‘Thought-Phobia’ maybe inhibiting Design Thinking

Here is an excerpt from the interesting article by Michel Danino titled “Was India’s Knowledge Elitist?” [TNIE dated 31.12.2018, Monday]:

[Quote] In 1920, Sri Aurobindo wrote to his younger brother, “I believe that the main cause of India’s weakness is not subjection, nor poverty, nor a lack of spirituality or Dharma, but a diminution of thought-power, the spread of ignorance in the motherland of Knowledge. Everywhere I see an inability or unwillingness to think—incapacity of thought or ‘thought-phobia’.” [Unquote]

“Thought-Phobia” – This indeed may be a possible reason why design thinking is not quite well supported in the Indian education system. As a result many facilitators of the Teaching-Learning process shy away from encouraging “Thought Questions” in the classrooms. It is time to overcome such inhibitions and participate actively in the process of developing the Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS).

Design Thinking for Product Lifecycle Management [DTPLM]

Here is one proposed course that integrates “Design Thinking” with “PLM Thinking”. It is developed based on an earlier experience of introducing Design Thinking concepts in the form of few workshops in the "Fundamentals of PLM (FPLM)" course.

This workshop-cum-laboratory-based course will expose students to the concepts of design thinking (DT) and product lifecycle management (PLM) as modern approaches for fostering innovation. Design thinking provides a framework for dealing with ill-structured problems through purposeful application of creativity throughout the process of innovation [1-3]. It can be seen both as a mindset and an approach [4]. Similarly, PLM can be seen both as a concept and a technology that accelerates business process innovations throughout the lifecycle of a product, process or service. This course draws on experience from the earlier course titled “Fundamentals of PLM” [5-7].  Being a practical course, students will be urged to work on real life problems faced by businesses as related to product development, production process development and service process development initiatives. Accordingly they will be required to focus on the beginning-of-life, middle-of-life and end-of-life issues of products and services in supply chains of their choice [5].

Students will be able to apply the design thinking approach to problems relating to a wide range of areas. As cited in literature, design thinking practices have been applied to the following areas: Product innovation, Business strategy, Organizational change, Healthcare, Community services and Social innovation, Innovative ways of reducing healthcare cost, Design of a dream home for people fifty and above, Innovation projects in on-campus locations (such as, Library, Health services, Book store), Developing a plan for a new business to address consumers whose needs are not fully met by mainstream products, Developing a new shopping cart design in five days, Developing new ways to improve grocery customers' shopping experiences and Developing a product or service that meets the needs of an aging population. Hence, even though there have been numerous applications of design thinking, participants will be required to understand that finding a design challenge will itself be a challenge. Hence they must develop the soft skills needed to start the design thinking process with empathy [1,8].

The course also aims to familiarize students with the technology supporting PLM. Students will be required to develop hands-on practice in using the application software available in the PLM Center. They will be able to appreciate the use of technology supporting a product throughout its lifecycle – from inception to delivery and beyond. Accordingly, they will be able to align the objectives of the course with those of other courses in Manufacturing, Technology and Operations Management, such as, Product Design & Development, Digital Manufacturing & Virtual Factory, Supply Chain Management, Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Response to Manufactured Products, Project Management and Total Quality Management. They will be able to use the concepts in other functional areas of business as well.

Contact kaushiksahu@gmail.com for the references cited above and for any other details. Also feel free to send suggestions.

[How Do I Learn?] Design Thinking & Six Sigma Management Attitude

This post is for learners in my TQM course interested in design thinking and quality management in a dynamic-learning environment:

As you are trying to understand Dr. Deming's System of Profound Knowledge, here is an article titled "Using Tools to Support Design Thinking in the Classroom" by Barbara Cleary. It will be useful to you at this juncture of TQM problem solving where you are trying to "Design" your own answer to the question: "How do I learn best?" (Remember: each student has his/her own learning style).

