Year 5 Challenges have now concluded!!
Empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test.
Empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test.
Empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test.
Repeat.
For the past several months, fellows and I have been drilling this process into hour hearts and minds, a process refer to as human-centered design thinking. This is a process of which I am most grateful because it has truly taught me to appreciate the process by altering my perspective of solving problems and getting things done. More specifically, it has taught me to appreciate the small wins and see them as victories, just the same.
Prior to my change of perspective, I often was a victim of my own ambition. My perspective of scope, sometime premature, the ability to approach a large scale problem as a whole piece of much smaller fragments wasn’t quite in tune. Often times, it would seem that this internal conflict would take place in my mind, “If I can achieve victory against this giant facing me with the sheer force of effort, then why even attempt to? My resources are too thin… Do I know the right people to help me succeed? Do I have the time, money, energy?” These are the type of thoughts that can creep into one’s mind, sewing the seeds of doubt.
What Challenge Detroit has allowed me to realize is that, sometimes the giant you face in front of you doesn’t have to be taken down by brute force, necessarily. Sometimes, to use a martial art’s metaphor, you have to attack the ankles or knees first, and where him down over time. And then eventually attack other pressure points that ultimately find you standing as victor over this slain mammoth of an issue that you once though of as insurmountable.
Empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test.
Empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test.
Empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test.
I have already found myself using this process at work and even in certain pet projects that I have taken myself to task to. As I grow and mature as a design thinker beyond my fellowship experience, I hope to continue to refine my efficacy and approach to tackling the big problems we face in our communities and as a society as a whole. This inspires a renewed sense of hope in myself, that nothing is too big to tackle, some resource is better than no resource. and that small victories indeed are STILL wins!!!
(Demond Childers is Facilities Specialist at Clark Hill and Year 5 fellows at Challenge Detroit.)
He can be reached on social media via Instagram or Twitter @coldwideworld