Design IT: Personal Development, Design Thinking, and Entrepreneurship

This essay, titled "Design IT," delves into the multifaceted aspects of personal development, design thinking, and entrepreneurial thinking. The author reflects on their cognitive growth, highlighting the evolution of their perspectives and decision-making processes. The essay explores the significance of personal development, encompassing physical, emotional, mental, and intellectual growth, and how these elements intertwine to shape an individual's personality. It further examines the stages of design thinking – empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test – emphasizing their role in effective problem-solving. The essay also discusses entrepreneurial thinking, focusing on the importance of mutual settings, personal and public relations in business contexts. Finally, the author outlines an action plan for acquiring skills and experiences to enhance their cognitive abilities and problem-solving capabilities.

Running head: Design IT 1
Design IT
Institution
Student
Date

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Growth takes both the physical and intellectual forms in such a way that one can think critically
towards a specific goal and be able to solve problems efficiently. All these types of development
entirely depend on an individual’s perspective and the way they interact with others. I was more
stubborn in my thinking of this course as I did not understand the simple strategies to develop
my cognitive thinking. However, right now I value diversity, public relations and listening to
others perspectives before settling on a final decision to a complex problem.
Personal Development
From the previous course materials, there are so many aspects that determine personal
development ranging from physical, emotional, mental and intellectual. The process of evolution
takes different steps which in one way or the other influence the final turnout of one’s
personality (Carini, 2006). My personal development involves all the activities, experiences,
challenges and strengths I have faced in the process of attaining my cognitive abilities. The
physical construction is the primary and most evident aspect of personal growth as it involves the
changing of one’s body in such a way that people can notice the changes. The body goes hand in
hand with the mind which in one way or the other helps each other in either the positive or the
negative direction (Cottrell, 2015). If one is mentally satisfied, then they tend to show more
positive developments on their physical bodies. I have undergone numerous changes ranging
from both positive to negative due to other issues directly affecting my life.
Intellectual growth is the most critical developmental process in an individual’s life as it
determines the possibility of all other types of extensions. Growth begins with the mind and then
proceeds to other areas showing a similar impact (Kelly, 2016). My knowledge from the course
information implies that an individual’s primary need is to progress regarding thinking and the
way they perceive different aspects of their lives. The way I used to see growth two years ago

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entirely differs from the situation at the moment due to increased responsibilities, more skills and
knowledge attained over time and also change of plans. When I joined college, the only thing I
could think of is going to class and afterward joining my friends for fun activities. I never had
any thoughts regarding what might happen to me in a year time. I, therefore, found myself only
concentrating on the present moments (Hu, 2003). However, that has changed, and my mind is
mature to think of issues of importance like future goals and plans.
The change of mentality does not come easy because personality is preferably a permanent issue.
I was careless with my thinking because of the young age and fewer responsibilities regarding
economic, social and political position (Gough, 2003). I was, therefore, making decisions only
for myself without thinking how they could affect other people around me. However, I began
getting more burdens like the need to find a source of living and give back to the society with
time. Responsibilities are the main contributors of changing personality and positive individual
growth. When I began taking responsibility for my actions and decisions, it was challenging with
frequent failures and less pleasant moments. I, however, had to keep on pushing because so
many people depended on my choices and activities (Hu, 2008). It started getting better when I
decided to appreciate my position and do everything towards achieving my set goals. `
Development of Design thinking
Apart from just making sound decisions, it is essential for an individual to put into consideration
the need for creativity and problem-solving. Thought should be for the main reason of
establishing a problem facing you at the time or likely to come forth in the future then make
decisions concerning a possible solution. The society faces a lot of complicated issues that
require design thinkers to get reliable solutions that can bring about positive results (Dym, 2005).
Design thinking is not something that you achieve in a day according to research from different

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sources. To be a design thinker, one has to go through specific processes which all build your
thinking abilities. The following are the stages that an individual has to undergo to acquire
proper design thinking.
Empathize: Before trying to come up with ideas and plans for solving anything, it is good to have
an empathetic understanding of the problem. Some problems are simple to understand their
roots, causes, and possible impacts, while others are complex and require more time and skills to
understand. It is therefore essential to consult the experts specialized in the issues facing you
(Brown, 2010). Empathizing with other people like friends and family can also help one
understand what others have gone through and how they have handled their situations. Empathy
enables one to put aside their feelings and views to ensure that they can feel a decision in a more
orderly manner. You might think it is easy to handle a particular situation from your thinking
only to come and understand that there is more to the issues than what you saw. Therefore
listening to other’s views is essential as it ensures that one can take different perspectives on a
particular problem and hence make the process of solving even more useful (Beckman, 2007).
Define: After empathizing with others perspectives about an issue, it is now time to define the
problem and establish the core issues that are raising concerns. The definition stage involves the
gathering of information with the team and analyzing it to find out the meaning and implications
of the different issues connected to the problem (Cooper, 2009). Design thinkers should,
therefore, take the define stage to ensure that they can establish a way forward to frame an
excellent response to a particular problem.
Ideate: Now that you have already listened to other’s perspectives and collected enough
information about your problem, the next step is to think either as an individual or a group and
come up with ideas to solve the problem. The stage is facilitated by the two stages prior as