In doing so recall Dr. Deming's Views on Performance Evaluation (see the source document cited below for details):

Here are some excerpts from the above article.....

 

NOW

Similarly, if you recall, even sales performance....

Hence, do read the above articles before moving forward with your work on "Cost of Quality Glossary" & small "Six Sigma Projects" related to your own learning environment. I hope you will be able to design your own answer to the question "How do I learn best?"

Best wishes......K. Sahu

Six Sigma Management Attitude

This post is for learners@KIIT interested in quality management around a dynamic-learning environment:

As you are trying to understand the teachings of the Quality Gurus, this post is to help you improve your learning outcomes. If possible, read "An Afterword on Six Sigma" in Robert Barry's book "Nan - A Six Sigma Mystery".  It will help you to pursue your “Triple-role Continuous Improvement Values” by developing a Six Sigma management attitude. 

This is my 13^th year at KIIT and it has taken me as many years to bring this article to the notice of the stakeholders. Some of them may be your mentors, teachers, administrators and other important process owners and they (in their capacity) are helping you to be part of the system in which you are taking a lead role (in your own capacity) as the process owner of several learning processes. Each one of these processes offer you scope to develop the six sigma management attitude (i.e., Face it, Find it and Fix it).

Having developed this attitude you will be in a better position to handle even greater responsibilities. There is a lot of scope around you where you can apply these concepts (see the above article for ideas). Also, our PM is promoting the ZED program - which has set even loftier goals in terms of “Zero Effect (on the environment) due to Zero Defects”. If you train yourself well then you will be able to find greater satisfaction in any project where you get involved to drive improvement initiatives.

See the figures below and recall what you are supposed to do.....

[Now with a Six Sigma management attitude]

Best wishes...........K. Sahu

[HR Conclave 2017] "Practical Knowledge" AND "Book Knowledge"

In the recently concluded conclave, sitting in the last row during the inaugural session, I was trying to get a student's/learner's perspective on what the speakers were articulating.

Some (in the audience) may have perceived: 

.......that "book knowledge" is irrelevant and "practical knowledge" is everything.

.......that "success" comes to those who do not adhere to books.

.......that whatever is being taught is, therefore, not so important.

.......and so on

And then the questions:

.......why are we then paying for the books?

.......what is then the need for having a library?

.......why waste time in classrooms?

.......why have Universities at all?

While these perspectives may differ, it is important to drive home one point:

.......that theory and practice go hand-in-hand. 

Note: 

"Practice without theory is blind and theory without practice is lame."

“He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards ship without a rudder and compass and never knows where he may cast.”―Leonardo da Vinci

Remember what one speaker in the second session (Track-2) had said:"Future may not be an extrapolation of the present"

So, it is the books which will be remaining as your friend when you leave school for your career pursuits. 

If you look at Dr. Deming's 14 points written in his book Out of Crisis, it is Point# 9 which says:

"Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team, to foresee problems of production and in use that may be encountered with the product or service." (click on the hyperlink)

It was written in the last century and is quite aligned with this year's conclave theme "Beyond HR: Transcending Functional Boundaries" (i.e., "Book Knowledge" of last several decades yet to be imbibed by many in the world of practice.)

Also, taking cues from the workshop titled "Virtual Workplace: Role of HR in Building and Engaging a Virtual Workforce", let us all look forward to creating the future workplace which adopts Dr. Deming's Point# 8:

   

"Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company." (click on the hyperlink)

"Fear invites wrong figures. Bearers of bad news fare badly. To keep his job, anyone may present to his boss only good news." .....W. Edwards Deming, page 94, The New Economics ("This book, according to Deming, is a textbook for engineering, economics and business students, to be used to prepare students for the future". Here is another link on the "Management and Accounting Web" that may be useful in the practical world.)

Feel free to ask as many questions as you can relating to these concepts. We will try to find an answer based on the principles propounded by the Gurus. (The TQM students paying attention to the course contents will be able to explain some of these concepts to you as time progresses.)