one or two “bright sparks”. These are incredibly talented individuals, despite all odds, who are purpose-driven, optimistic, who take risks, and are doing small things to slowly chip away at the status quo. We always have a choice – do we give our attention to what is not working, or do we focus on amplifying this “positive deviance” so that we change the norm? I have been holding this question — How might we support and amplify their efforts, and help them succeed? Because what we appreciate, appreciates.
I say with much confidence, that Mauritians are naturally enterprising. With 125,000 SMEs, that is 1 SME for every 10 people! However, 48% of SMEs have a turnover of less than 2M Rs with little assets, and many embark on “me-too” ideas, which are skewed towards low-value sectors with severely constrained prospects of adding jobs or growing the economy. How might we channel this same entrepreneurial drive, towards creating high-impact businesses and high-value jobs?
And then there are millennials. I absolutely love what millennials stand for, and are excited to see how organizations will evolve as millennials grow to become the majority of the workforce, and the predominant consumers in the economy. Hiring remains one of the biggest headaches for every Mauritius organization. What I know for sure, is that the organizations that are setup for digital natives, that offer meaningful and engaging work, and that provide opportunities for impact, are the ones that will succeed in attracting and retaining young talent. How might organizations reimagine their work culture and policies to better attract engage young talent?
Finally, I observed that the business climate is shifting under our feet. The Mauritian economy is quickly opening up, which brings new types of competition, but even more new opportunities to connect to a global playing field. Businesses that are based on “policy-driven” opportunities will gradually find their competitive advantage eroding. How might we help organizations reflect on their purpose and leverage their assets, to create new value that is closely connected and responsive to dynamically changing customer needs and preferences?

Over the year, I tried a variety of small experiments to explore these questions. From mentoring entrepreneurs, to designing a 12-week innovation module at the African Leadership University, to being part of consultative governmental workshops on digital innovation and FinTech.

Designing and facilitating a 12-week course: Employability, Enterprise and Entrepreneurship (EEE) offered at the African Leadership University, where students worked on helping social organizations innovate on real projects!

I also saw how it was possible to empower a small group of junior employees in just one year, to transform the culture within a traditional Mauritian SME towards greater ownership and customer-centricity. From a workshop in partnership MRC, I saw how real social innovation experiments could be catalyzed simply by bringing diverse stakeholders together through a process that builds trust, and giving them a shared innovation framework that facilitates a cross-pollination of ideas. These small wins showed me that change was possible.

And then I met incredibly talented and like-minded individuals. Together with my co-founders Natacha and Alam, we decided that it was time to launch a platform to organize our collective energy, and to scale our efforts to play a small part in transforming Mauritius to becoming a true knowledge economy.

Early beginnings, brainstorming on our “lean whiteboard” during the cyclone season

We thought long and hard about our theory of change:

To cultivate the innovation mindset: By broadening an understanding of innovation beyond “technology”. At its core, innovation is a mindset that can be applied to tackle unmet needs not only in business, but also in society, and in daily life! By providing innovation training that is fun and highly experiential, we can unlock creative confidence, build empathy, and the ability to ask better and more generative questions. Starting with organizations, we hope to identify and amplify enablers of innovation, and build this kind of innovation thinking internally.
To bring best practice: We have met many organizations who have “innovation” as a core value on the wall, but few organizations actually know where and how to start so that it is lived. The good news is — there are proven innovation best practices like human-centered design and lean agile startup methodologies, that involve cross-disciplinary teams, and that can be easily applied in any organization. Innovation can now be done under a budget in sprints, these are very rapid cycles (think 3–5 days) to dramatically reduces time and risks in going to market.
To build leverage in organizations: The biggest learning we took away from Silicon Valley, is a deep understanding of leverage — it is also the only way that small innovation hubs today (think Israel, Singapore, Silicon valley) are punching above their weight. We hope to demystify digital transformation, and go beyond business process optimization, to really harness the gift that technology presents in terms of data and network leverage, which is what enables a small group of people actually achieve exponential scale and impact.
To catalyze an ecosystem: Finally, innovation cannot happen in isolation, and we cannot do this alone. We see it as our responsibility to connect the dots within Mauritius, and to connect Mauritius to other innovation hubs like Singapore and Silicon Valley to catalyze the flow of ideas, talent, technology, capital and markets. Two community projects we’re embarking on, is a series of Red Dot Calls — a monthly innovation call with global experts, and a Red Dot Network — a diaspora program for overseas Mauritians to contribute their talent and networks meaningfully to the country, especially where deep expertise cannot be found locally.

A dinner conversation that brought together prison welfare officers, non-profit leaders, and a business owner to learn from each other and discuss new experiments for the social integration of ex-offenders.

At its heart, the mission of Red Dot is bigger than any one of us. As a purpose-driven company, we see innovation as a platform for growth, as it fundamentally “grows the pie” for everyone. We see innovation as a way to create new products, services, and programs that are good for business and good for the world; and we see innovation as the platform to connect the dots between the change-makers within government, corporates and the social sector who are taking risks, and challenging the status quo, because innovation happens in between these spaces.

If this mission lights a fire in your heart, we’d love to hear from you. Drop us an email. Join our community and subscribe by leaving us your email, and get updates of our ongoing reflections and upcoming events, straight to your inbox!

Social Innovation Workshop with MRC

December 1, 2017March 5, 2018
by min lee

On November 30, the Mauritius Research Council (MRC) brought together diverse professionals from the public, private and NGO sectors for Red Dot’s inaugural event, a one-day Workshop on Social Innovation, which is a topic close to our hearts. And we came in to a full house!

Lots of laughs to kickstart our first exercise about unlocking creative confidence!

Innovation isn’t just about technology, mobile apps, or AI. It is in fact a mindset and process of creative problem solving, that can also be applied to tackle the unmet needs in society. We were also pleased to hear that MRC was announcing a new social innovation grant scheme to support innovative social projects!

In the iconic Red Dot approach to experiential learning, participants engaged in a series of fun and interactive activities, learning about creative confidence, the mindsets required for social innovation, as well as a condensed cycle of the design thinking process. Participants also teamed up in groups, to build personas, frame problem statements, and worked on tackling complex problems such as poverty, youth unemployment, gender-based violence, as well as public health.

A team in deep discussions while building up their target audience persona

One profound moment happened just before lunch. After an emotionally-charged conversation, there was a collective realization of how much we naturally and unconsciously stereotype and judge others.

We were proud of the way groups held space for each other, where no question was too silly, and no idea too far-fetched. Participants called upon each other to share experience and wisdom, and built on each other’s insights to approach problems in a spirit of empathy. The goal was to shift from a more “policy-centered” solutions, to explore the surprising solutions that would emerge when we take a more “human-centered approach”.

Final remarks from the group as we shared our individual AHA moments

Social problems are complex, and solving these problems can no longer only be the job of government. Every individual’s role in society — whether a policy-maker, a teacher, a parent, a daughter, a neighbour, or a citizen, lends itself a unique perspective that can contribute to an innovative social solution, if only we learn the right mindset and process for creating innovative solutions.

It is up to everyone, to be a change-maker.

Here are the slides from the morning presentation: