Last weekend, I saw the future. It was bright, shiny, and full of possibility. For the fourth year in a row, I mentored a team in the annual Sprint to Innovate competition, held by Red River College Polytechnic and the University of Manitoba.

Why I Volunteer Every Year

I volunteer for this intense weekend every year for a few reasons. First - it's gloriously fun. Student teams get a challenge question to work with, and throughout the weekend they apply Design Thinking methodology to redefine the problem, iterate solutions, prototype and validate their idea, then pitch it to a panel of judges (for cold hard cash, by the way). I love seeing the growth of my teams throughout the weekend, and it's so rewarding to support them as they move through the tough moments and come together as a team. Plus the cash makes the competition FIERCE!

But also, volunteering for this event makes me better - as a person and for my clients.

The Value of Design Thinking

Design Thinking is an innovation methodology that has many centres of expertise around the world. I'm most familiar with the Stanford D-School, and its spinoff firm, IDEO, which offers free Design Thinking and other training opportunities.

Now I feel like I need to clarify that Design Thinking is not the only innovation methodology. There are many that follow roughly the same five-step process, with strict ideological rules about what's in and what's out. If you know me, you know that I don't do dogma. When I led public sector transformation across the Manitoba Government, I made it my mission to educate my network of innovators with as many methodologies and tools as possible.

No One-Size-Fits-All Approach

The problem with methodologies, in my humble view, is that they are designed to sell as a package that you can get certified in, then rinse and repeat. And to some extent, they do work well in this way - provided you don't stray too far from the type of environment in which the methodology was developed. Design Thinking works great for service redesign. But it's not really useful for finding efficiencies in transactional work. That's where Lean or Six Sigma shines. And neither of those methods are amazing if you're interested in intentionally disrupting a product or offering - in that case, you might look to Innovation Engineering or other methods that drive deep disruption.

The truth is all of these methods are terrific for specific situations. But the real value comes when you understand their similarities and differences, and can design your work by curating a set of tools in a unique process that works in the exact situation in which you find yourself.

Mixing and Matching for Messy Problems

Maybe it's just me who mixes and matches, or maybe it's because the projects I work on tend to be really messy and complicated. For example, imagine taking ten 1000-piece puzzles and dumping them in a giant barrel, then throwing away the boxes, and rolling that barrel down a hill before you try to assemble all ten puzzles...under time pressure. That's how a lot of my work feels a lot of the time. And I love it, because I have an amazing toolkit of many different methodologies to pull from.

But this weekend was about using Design Thinking. As I was mentoring my team, I realized that this is the toolkit I lean on most often for the messy front end of my projects.

Human-Centred Design: The Key to Unlocking Insights

Design Thinking is also known as Human-Centred Design (no, not Human Design...that's based on astrology...and that's a very different conversation). I actually prefer the name Human-Centred Design because it explains exactly what the methodology focuses on, which is deeply understanding the experiences that people are having with the product, service, or offering.

By first learning about the problem, the diverse experiences of clients, and the emotions that their experiences create, practitioners are able to glean insights about the source of the issue. As part of the methodology, we go out and interview people, field surveys, and gather observational data to understand the human experience. And then we bring it back and look for themes that bubble up. But we also look for a handful of outliers - spiky, uncomfortable realities that we can't ignore - which also tell us something important about the problem.

Conversations: The Core of Meaningful Engagement

In a past blog, I wrote about stakeholder engagement and why it's an important part of most of the projects I work on. There is no better way to understand the true context that an organization is operating within than by having conversations with clients, partners, staff, and other stakeholders. The magic isn't always in the number of conversations - though when there is a healthy budget for engagement, it becomes obvious when we have collected enough data - but in the quality of conversations.

It's the follow-up questions that get to the heart of issues, such as when I comment that "you said something really juicy...can you tell me more about that?" When I find myself in an interview and the emotional dial gets turned up, I know we are talking about something important. And when the topics come up in different conversations and in different ways with stakeholder groups, these bursts of intelligence inform the insights that I take back to my clients. These are the circumstances, experiences, and conditions that need to be addressed if the organization is going to advance its priorities and meet its lofty goals. And honestly, conversations are the best way to get to them.  

Pushing Students to Step Out of Their Comfort Zone

But over the past four years, I have noticed a worrying trend. Younger generations of students really struggle to step out of their comfort zones and actually talk to people. I assume this is a normal result of a pandemic that kept us inside for two years plus a reliance on texts over phone calls, DMs over discussions. So whenever I come to the Sprint to Innovate weekend, I always prime my team and tell them I'm going to be a mean old lady and insist that they talk to real people. Surveys are ok, but nothing beats actual conversations.

So I was thrilled when this year's team asked me for a contact and reached out to have an actual phone call with an actual client of WEMB - the organization that was sponsoring their challenge question. They also hung out in their dorm lobby and asked for real feedback from other students. Not by DM. In person. In real conversations.

The Power of Real Conversations

When you have a real conversation with someone - even if it's over Zoom - you see the subtle shifts in their body language when they get uncomfortable. You see the emotion on their faces when they explain frustrations. You hear the tremble in their voice when they recall problems and poor experiences. There is no amount of AI or surveying that can convey emotion in this way. It takes a real human to see the humanity in another human.

As I read a follow-up note from one of the students, I was struck by their reflection: "You challenged us to think beyond the technology and uncover the real underlying issue." It captured exactly why I’m so passionate about this work. Innovation isn’t just about shiny new tools and tech - it’s about uncovering the human experiences that drive meaningful change.

A Simple Yet Transformative Solution

My team's commitment to talking to real people paid off. After gathering insights, they brainstormed a solution that was simple from a technological perspective but transformative for the organization. Their idea alleviated a huge amount of manual work for staff while creating more clarity, confidence, and a sense of community for clients. In the semi-final round, they pitched their solution to the WEMB representatives and won the round. The challenge representative shared how seen they felt by the students and how much they loved the solution for its ability to make their lives easier while also improving the client experience.

Though the team didn’t place in the top three during the final round - judged by innovation experts rather than subject matter experts - their achievement in the semi-finals was the win that truly mattered. Beyond the competition, they took away invaluable lessons about collaboration, resilience, and the power of human-centered design. Many of them sent heartfelt emails reflecting on the journey, emphasizing how much they had grown through the process and the mentorship.

Why Human-Centred Design Matters

Moments like these remind me why human-centered methodologies are so essential. They push us to ask better questions, uncover deeper truths, and design solutions that truly work for the people they serve. This team’s willingness to push past their assumptions and engage deeply with the problem shows the kind of leadership and empathy we need in the world. If the future is in their hands, I feel optimistic.

Their journey last weekend wasn’t just about solving a challenge - it was about learning to see people first. And that gives me hope for a future where innovation truly serves humanity.

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I regularly write about the real-world challenges of strategy and leadership, sharing insights from working with mission-driven organizations, member associations, and government-related bodies. If these topics resonate with you, sign up to receive my next strategy blog post straight to your inbox.