Yup.*

Personal development and lifelong learning are woven through my professional practice. I talk about it in design sprints, encourage it in training and coach it. Investment in oneself is a foundation for professional and personal growth. Self-directed learning is great but sometimes we need to eat our own dog food, so I’m taking a week or so out to practice what I preach.

What brand of dog food am I eating?

I am participating in the brand new Design Sprint Masterclass, led by Jonathan Courtney & Dee Scarano of AJ&Smart and Jake Knapp.

AJ&Smart is a leading design and design training agency. They have won many design awards, working with the likes of LEGO, General Electric, Uber and Netflix. Jake Knapp is a world renown design practitioners. The inventor of the Design Sprint while at Google Ventures, he has led design work for YouTube, Gmail and Microsoft and many others.

Why am I telling you about my dog food?

As a designer, I have solved business problems with innovative thinking, ideation and prototyping. Yet it is easy to become comfortable with the familiar and let my work get stale. So, whether you are a fellow designer, a client or a passer-by, I am engaging you all as partners in my professional development.

For those I work or contract with, I hope this provides growing confidence in choosing to partner with me and a sense of excitement for how design thinking and sprints can grow your capabilities and your business.

And when I’ve finished eating the dog food?

My aim, as always, is to help my clients achieve their goals and desired outcomes with less time, effort and cost. As an aspiring early graduate of the Design Sprint Masterclass, I see this world-class certification as an investment in my journey towards design sprint mastery.

I will keep you updated on my progress. In the meantime, if you would like to know more, feel free to contact me for a chat or book a two-hour Lightening Sprint to experience the process for yourself. Either way, leave me a comment, send me a message, drop me a line or give me a call on 021 233 1445.

*A hat tip to Tom for telling me about eating dog food.

The post Professional development: why I am eating my own dog food appeared first on Jon Dunning.

What on earth do you do with all those Post It Notes and Sharpies you’re always buying?

It’s a fair question and one which colleagues and friends often ask too. So, by way of an answer, I wrote this brief ‘elevator‘ explanation.

What is a design sprint?

A design sprint is an interactive step-by-step system for solving big problems and/or testing big ideas. This is done over a structured four or five-day period with a small team of key people. In one form or another, I incorporate design sprint methods into much of my training, facilitation and coaching.

Why would I run a design sprint?

Design sprints are used for discovering, building and testing new products, services and apps. In New Zealand, household names like Powershop, Air New Zealand, Vodafone, Icebreaker and ACC use sprints to remain competitive in their sectors.

Sprints can also be used to develop, build and test workflows, models and policies. The outcomes of some sprints I have led include reducing processing time and red tape in local government work planning, improving the online booking experience for Regional Parks and enabling sports clubs to self-serve when reserving sports fields and facilities.

How will design sprints help my business?

Pure design is often seen as an open-ended, overly creative and long-winded process but this needn’t be the case. Sprints are quick and cost effective compared to traditional long-form project work.

A design sprint is a short series of timed workshops involving a small number of key players. These workshops can deliver specific and measurable customer-focused outcomes in under a week, using ‘how can we..?’ questions to inform and build prototypes to test with customers – all between Monday morning and Friday afternoon.

I want a 2nd opinion from a leading practitioner

Sounds great – so what should I do now?

If you would like to know more, feel free to contact me for a chat or book a two-hour Lightening Sprint to experience the process for yourself. Either way, leave me a comment, send me a message, drop me a line or give me a call on 021 233 1445.

The post What is a design sprint and why I should care? appeared first on Jon Dunning.

Some time back, I wrote about my friend Jason and his 1% idea. I don’t always remember to do my 14.4 minutes of self-directed study each day – other priorities emerge, emergencies occur and, on days like today, travel can disrupt my usual routine. When that happens, I take the opportunity to stop and ask myself if there is anything I can learn in the moment.

Thinking about packing for the first of two business trips in the next 10 days, I faced the recurring question of which bag to use. Having been seperated from my checked baggage on a recent trip, I use a smaller case that means I can travel without checking-in any baggage. By definition, a smaller case means that I must carry less but that’s no longer an issue.

