Design Thinking Solutions for Gender Bias in Corporate Culture

This report explores how design thinking can be applied to address and solve complex issues within corporate culture, using the example of gender discrimination. It details various design thinking tools, techniques, and mindsets that can be employed to develop innovative solutions. The report outlines a step-by-step approach for implementing these solutions, emphasizing the importance of engaging diverse perspectives, creating safe spaces for sharing sensitive information, collecting and monitoring gender-disaggregated data, and transparently communicating changes. Furthermore, it discusses the challenges associated with implementing design thinking within an organization. By applying design thinking, organizations can foster a more inclusive and equitable workplace, empowering all employees and driving overall growth.

Running head: HOW DESIGN THINKING HELPS IN SOLVING ISSUES OF
CORPORATE CULTURE
How Design Thinking Helps In Solving Issues of Corporate Culture
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1HOW DESIGN THINKING HELPS IN SOLVING ISSUES OF CORPORATE CULTURE
Executive Summary
This report has been elaborated on giving an example to the readers on how the process and
concept of design thinking helps in addressing an issue faced by an organisation. The
example that has been taken for the same is the problem of gender discrimination faced by
the women in a company. It has shed light on the various design thinking tools and processes
in order to develop several ideas for addressing the problem as well as measures that could be
taken to solve it. With the same, it has also presented the steps of innovative solution. The
several challenges faced in the process of implementation of design thinking has also been
taken into account in this paper.

2HOW DESIGN THINKING HELPS IN SOLVING ISSUES OF CORPORATE CULTURE
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Discussion..................................................................................................................................3
Identified problem..................................................................................................................3
How design thinking tools, techniques and mind-set develop ideas to address the identified
problem..................................................................................................................................4
Steps to launch innovative solution........................................................................................6
Challenges of implementing design thinking.........................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References:.................................................................................................................................9

3HOW DESIGN THINKING HELPS IN SOLVING ISSUES OF CORPORATE CULTURE
Introduction
Design thinking is a process of understanding the problems and producing some
innovative and compelling solutions (Sniukas, Lee & Morasky, 2016). The issues that the
design thinkers face have come to be known as “wicked” in the literature. Design thinking is
often considered to be the key of improving organisational culture. The concept of design
thinking is many a times perceived as the steps that are to be followed in order to solve an
issue (Bardach & Patashnik, 2015). It is often considered to be a customer centric and human
centred process that leads to creative and profitable solutions. However, this report will
elaborate on providing an example of how design thinking helps in addressing issues. The
example taken for this approach is of an issue of gender discrimination or gender biases,
which is related to organisational culture. It shall shed light on how design thinking tools,
techniques and mind set develop the ideas for addressing this issue and the steps to launch
innovative solution. Furthermore, it shall also present the challenges faced in the process of
implementation of design thinking.
Discussion
Identified problem
Although the world has changed a lot today and men and women in today’s society
are experiencing equality in each and everything, still there are some women who face hidden
obstacles in their workplace that takes place from what the psychologists refer to as implicit
biases. It is to note that the implicit biases refers to the biases which prevails beneath the
surface and have the potential to influence the process of decision making without any
conscious knowledge (Jones, 2016). The discrimination that arise from implicit biases and
that are unconscious in nature could be very difficult for identifying and even more difficult
for counteracting (Kruglanski & Gigerenzer, 2018). Such problem could be compounded

4HOW DESIGN THINKING HELPS IN SOLVING ISSUES OF CORPORATE CULTURE
when there is a shortage of diversity within the top-most teams of leadership. This leaves the
resolution and recognition of the implicit biases to the ones who have possibly not
experienced them.
How design thinking tools, techniques and mind-set develop ideas to address the
identified problem
The integration or implementation of design thinking in an organisation is fairly
simple. It does not need big reforms and budgets. It is in the nature of changing and
questioning the mind-set for a very fresh outlook (Liedtka, 2015). By means of introducing
several different methods of solving the problem and for discovering what the people truly
need, the concept of design thinking helps every organisations to change their prevailing
culture in order to become more collaborative in nature and more customer-centric. While
most of the companies are different, there are different useful metrics that could be utilised in
order to assess the influence of design thinking and they include- cultural measures like
integral engagement, efficiency and level of employee satisfaction; financial measures like
productivity and sales; and product quality measures like the level of customer satisfaction
(Moorman & Day, 2016).
It is also to note that for harnessing the ability of design thinking as well as to help in
tackling with the implicit gender biases in the workplace, the organisational leaders could
take the following measures:
1. Engage different perspective from the very beginning: It is an evident that even in
small companies, the women are not regarded to be a homogeneous group which
share the same opinions and experiences (Bowen, 2015). While building up of a
team and soliciting the participation in the workplace, the organisational leaders

