J.

BERENGUERES

THE BROWN BOOK OF

DESIGN THINKING
contains cases on
TOYOTA, IDEO, ZARA

--------
A WORKSHOP BASED APPROACH
The Brown Book of Design Thinking

Editor
©
Jose Berengueres
The University College, UAE University, Al Ain, UAE.
The College of Information Technology, UAE University, Al Ain, UAE.

Edition
First Edition. November 16, 2013. UAE University College, Al Ain.
ISBN 978-1-63041-059-9 Version 7.1 of Jan 2014

Cover Photo
© Karen Endicott/Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth.

Design
Mariam Alfalasi, UAE University.

Illustration
Reem Alqamzi, UAE University.

Copy-editing
R. Susannah Behan.

Text Copyright
© Jose Berengueres 2013. All Rights Reserved.

i
 UAEU

Artwork Copyright
Artwork appearing in this work is subject to their corresponding original Copyright or Creative Commons License. Except where otherwise
noted a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License applies.

Limit of Liability
The editor makes no representations or warranties concerning the accuracy or exhaustivity of the contents and theories hereby presented
and particularly disclaim any implied warranties regarding merchantability or fitness for a particular use including but not limited to
educational, industrial and academic application. Neither the editor or the authors are liable for any loss or profit or any commercial
damages including but not limited to incidental, consequential or other damages.

Support
This work was supported by:
The University College, UAE University.
The College of Information Technology, UAE University.
Center of Excellence for English Teaching and Learning (CETL), UAE University.
ii
Chapter 1: Start

This is a brown book on design thinking.

Rather than case based, it is workshop
based. It means that you learn by doing,
not reading.

Course Objectives
In this course book we will practice two skills:
1. The workshop method propagated by the design firm ideo.
2. How solve problems faster by applying visualization
techniques.
What is design thinking?
As a thinking tool, design thinking fosters the ability to
combine: empathy for the context of a problem, creativity in
the generation of insights and solutions, and the skill to
materialize those solutions through iterative prototyping.
Taught as a course at Stanford since 2004, and with a school
funded by Hasso Plattner (see: http://www.hpi.uni-potsdam.de/
willkommen.html), today design thinking impacts processes not
only in engineering practice, but in education and across
disciplines. Its tools are used by product and industrial design
firms to ideate products. It is also used to solve so called
wicked problems – problems for which neither question nor
answer is well-defined. Typical wicked problems for
researchers are: How to win the next Nobel prize? How to
decrease traffic accidents? How to fix global warming?
Goals
The goal of this course is very simple: to master design
thinking skills. Rather than using the traditional MBA case
4
4
study method, this is a workshop-based course where we
learn by doing. In each session, a thinking tool will be
introduced and practiced.
Outcomes
By the end of the course the student is expected to:
1. Have a sense of self-efficacy (creative confidence).
2. Manage a design thinking workshop: Layout, roles, times
and process.
3. Effectively use of thinking tools:
1. A3 / PDCA
2. Root cause analysis
3. Kaizen / 5S
4. Waste identification
4. Know how to Apply design thinking tools to boost research
output.
5. Diagnosis productive processes.
How it is organized?
We are now in the introduction. This chapter contains the
crucial Marshmallow workshop, a great starting point for any
design thinking course. The following three chapters are
divided in sections. Each is to be “played” in a 1-2 hour
session. We say play because the role of the teacher is
 5

intended as facilitator: steering the class rather than repeating

content. At the end of each section sometimes you might find
comments from our classes here at UAE University. They
contain student reflections, post-workshop analysis and
facilitator comments.

