taking inspiration from a 19th century loom maker to shape the future of co-creation (#2)

Pam Nyberg — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:36:32 +0000

To continue the discussion from yesterday, I’d like to put forth the first in what will hopefully be an ongoing series of refinements, based on input from the group.

To briefly recap this effort’s intent, Co-creation (or Design Thinking) is currently viewed through multiple lenses, which can be confusing when discussing the topic with others who have different experiences with the subject. By visually framing the various levels of Co-creation and its supporting principles, a common understanding of the topic could be achieved and the ability to apply it in multiple types of situations could be enhanced.

Proposed Co-Creation (Design Thinking) Framework

Originally, the Co-Creation Framework (see below) closely mirrored that of the Toyota diagram.

However, as seen in the revised model below, Problem Solving has been eliminated as a stand-along category, having been rolled into the Process category. The reason for this update is that Problem Solving and Process are both focused on a common goal – leveraging participation by all stakeholders to address a challenge and develop a solution.

As a result, the sub principles have also been rolled together to reflect a more holistic process. Principles in bold letters have either been moved or newly added. (As mentioned previously, “organization” refers to any group of people who are brought together with a common goal.)

Philosophy

Base organizational decisions on a long-term, human-centered philosophy that considers the welfare of people and their environment, in addition to the welfare of the organization.

Process

Consider the entire experience of all affected stakeholders (internal, external)
Go see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation
Visualize ideas instead of verbalizing them
Build physical prototypes to quickly test ideas – only develop them to the level required to answer the question
Iterate repeatedly
Ensure that Sustainability is included as a decision making criteria when evaluating various options.
Involve all critical stakeholders in decisions and thoroughly consider all options; implement rapidly

People & Partners

Grow leaders who understand Co-creation, live the philosophy, and can teach it to others
Empower internal staff and involve external stakeholders in the creation of potential solutions
Become a learning organization through ongoing reflection and continuous improvement
Respect, develop, and challenge your people and teams
Respect, challenge, and involve your external stakeholders

Next Steps

As mentioned previously, our collective efforts could evolve into a robust organizational structure over time that others could use to drive Co-Creation within their organizations, as well as informing the creation of DIY Co-Creation toolkit templates.

In the meantime, IDEO has developed an award-winning “Human Centered Design Toolkit” for NGO’s and social enterprises to use in conducting their own projects. Their approach is heavily reliant on Co-Creation and could serve as an example for groups to adapt to their own purposes.

http://www.ideo.com/work/item/human-centered-design-toolkit

About Pam Nyberg

taking inspiration from a 19th century loom maker to shape the future of co-creation

Pam Nyberg — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:04:38 +0000

During the inaugural Copenhagen Co-Creation Summit this past August, lively debate arose regarding the scope of Co-creation (or Design Thinking). Perfectly understandable given its application in creating new products, services, organizational structures, business models, and public policy in both developed and developing economies.

But is Co-creation…

An all-encompassing philosophy?
An internal organizational process?
A method for solving complex problems with external stakeholders?

Simply put, the answer is “yes.” Co-creation can be viewed through all of these lenses, prompting the need to more clearly frame the space so we have a common understanding of its breadth of application and the actionable principles that make it so powerful.

Fortunately, an analogous model already exists that I’d like to introduce as a potential starting point.

Toyota’s 4P Framework
While working with Toyota, Jeffrey Liker, PhD developed the 4P model, which reframes the four high-level principles that Toyota uses to govern itself. These tiered principles, in combination with fourteen sub principles, reflect Toyota’s “deeper business philosophy…of understanding people and human motivation.” This philosophy forms the basis for the global Toyota Production System and has shaped the company’s direction since its early days as a loom manufacturer.

Liker’s 4P model is broken into categories that encapsulate Toyota’s corporate principles: Philosophy, Process, People & Partners, and Problem Solving.

The meaning of these high-level principles is further clarified by fourteen sub principles:

Philosophy

Base management decisions on long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals

Process

Use visual control so no problems are hidden
Create process “flow” to surface problems
Use pull systems to avoid overproduction
Level out the workload
Stop when there is a quality problem
Standardize tasks for continuous improvement
Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology

People & Partners

Grow leaders who live the philosophy
Respect, develop, and challenge your people and teams
Respect, challenge, and help your suppliers

Problem Solving

Go see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation
Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options; implement rapidly
Become a learning organization through ongoing reflection and continuous improvement

Although each principle doesn’t directly relate to Co-creation, some are applicable and the spirit of others can inform our discussion. With this in mind, I’d like to introduce a slightly refined model, with supporting principles, for us to consider and further refine.

Proposed Co-Creation (Design Thinking) Framework
The diagram below closely mirrors that of Toyota, with one small exception. The Co-Creation Process step focuses on exploration and iterative prototyping as opposed to the elimination of waste. However, both Toyota’s Process principle and the Co-Creation Process principle advocate thoroughly understanding a situation and quickly raising people’s awareness to problems.

Variations between the two frameworks are more obvious when examining the sub principles. These proposed Co-creation principles incorporate thoughts from Toyota, as well as other individuals and organizations including Christian Bason, Tim Brown (IDEO), and myself.

(In the principles below, “organization” refers to any group of people who are brought together with a common goal.)