CREATIVE/ Design THINKING &
PROBLEM SOLVING
Design thinking is simply a tool to help identify problems and create creative solutions through collective approach but the concept seems to be very new to many. And it is definitely is very new concept in Vietnam, including among designers as I was shared from conversations with some people in Vietnam
The co–founder of Art, Creative & Design Academy is considered one of the first few people who tried to teach about design thinking and introduced about it students in designing universities. He said Vietnamese designers often think that their job is to design according to the order of the customers but this is just one step in the whole design thinking process. Although designers may not be the only one who are accountable for every step in the design process but they need to understand the whole story and the needs of end users to come up with the right prototype. What he observed now is most designers and even entrepreneurs often just copy what others are doing or already exist and do exactly the same or similar. A CEO of another start–up in Vietnam also shared similar observation about many start–up businesses in Vietnam and when talking with students from universities. He said 70–80% of students who wanted to start their own businesses think about opening coffee shops or F&B restaurants like everybody else. Creativity seems to be a lacking skill for many people – ‘We were not trained to think creatively and critically’. And it made it difficult for many entrepreneurs to understand about ‘value creation’ as another entrepreneurship educator in Vietnam shared with me. These are some common barriers for the understanding and implementing of design thinking and solving problems. Bridging that gap and bring all the tools and knowledge that I learn from GIST to reality of problem solving is a challenge that I am trying to figure out and an opportunity that I may take..
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Mawlamyine seems to be a much nicer place to live to many people due to its peaceful life here. I often go to sleep hearing a chant echoing from a temple nearby and waking up still hearing that chant J. It has been kind of a ritual of my life here for few last few days. I decided to stay in Mawlamyine a little bit longer to participate in a first short design training course that Point B is planning to roll out with the local community here. It was a good experiment for me to go through briefly a whole process of design thinking and connecting it with what I have known and observed about design thinking work. It came with more clarity about the values of design thinking: building on optimism – open mind and belief in more possibilities and collaboration in the process of testing something. Isn’t it similar to what ‘Appreciative Inquiry’?
And the story about Point B would not be completed without mentioning about Rochelle and Greg who shared with me how they use design thinking to start Point B in Myanmar and going through all the challenges to build trust before they signed the MOU and start Point B here in 2013. Their aim is not only to teach about design thinking but also to support change agents — people who want to create positive change in their communities.
I met few of the change agents and impressed with the community project (i.e. Child right, capacity training for graduate students, public transportation, etc) that they rolled out as a result of attending 6–month design training course at Point B. Sharing with me about their experience going through the design thinking process ‘intention, need findings, systhesis, ideation, prototyping’, many admitted that ‘synthesis’ seems to be a challenge due to the lack of critical thinking and creativity in the current education. And it is all the sharing and stories heard from meeting with people that helps me understand more about culture of Myanmar. That is also a very nice part of GIST. Yes! I’m on the move again – in an express bus from Yangon to Mawlamyine and just checked in to the hotel! The ‘independent study travel’ part of GIST has officially started since we finished the training program with MARA. So what my project is all about? That - I’m still in the process of fining tune it and define it clearer. But I know that I want to make difference, do something to create social impact and I believe I can do it. And big dream starts with small step – building capacity training through creativity and collective problem solving. I started by exploring about design thinking. I first came across this concept in a meeting with Stanford Design School in APLP field study to the mainland. The concept emphasizes on understanding about the people (the end users/ consumers) – feel, think, do – which I know later called ‘empathy’ – the fundamental of design thinking A meeting with Dr. Chung from Taylor’s University and Dr. Ong from MINDS was a guidance. ‘At Taylor’s University, we don’t say the word ‘problem’, it’s the opportunity.’ Dr. Chung shared with me. As I asked him about how design thinking can help in solving different types of problems, he shared that design thinking is not the perfect tool, but it is a guided process to help people to think for possibility based on deep understanding of the users’ needs. He introduced another method called TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving), which is also a tool for creative problem solving. I remembered coming across it when I visited a MARA school in Penang with students at secondary level. I am impressed that students in Malaysia are taught and equipped with such skills at very young age. And I remembered Dr. Ong – even at his current age shared with me that when he looked at thing, he always asked and had curiosity of how to make it better. And ‘you have to figure out by yourself as others may not have the same problem and they don’t know the solution’ – he said. The meeting in KL sets some understanding for me to explore further as I came to Myanmar – Yangon. It is a place with many kind people that I’ve met. People here often think that I am a Burmese. Somehow, I have special affection with the country and the people here. Now if I have a super power, I would wish that I were able to speak all the languages and make conversation with the local people here. Back to business! I continued to search for understanding of practical application of design thinking in business and social work. Some conversation with Sai – APLP alumni and other staff at Proximity Design and especially the sharing of speakers from Frog in a social innovation event have shed better light for me to visualize how ‘human centered design’ (a similar approach of design thinking) is applied though out a social innovation project. And again, a lot of work is focused on the initial stage of understanding the community who the solutions are designed for. Applying the first step of design thinking, I’ve tried to have conversations with various people to understand about the challenges that people/ organizations here are facing. There is no doubt that Myanmar has huge potential on its own in every single development aspect. But capacity building/ shortage of skilled workers is something that I heard in most conversations. In that spectrum, there is also strong emphasis about creativity/ innovation, especially in education. I had a chance to conduct a workshop of future scenario about future education of Myanmar and see how people long for having a better education by having better skilled teachers, international teachers, interactive learning environment and environment for creative learning and thinking. I am glad to meet with some local people who are passionate about helping build capacity for their local community. Am I up to the challenge/ opportunity? More to be explored and learnt at Mawlamyine J.
Oh, and picture with an awesome APLP alumni that I met :) – Hla Hla and an interesting artist! |
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