Jose Berengueres
Dubai, December 15, 2013

5
Chapter 1 >Start >A Message from the Chairman
Here he is. The great Warren
Buffett. The bubbles come from
his talk at Terry College in
2004. Did you know that 20
year old Warren was terrified at
speaking in public? Terrified.
Seems hard to believe now.
One day he took a Dale
Carnegie course on a subject
that changed his life: How to
speak in Public.
6
You
as a young man, will
earn considerable money in
your life-span. Let’s play a game:
-----
I offer to buy 10% of your potential
future earnings. What price would
you value your self? (Watch out...
I might take the low ballers
only!)
Now
suppose you took
a course that improves
yourself 10%.
-----
Warren Buffet
Hint for discussion to
Warren’s teaching: What
Warren Buffet © Estate of Yousuf Karsh
price did you name? How
much does a course on public
speaking cost? How much
does this course cost?
Chapter 1 >Start >What is Design Thinking 7

What is design thinking?

Very simple. Let’s start with design.
Some smarties think that it is how-to
design ... well ... not exactly!
Hi, I
Originally, it was way to organize a
am Dr. J. and team of product designers so that they
this book is about would come up with better product
design thinking! ideas. However, today it is applied to
----- solve all kinds of conundrums. And
Ready? thinking? Thinking refers to how-to
organize your team. Think about it,
this is not easy. In a team someone
always wants to be the boss, big egos,
shy people or just simply how to
manage the information flow can be
daunting. Design thinking is a set
of rules and “tricks” that help you do
all this well so you get the best out of
your team. How? By influencing
mindset: the way we think and work,
hence thinking.
Chapter 1 >Start >Why a New Book? 8

Why another book on design thinking?

Less boring* than Change by Design by Tim Brown, €86.00
Design thinking books
cheaper than Design Thinking Research by Plattner (2014) and
considerably shorter than the wordy Toyota Way by Liker
(2007). This is not the typical “reference” book. This is a book
for cowboys. For parallel thinkers, who want to learn by doing. It
is also a great book if you plan to teach a 101 course because it
contains views from both the student and the facilitator.

Toyota + Ideo
Contrary to the Stanfordian view that we use d.thinking to You are here
“create” value (such as in radical innovation) and that on the
other hand we can use Lean tools (such as kaizen) to
“optimize” that value. In this book we will introduce a different
point of view. By the end of the book you will realize that both Books we love
Toyota way and the Ideo way of thinking draw on two
common core principles:
The power of visualization
Practice makes perfect (kaizen)

Toyota way in the lab

Moreover, in chapter 4.2 we will show a case study of how we
used the Toyota way of thinking not only to boost productivity
but to do radical innovation in a lab setting.

*Abridged from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Chapter 1 >Start >MindMap 9

Ideo Wa
y
From ide
o w e w il l
learn the w
orkshop
method

S t u dies
Case h new Toyota Way
d w i t
Arme y o u now From Toyota we will
ledg e
know “ s e e ” why
adily learn tools to “see”
shou l d re
e a n d fall
i s better
s i ne sse s r
bu
Chapter 1 >Start >The Marshmallow Workshop 10

Hi! I
invented this
workshop
-----
Peter Skillman

►Workshop: This 18 minute workshop is a

great start point for any design class because
there is no better way to learn than by doing.
Yeah but who Tom Wujec has organized this workshop over
made it famous? 50 times and he discovered amazing things
about humans... For example, Did you know
-----
that 5 year old kids outperform MBA’s?
Tom Wujec

After doing the workshop a universal

principle, that at Toyota has been known for
ages, should be clear:

More Prototypes,
More Quality

Design Thinking IBLC124 room C60034 UAE Univeristy, Al Ain.

Chapter 1 > Start >The Marshmallow Workshop 11

What are the three reasons kindergarten kids outperform

Recap MBAs?

