Co-creation and solution building

Something that has floated to the top consistently when I am trying to find solutions, is the necessity to include the people. Human-centric design seems like it should be a natural approach, but you’d be surprised at how often people are not the center of finding a solution for people-centered problems.

When I began my career in food and beverage, I learned very quickly that this was a business about people. It takes the people in the seats and the people behind the line, and the people on stage (the servers, bussers, et cetera) to make it work. However, as I learned how to “manage,” I learned something different. I learned that we have “systems” and these are the systems that keep us operating.

I describe myself as a systems person, and frankly, I’m a bit in love with systems, policies, SOPs, excel sheets, and forms. I love them. But have learned over time that they have their place. Systems don’t work without the people making them happen. I discovered that I could build better solutions and more appropriate systems when I included more perspectives, including and especially at the “edges” of a group, those on the periphery. In the co-design process, I incorporate the stakeholders’ feedback, giving them ownership and a willingness to commit to the process. I discovered new and various approaches that give me a new POV and can solve problems more thoroughly.

I love this article, by Thomas Both from the Stanford d. school , that explains how one can build systems that are human centered and incorporate co-creation into problem solving and solution building.

Both, T. (2018). Human-Centered, Systems-Minded Design. Stanford Social Innovation Review.