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discussed and now the team has all the information they need to propose different ideas (Dunne,
2006). Some of the main ways of ideating include brainstorming, scamper, worst possible idea
and brain writing. These methods encourage free thinking amongst the team members who see
the problems from different perspectives and hence ensures for more appropriate solutions.
Prototype: During this stage, the individual now uses the different ideas proposed earlier during
ideation to analyze and come up with the best approach depending on the problem at hand. At
this point, the design team looks through the problem and all the ideas proposed earlier during
the three stages and choose the ones to accept, elaborate, implement and also decline (Lindberg,
2011). It is not always right to take one problem at a time and choose the best solution depending
on the benefits, demerit and possible future outcomes.
Test: The final stage of the design thinking is now to take the best solutions identified in the
prototype stage and come up with a final implementation of the problem (Cooper, 2009). At long
last, the most critical activity is to solve a problem in the most efficient way possible. It is
therefore advised to follow the stages carefully to come up with the most analyzed answer to a
particular question.
I find these processes crucial in arriving at an issue that concerns a problem than individual
faces. Before the course learning, design thinking seemed too hard and technical that only
experts could handle, however as I acquired more knowledge on how to do it, I came to realize
that it is the purest form of thinking (Beckman, 2007). As long as you follow the steps each after
the other and involve others in the decision making, then the final result will be pleasant. I am
now able to handle the situations of problem-solving much better than I used to before and hope
to get more enlightened on the issue.

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Entrepreneurial thinking
Entrepreneurial interactions require specialized thought that is known to favor the occurrence of
benefits or losses in the activities. In the economic context, entrepreneurship is preferred to as
the process of gathering resources ranging from capital and labor to put together an event that is
mostly aimed at making profits (Cooper, 2009).During these activities, entrepreneurs face
problems that they must solve to ensure efficiency of their businesses. Thinking, in this case, is
entirely different as it has to follow the economic values of a business operation and provide that
any solutions impact on its profits. Once an organization or an even a small service is facing a
problem, then it requires discussions with the parties involved and considerations of the business
position to come up with a solution (Krueger, 2007). There are some aspects that an individual or
a group should put into consideration when coming up with a decision in a business context.
Mutual setting: In every situation occurring between people whether in school, at work, home or
any other social environment, then cooperation of members is essential. I find it easier to solve
an issue if the people involved come together and help each other in deciding (Gough, 2003).
The central aspect of entrepreneurial thinking is learning to have a group mentality to ensure that
the contribution of every member is taken seriously and of importance to the situation. Most
problems require careful thinking and suggesting of several possibilities or solutions that can
work best. A single person will only have one or a few perspectives to an issue, unlike a group
whereby each will give a different view. It is therefore essential to seek consultations with team
members when establishing the type of decision that favors a particular topic more.
Personal and public relations: In any setting whether organizational or at a personal level,
individuals should have excellent relationship skills to be able to deal with any problems that
arise at any level of life. Issues are sometimes motivated and facilitated by the existence of

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disagreements and misunderstandings amongst the members of a particular team. It is easier to
think of the situation as a way uniting members in a group in case there were earlier
disagreements (Thompson, 2009). An individual should, therefore, develop good relationship
skills with others to ensure that the process of decision making is faster and more comfortable.
Problems are better solved when people can discuss amongst each other and come up with a
strategy to handle them as a group. However, this cannot happen if some members are in
disagreements as they will be fighting for the betterment of their interests instead of the benefits
of the group (Luchs, 2016).
I can consider myself an entrepreneurial thinker because I like sharing my ideas and listening to
others perspective about a particular situation. Solving an issue alone seems risky to me, and that
is why I prefer to take the views of others but in a way that favors the final objectives. Some
people may have suggestions that do not match my purposes at the end of the issue, and therefore
I look at such cases and only take ideas that can ensure for positive results (Krueger, 2007).
Relating with others is an issue that I have been working on for years because it determines the
opportunities or helps you can get from others. Earlier on I thought that staying alone and
making decisions on my own was the right way to go until I took this course. I now understand
that the best way to approach a problem is by involving other people to get their opinion and use
it to settle on the best option.
Action plan for acquiring appropriate skills and experiences
I have discovered a lot from my interactions with the course materials, people around my
environment and the way I reason towards certain situations. I can, however, admit that there is
still more to learn about personal development and cognitive thinking as an individual who is
ready to venture into the job market (Liedtka, 2013). I, therefore, have a plan on how I can

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acquire more skills and experiences to ensure that I can handle situations better and make the
most appropriate decisions. Some of the ways to learn more are by interacting with people of
diverse social, economic and cultural setting (Dozier, 2013). Since I already have my views
about solving issues due to the way I grew up seeing people behave. However different people
have different opinions, and I can, therefore, say that interacting with diverse individuals will
ensure that I can learn more about design and entrepreneurial thinking.
I am also looking forward to getting a leadership position in any social or economic setting to
test my skills for public relations and problem-solving. It is essential to get the right exposure
before declaring to have achieved individual skills and experiences in any field (Sriramesh,
2003). I, therefore, find it better to learn from a leader’s perspective as they face more issues in
their day to day lives. Here I will be able to meet people of diverse origins who share a different
point of view, and I will be forced to be more tolerant and listen or even consider their
contribution regardless of how it sounds (Lamour, 2009). Lastly, I will take group projects or
interactions seriously as I have realized how crucial they can be when conducted in the most
efficient way (Huang, 2011). During these interactions, I hope to get more exposure on how to
strengthen my public relations by tolerating more and knowing how to contribute without
making others feel inferior.

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