I did this workshop for the undergrads of 2012 twice. The first
time the average height was 17 inches. The second time I
What is the Y axis in
added one senior student to each undergrad group. What
your life?
happened? The senior students overtook “leadership” of the
process, the undergrads retrenched inwards (respect for
authority). The average height went down to 5 inches. It was a
sobering moment. Every one felt bad. At Zara (the fast fashion
world) they know that:
When interviewed by a Harvard team about their success a
Zara director says:
“The secret of our company success is just that, that a 22
year old employee can freely say how she sees things to
the top manager, we do not have any other secret.” (Planeta
Zara)

What you need to know

What happens when they add a material incentive to the
workshop? Can you generalize? (Ariely, 2006)
What does it mean to find the marshmallow in each project?
(hidden assumptions).
Do more prototypes really equal more quality?
0 1 2 3
What is the risk of working for a long time without feedback?
Number of prototypes

11
Chapter 1 > Start >The Marshmallow Workshop 12

The Three Man United Marshmallows
(Abridged from Harvard Business Review, Elberse 2013)
fell out with his coach at St. Johnstone club where he was
playing. In 1966, after having transferred several times
between clubs he became the top scorer of the Scottish
regional league. However, in 1974 he ended his player career
with the bitter taste.

Alex as a trainer
The same year he quit playing, at age of 32 he signed up as
part time coach of a club called East Stirlingshire where he
gained a reputation of being a cold-hearted disciplinarian. A
token: At the beginning, he would show up every day at the
club at 7am. Finally, the rest of employees got the message.
Under his leadership, he transformed the team in a positive
way. The quality of the game improved.
Later he would also transform Mirren
Three Marshmallows and Aberdeen with the same
results. In 1986, after 12 years
that helped man-u to win more
of uninterrupted success, he
matches than the rest: (1) Special
was invited to join Man U as
purpose training to score in the last manager.
minutes of a match. (2) Visualize the team
four years ahead in the future to manage
Photo by Austin Osuide. player life-cycle and replacement.
Player days (3)Take a step back.
Sir Alex Ferguson (1941) started his career as a striker -----
in regional Scottish league. He never really managed to Alex Ferguson
get a regular position in spite of scoring 20 goals. In fact, he
12
Chapter 1 > Start >The Marshmallow Workshop 13

absorbed in hands-on training:

!
New subtle patterns on players appeared; he could see which
player was injured even if the player thought he was fine,
he could see changes in players moods and then he could talk
to the player and find out if the cause was family problem or
something else, he discovered a big marshmallow!

Luck? No. Motivation? No. Training!

Aha moment, a step back Man U has overturned most games in the final minutes of a
Ferguson was a micromanager. One day Alex Ferguson, who game than any other Premier League team. What is the real
hardly ever delegated the training session command, was reason? Luck? Values? Motivation? No. Alex prepared the
confronted by his number two in a cafe. team for those special occasions when a team is losing the
game and there are only few minutes left. He made the team
do special purpose training for such situations.
Number 2 - “I don’t know why you brought me here. You
don’t let me do anything.”
Alex - “That is not true” (he protested) Visualizing life cycle of players
Ferguson had discovered a third marshmallow. He was very
good at visualizing how the team would be in 4 years time and
But deep down Alex knew that his number two was right. So he
he planned accordingly. He was very good at discarding
let him try. A few days later he fully delegated the training
players that would enter decline, but always kept a couple of
supervision to his number 2. He sat down in the bench and
old cats on payroll so the culture could be transferred from the
watched the training. To take a step back from the
old generation to the new one.
training allowed him to take an observer role.
Then something amazing happened: He realized
things that usually escaped him when he was

13
 14
Life-cycle of a player Number of goals per year

50

37.5 Decline
Buy
Performance

Sell phase
low
25 high

12.5

0
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37
Age

Team performance projection (example)

70

52.5
Perfromance Forecast

35

17.5

0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Year
Valencia Jones Lindegaard Gea Giggs
 15

The power of step back. For more see

back-up man in the next chapter. For a
similar story of step-back technique in a
soccer team check out page 135 of The Ten
faces of Innovation by Kelley and Littman
(2008).
Great minds
think alike!
Chapter 2: The Ideo Way

Karen Endicott/Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth

 Connecting the dots - What is the function of the whiteboard? It is a shared
memory space that facilitates connections between: gathered facts, ideas
and cognitive processes.
Solution

Photo by Karen Endicott/Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth 17

18
Chapter 2 >The Ideo Way >Ideo 19

►Ideo. Founded 1977 Palo Alto, CA. Designed

first Apple silicone wrapped ball mouse.

