You want to deliver a new, innovative customer experience. But when you’re blazing new trails, not everything is predictable. How can you provide customer-facing teams with guidance that’s applicable across a wide range of contingencies — and that empowers them to take initiative on behalf of customers?

How can you be sure that you’re implementing change at a pace that isn’t burning your teams out and ensures they understand the how? Just try to CLAP: Communicate, Listen, Adjust, and Praise. 

This month, both the Design Management Institute and the Service Design Network recognized our work with University Hospitals Cutler Center for Men in their annual design awards. We designed this innovative men’s health center to incentivize men to engage with their health care in new ways.

While the formal practice of design thinking follows a rigorous methodology, the various skills of design thinking are a natural part of human behavior. So natural, in fact, that one can find them anywhere — even in a children’s story like Winnie-the-Pooh.

“Learn something new and you’ll never be bored a day in your life”. What if the same was true for the health, vitality, and sustainability of your business? Poll a group of CEOs on their values and many will mention learning. But few actually place it front and center in their organization. Learning organizations do just that.

Implementing new digital business practices can no longer be thought of as a pivot driven by COVID. It’s now a way of life. So how do we prepare for this accelerated pace of change? Here’s the key. While it’s easy to think of digital transformation as a technology challenge, it’s really a business challenge, and ultimately a people challenge.

Some of you may have noticed that our address has changed. If you’ve visited our rather spectacular office in the past, that may come as a surprise. We wanted to share the story of how we came to move, because it touches on issues that you (and the rest of the working world) are probably wrestling with.

As we move closer to automated go-to-market strategies, how do we strike a balance between data and human intuition? Let’s consider the advantages each can bring.

When both your project teams and your client teams feel that you are putting their humanity first in your role as project manager, they are more likely to stick with you when the project gets difficult, give you the benefit of the doubt, and want to work with you in the future. It won’t just make people like you, it will improve your bottom line. If you’re looking for ways to bring a sense of humanity to your project teams, here are our top seven tips.