Over the last year, I have devoted some of my 1% time to researching business travel and clever packing hacks on YouTube. After watching some truly bizarre videos, I found a handful that have really helped me packed smarter and quicker. Among other things, I now ranger-roll t-shirts and underwear, and pack smaller items into the channels between the handles to make full use of every bit of space.

A tip of my own would be to use packing bags/modules as they helps store items snugly and keep clean and dirty clothes separate while you’re away. You don’t need to buy the expensive bags or ‘packing cubes’ at the outdoor stores, simply pick up some mesh laundry bags at your local $2 shop.

More often than not, I work in smart casual clothes but the occasional job requires me to wear a suit.  This being the case, I was keen to find a way to pack a suit in a carry-on case or rucsac without it creasing and needing a full press at my destination. Luckily, I found the following video featuring Jacky Tam of British Tailors in Hong Kong showing a customer how to fold a suit and shirt for packing in a case.

With that, I’ll put my bags in the car and head to the airport. If you have a great travel tip to share, please leave a comment here or on my Facebook page.

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For me, this talk provides good evidence as to why business professionals benefit from coaching just as much as athletes, if not more. Working with a coach can:

• Help you see your own reality (where you are and what you face);
• Encourage self-belief and a positive mindset (who you are and skills you already have);
• Prompt reflection for self development (what you might stop, start and continue doing to work towards your desired future);
• Guide and focus your vision / goal setting (help you establish the right target and how you might reach it);
• Provide support for your action and activities (ask you hard questions, track progress, hold you accountable to your vision/goal).

Atul Gawande found that his clinical practice had reached a plateau. Concerned he was in danger of stagnating, he employed a former professor to assess his clinical practice in his operating theatre over a year. He found it difficult and uncomfortable, once receiving a whole page of feedback after what he thought was a near-perfect procedure. Ultimately, Gawande derived great benefit and insight from being observed and viewing his performance through another’s eyes, commenting that “it’s not how good you are now; it’s how good you’re going to be that really matters.”

How good are you now? And how good are you going to be in the year ahead?

*As pointed out in the video’s comments section, checklists and coaching are only a partial solution to the difficulties of delivering better healthcare outcomes in complex and challenging environments. That said, these soft skills and simple methodologies have their place alongside improved funding, infrastructure and facilities.

The post Do professionals really need coaches? appeared first on Jon Dunning.

This question comes up every so often when speaking with a prospective client or in conversation with colleagues. A couple of weeks ago, I came across just such a discussion on LinkedIn. Kevin Callahan was one of those involved in the discussion and he has written a short article in which he clarifies the similarities and differences he sees between the two disciplines.

Kevin’s key point is that the primary difference between coaching and mentoring is the focus of the conversation. As a mentor, one joins the mentee in focusing on the issue at hand, while a coach focuses on the coachee, supporting them to focus on the issue. Keen to be able to refer to this in the future, I grabbed my Sharpie and PostIts to capture the essence in the simple visual mnemonic above.

I thoroughly recommend reading Kevin’s piece, Coaching and Mentoring: 5 Similarities and 2 Critical Differences, as he condenses a good deal of common sense and wisdom into a few short paragraphs.

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• High skill but low will: A skilled or experienced person who needs a new challenge or change.
• High skill and high will: A skilled &experienced person looking to grow, develop or have increased responsibility.
• Low skill and low will: An under-performing, unengaged and/or unmotivated person.
• Low skill but high will: An enthusiastic person who is new to a job or task.

Alternatively, use the matrix to think about where you are at the moment – where would you plot yourself, why, and what will you do about it? If you’d like to learn more about motivating your team or making some changes yourself, contact me today.

The skill/will matrix was popularised by Max Landsberg in his compact but excellent book, The Tao of Coaching – not to be confused with the Hershey and Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory with which it is sometimes confused.

The post Are you and your team motivated? appeared first on Jon Dunning.

However, such rewards can more than just a celebration, they should be the spark, the energy, the springboard for the next step towards a goal. Whether you’re working on your next BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) or taking a first tentative step to conquer something that’s holding you back, how will you celebrate? Leave a comment to share how you will celebrate.

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