► Charlie Rose interviews David Kelly - father of

design thinking. In his 20s David had invented
“toilet occupied” sign for passenger planes while
working at Boeing. However, he was not quite
satisfied with life. One day he enrolled a design
class at Stanford. He loved the fact that they
combined art + technology. Later his pal, Steve
Jobs would ask him to design the first Apple
mouse, and so ideo was born. In the interview Kelly
This is the is to blame for a $17 mouse, a vertical Colgate
ideo office! In my 20s I was tube and Pringles. The key points are:
an unwed, frustrated 1. Diverse people building on others ideas
engineer. One day I took a (Cross, 2012).
design class at Stanford and it 2. It is hard to find people from different
changed my life. culture backgrounds that can do (1) well.
---- 3. Understand users through observing them:
D. Kelley first hand empathic observation.
4. A follow up interview by BloombergTV is here.
D. Kelley / Ideo
Chapter 2 > The Ideo Way >Ideo 20

Behaviorism in historical perspective Aha!

The CBS interview reveals a simple truth, that design thinking How does this connect to design thinking? moment
is about designing taking into account human behavior. Very simple. If you want your designers to
Today, this seems so natural. But was it in 1977? For reference produce better solutions give them a better thinking
Psychology as a field was only invented in 1879, brainstorming environment!
in 1941, and B.F. Skinner ideas on behavior were not
disseminated before 1968, and then only until 1978 the
Behaviorism field had a journal of its own. Who
you are is defined
Skinner influence on Kelley by your behavior.
Before Skinner it was accepted that the So let’s make environments
emotions, behavior and actions of a man came that are conducive to
from his inside from his inner thought greatness.
processes, inner attitudes, “His nature” and so ------
on. After all, where else could they come from? BF Skinner
However, Skinner did not think that was very
scientific thinking. He conceded that one’s state of mind
was the cause of behavior, but what drives the mind?
According to Skinner humans believe that we act
autonomously but in reality the environment is what shapes
our behavior. Skinner proposed that the environment had a
much greater effect on the individual than previously thought.
In particular, he proposed that to improve human race we need
Skinner’s idea was considered ‘radical’
focus on creating better environments, rather than better at the time.
people. Because good environments will conduce to good
people.

20
Chapter 2 > The Ideo Way >Ideo 21

To learn more
For a deeper discussion refer to Chapter 47 of 50 Psychology
Classics by Tom Buttler-Bowdown and Beyond freedom and
dignity by B.F. Skinner, published in 1971.
Additionally, Skinner had some “radical” views on education.
As a token: in 1968, The Technology of Teaching, BF Skinner
has a chapter on why teachers fail (p. 93–113): he says that
teachers have not been given an in-depth understanding of
teaching and learning. Rings a bell?

Note of 2014.3.25
“Fail faster to succeed
sooner” -relate to students
delaying putting the
marshmallow on top
because of fear it will crash
the spaghetti tower.

21
Chapter 2 >The Ideo Way >The d.school Gift Workshop 22

►d.school at Stanford University, CA. is the brainchild

of David Kelley and was funded thanks to $5M from A Workshop about Empathy
Mr. Plattner.

► A step forward from the marshmallow

workshop, and an indispensable preparation
before your next challenge, the goal here is
to redesign the giving-a-gift experience. This
workshop works on your empathy skills that
you will use to understand users’ needs while
you reconnect with your creative self. The
secret to a productive workshop is to step
out of the comfort zone by pairing with
someone outside your circle of friends. In the
video the course is facilitated by George
Kembel and Jeremy Utley of the d.school.
Materials available at the course site.

d.School Stanford University

 23
Gift experience workshop review. Student prototypes Sept 23 2013 @ UAEU

Sketch phase. Try to generate as many crazy radical ideas as possible.

