Design Thinking Workshop Exposition

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Week 1
During this fast week of workshop and exposition, I did manage to be part of an ice
breaking activity which required us to form discussion groups of four students. It was great fun
forming the discussion groups as it gave us time to socialize and exchange ideas since everyone
was new in the class and had come from diverse backgrounds all over the world. After the
formation of the groups, the lecturer distributed to all groups two pieces of A4 size paper and
asked us to write anything we knew in relation to design thinking.
This fueled up discussion in each group where most of my fellow group members came
up with diverse ideas concerning design. Both funny and serious ideas were incorporated in the
discussion where at long last we managed to note down that design thinking involves thinking in
a systematic and critical manner to come up with solutions for the prevailing condition. At the
end of the discussion, we were allowed to exchange our papers with other groups to see what
their opinion was in reference to design.
During the discussion, I did gain a lot of information and knowledge especially in
communication, sharing of thoughts and developing the ability of being open minded to new
ideas through tuning our minds to relate abstract information to real life situations. Indeed it was
a great session which brought positive impact to the group members I included. I learnt how to
share my thoughts without hesitation and proper flow of ideas.
Week 2
Analyzing the case that lead to the downfall of BlackBerry organization was the major
point of discussion in the course of the second week. This involved assessing the various

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setbacks and mistakes on decisions made by the organization which intern led to their demise.
My understanding after analysis of the paper is that when any firm rather organization that
majors in technology fails to offer services that are of standard, it will practically lead to poor
performance. In line with design thinking, it also downed me that failure to meet the needs of the
clients is a major mistake that can course a company to lose its worth.
Design thinking involves having the ability to think beyond the prevailing situations and
coming up with viable solutions for anticipated problems that may occur in the future. This is
what blackberry firm lacked. I also learnt that the inability of the firm to protect their competitive
advantage was also a reason for their downfall. Failure of adapting a digital strategy that could
have seen it dominating the global market. I also learnt that we need to allow our mode of
thinking to be multidirectional so that we may not become victims of rigidity. Given the fact that
I am an aspiring head of a future company, this case has enabled me to develop the ability to
view situations at all angles without biasness thus being at the front through incorporating
flexibility to emerging trends in the market. This involves changing our mindset and the core
values in our possession.
Week 3
Acquisition of knowledge based on mind set and core values of the designers was the
main subject matter of discussion and exposition during the third week of the workshop. The
main objective of dividing ourselves into groups of four was to try and come up with ideas
concerning mindset. To be sincere, before the exposition, I didn’t know the exact meaning of the
word mindset but soon after the discussion, I realized that mindset refers to the approach that a
person uses to come up with informed decisions before executing any action. This involves being
skeptical to all forms of ideas and trying to perceive things at all angles before taking any action.