5HOW DESIGN THINKING HELPS IN SOLVING ISSUES OF CORPORATE CULTURE
should involve the women and must ensure that they belong from several different
levels, perspectives and backgrounds at every stage.
2. Give the people a safer way of sharing sensitive information and data: The fear of
retaliation might make the people hesitant from sharing their opinions and
experiences with the implicit bias and to identify any negative working
environment (Mennincke et al., 2018). While collecting the transparent and real
feedback is a very tall order, the organisations could create secure and intimate
environments like informal and small focus groups and discussions with the
trusted facilitators in order to start collecting the information in a manner which
makes the people feel heard and supported.
3. Collecting and monitoring gender-disaggregated data and information: Obtaining
data on the significant indicators that are disaggregated by the gender is very
important. The metrics for examining could comprise of the level or proportion of
men and women employee satisfaction and their rate of promotion, the rate of
attrition, the rate of performance evaluation, their salaries and other related
compensation (Henry et al., 2017). They should measure the gaps in between the
male and female in these metrics and monitor how the new design solution is
influencing them.
4. Being transparent with the outcomes and communicate the change:
Communication with the employees about the progress and initiatives that are
made for decreasing and mitigating the implicit gender discrimination in the
workplace should also be ensured (Skewes, Fine & Haslam, 2018). They must
spread the awareness over the organisation regarding the important issues linked
with the implicit bias and how they could tackle and acknowledge them. With the

6HOW DESIGN THINKING HELPS IN SOLVING ISSUES OF CORPORATE CULTURE
same, they should also make people know about the efforts that the organisation is
making for addressing them.
Steps to launch innovative solution
Figure 1: Steps of solution for innovation
The process of implementation of design thinking begins with asking questions as well as
understanding the mind-set of the employees and their expectation and then designing
innovative solutions for the implementation process (Geissdoerfer, Bocken & Hultink, 2016).
However, in order to counteract the implicit gender biases which might be holding the
females back, the organisations could apply the five steps design thinking for engaging the
employees as well as iteratively redesign the facets of working environment which might be
acting as the barriers for females.
1. Explore- Organisations conduct exploratory or the “need finding” research upon the
user experience and gather information and other details directly from the users (the
women) and the others who are involved in the very situation at hand (the other
employees as well as the perspectives from all over the organisation). Making use of

7HOW DESIGN THINKING HELPS IN SOLVING ISSUES OF CORPORATE CULTURE
the methods like interviews, observation, data analytics and focus groups, the team
gathers and analyses the information with an aim of unearthing the new insights
regarding the female employees and their experiences along with the possible biases
which influence their journey (Mohr & Rawlings, 2015).
2. Identify- The team works along with a diverse group of important users (women) in
order to draw on the exploratory research as well as for identifying the organisational
drivers of the gender bias. They employ creative and collaborative methods for
understanding the new challenges that the women would experience in the process of
retention, recruitment as well as in the process of advancement because if the implicit
bias (Mirvis & Googins, 2018). With the same, they would also identify the potential
drivers along with the desired outcomes in such areas.
3. Ideate- In the process of collaboration with the important users and the other inclusive
perspectives, the whole team brainstorms a wide range of possible yet effective
solutions for decreasing the identified challenges like the potentially biased programs,
decision process and policies. A new set of solutions is then chosen for the initial
testing and prototyping.
4. Test- The solutions are tested and are prototyped by making use of pilot programs
with an inclusive employee participation and feedback (Mihailidis et al., 2016). The
pilots depicts how every solution works or would work in order to mitigate the bias in
the real life situations.
5. Evaluate- The team then gathers feedback from the employees in order to assess if the
tested solution are actually mitigating the bias and how they are doing so. They also
assess whether or not the tested solutions are enabling the other benefits that are
deriving from the minimised implicit bias with the organisation. Depending on these
feedbacks, the solutions are then repeatedly improved and rejected, with the teams

8HOW DESIGN THINKING HELPS IN SOLVING ISSUES OF CORPORATE CULTURE
turning into the earlier stages for gathering more details and information, ideating
more solutions as well as improving the earlier tested solutions as required.
Challenges of implementing design thinking
As per the various literatures on mitigating the issue of gender discrimination within a
company by making use of design thinking process, the only challenge that one might face
while implementing design thinking approach within the organisation for resolving any issue
is that of adoption (Hanseth & Lytinen, 2016). Design thinking is slightly different from most
of the approaches. Initially, most of the people finds it foreign but gradually they start to get
charge of it. Adoption of design thinking is really a tough challenge.
Conclusion
Design thinking is all about creating a compelling yet meaningful individual
experiences. It is about thinking differently in order to make a significant impact in order to
empower the employees for using their potential and talent to the maximum. The application
of design thinking to the issue of gender bias or discrimination in the workplace is a very
novel approach to a deep-seated issue. It has the potential to de-bias and redesign the
environments and it could be a very strong way to address as well as to unearth the earlier
unhidden obstacle to the process of recruitment, advancement and retention of the women,
hence, driving the growth and development of a comprehensive workplace culture which
empowers and supports every employees.

9HOW DESIGN THINKING HELPS IN SOLVING ISSUES OF CORPORATE CULTURE
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