Chapter 2 >The Ideo Way >The Shopping Cart Workshop 24

Workspace influence on thinking behavior

Wall
The Facilitator
The
Backup
man

This 1999 ABC video features how ideo

redesigns the shopping cart in two weeks. It
is a great way to learn how to do a Table
workshop. Lets take notes on the 5 “steps”
they mention. Then pay close attention to
the layout. In the room nothing is casual: The Expert Chairs with
the cramped table, Peter standing, Kelley in
wheels
the corner leaning back and quiet, the wall
behind.
Layout shapes thinking The Toolkit
Steps Did you know that how you set up a In 2012 Ideo released a pdf called
(1) Gather facts & knowledge room, colors, illumination, background toolkit for educators. It is a step by
music and other “details” can greatly step rationalized guide to their
(2) Share facts with team (define)
a ffe ct h o w yo u r b ra i n th i n ks? “workshop” method. It contains tips,
(3) Brainstorm
(Meyers-Levy, 2007) checklists, how to organize a fact
(4) Build-on others ideas gathering field-trip, etc.
(5) Prototype & iterate
Chapter 2 >The Ideo Way >The Why Boring Classes Workshop 25

Workshop time
Photos of the “Why boring classes” workshop, 25 Sep’13 @UAEU
Now it is time to do your own workshop.
Pick a topic that motivates students
such as... Why are classes so boring?
Why people do not recycle? Assign
expert roles to each student on
relevant topics such as:
1. How do they do it in other countries
2. Interview end users on the topic
3. Interview policy makers on the topic
...
Then give students one week to go on a
first hand fact finding and data
gathering mission. One week later:
Divide students in groups of 9 max,
assign one student as a facilitator to
each group. Make sure to follow exactly
the ideo shopping cart table layout. The
teacher will act as backup man and
advices the facilitator if they naturally
drift off course. The background music
of the gift workshop is great to help shy
workshop and after 90 minutes some and continued discussing. That is a
students talk. At the end demand a one
groups had reached the flow state of good sign.
powerpoint solution proposal to the
intellectual exhilaration. After time was
problem and tell your students that it
up, some didn’t want to leave the room
will be sent to the provost! We did this
Chapter 2 > The Ideo Way >The Why Boring Classes Workshop
The Student’s Reflection (unabridged)
By Naama Alshamshi
It was fun working in a real workshop. When you actually
do something it gives you a deeper understanding than if
you read hundreds of books about it. While working in
this workshop, I personally realized how little things you might
not notice can affect the production of the workshop things like
the seats arrangements and the work table. Because if the
table was huge and seating were far from each other the
expert won’t be able to communicate in the way they should.
Aisha Alshamshi says: I learnt the importance of doing the
homework and coming prepared, because it
gives you a good understanding the problem you
#2 want to solve, it also makes you see the
Space problem from several angles, which helps find
shapes the best solution. Aisha also said that working
in a diverse group of people was a good
behavior
experience; it allows you to see how different
people think, and different thoughts help to solve
the problem.
Mouza Almuhairi agrees with Aisha and says that she
realized how working with a team can be more
#5
productive, because you see the same problem but Preparation
from different angles. She also says that this is
workshop helped her develop my teamwork skills,
Everything
because you learn to respect people’s ideas and
26
26
opinion without criticizing.
#1
Being the facilitator is fun, but hard at the same
Learn by time, because you should keep the group
Doing working according to the time schedule. Even
though we went over time in our workshop but
the facilitator can’t allow that in big workshops
because in the business world time is money.
On that topic Ohoud Alkaabi listed controlling time as one of
the things she learned in this workshop, alongside
sharing ideas and group work. She also said #3
that she learned how to use the design
Deadlines
process to dive into real life problems.
kill procrastination
Like the problem we discussed in our
workshop which was the problem of “boring
classes” in the university. Yassmin Albraiki
said that she learned that there are many ways
to solve this problem, like adding activity-based
classes will help break the routine which is the main reason
for boring classes. She said that she is now confident that we
can solve any problem when u analyze it with a group and
share your ideas and opinion.
Another student agrees with that:
Islam Abuwatfa said that #4
sharing the ideas and working More
together produce better work,
is More
she also learned that team
work is much better than
Chapter 2 > The Ideo Way >The Why Boring Classes Workshop 27

individual work, as a team or a group we

were able to come up with more ideas,
#6 90 minute workshop results
and better ones. And I am sure we Check the
will use these tips we learned in next page for
future workshop either in the university self-efficacy
or in the work fields.

Group A facilitator,
Naama Al Shamshi
-----

Comments from the backup-man (Dr. J.)

There are 4 ways to express an idea:
Speech
Writing
Sketching (2D Prototyping)
“Activity based classes” and “Color Therapy” were two
A 3D Prototype
of the best ideas proposed to combat boredom in the
Each one has its advantages and activates different brain class
areas that can help you “see” things that other mediums of
expression cannot convey. As Tim Brown says in his book
f
Change by Design, there are stories you can only
t e t o sel
Note No ents a
explain by drawing. So lets use it more! (Brown, 2012) ering s t u d
n g i ne
d to the
rs f rom E ime
S e n
y o f Guy
aj o e r t co p 0
M
v e a har
d
thy” ’s 10 -20-3
h a m p a saki ow t o
c i s ing “
e Kawa o n h
exe r ideo
rule v t slide
s
g r e a
27 do
Chapter 2 >The Ideo Way >Self-efficacy
► Albert Bandura. Worked in Alaska. Now professor at
Stanford. Formalized the idea of self-efficacy.
When I was young I
was very poor, so in summer I
took a tough job in the Alaskan
tundra. This changed my life.
Observing my peers’ drink & gamble
subculture opened my mind. Now I am
the fourth most famous psychologist.
-----
A. Bandura
Photo by Pajares, F. Albert Bandura
28
►In this deep talk, Kelley cites a colleague from
Stanford, the professor Albert Bandura and the
concept of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is the belief
that you can change the World by doing that what
you are “set” to do in it. In other words, a “sense”
that you are on Earth to accomplish a mission and
the confidence that you can do it.
People that discover self-efficacy usually quit their
jobs and do what they believe they have to do
(helping the poor in Africa, building an iPhone,
making a 3D movie). While not all of them become
rich or famous here are some examples: Mother
Theresa, Steve Jobs, Albert Edison, Elon Musk,
Warren Buffet, George Soros, Viktor Frankl,
Lennon, to them life was meaningless if they
cannot accomplish their mission. For example,
Elon Musk’s mission is to go to Mars. Did you find
your mission yet?
 29

This is Alex Bogusky.

He is a high-profile example of
self-efficacy. Alex has won every
award you can win in advertising. One
day he quit everything to help a small
impoverished community.
-----
http://thenakedbrand.com
BloombergTV

Fast Company cover of June 2010

 30
10/26/13 Ideo's David Kelley: How Did I Get Here? - Businessweek

10/12
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-24/ideos-david-kelley-how-did-i-get-here

Everyone should get a

terminal disease once. It helps
find your self-efficacy. I found mine:
to help others find their creative
confidence.
-----
www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-24/ideos-david-kelley-how-did-i-get-here

David Kelley,
cancer survivor.
Charlie Rose interview

I grew
up in a DIY
culture.
Chapter 2 >The Ideo Way >The Recycle Workshop 31

► Abu Dhabi Emirate, UAE. Founded 1971.

GDP per capita: $29,877. HDI: Very high.

01►After the Why Boring 90 minute workshop now you are ready
for a full 1 week/2 sessions workshop. In spite of not yet having
power tools such as Toyota’s 5 Whys or A3/PDCA, this is a great
workshop to engage in preparation and facilitation. So. Why do
people not recycle?

02►Briefing - In UAE on only 10% of pet 03►Debriefing - Share collected data.

bottles are being recycled and only 12% of An outcome of the session should be what
the parents advise their kids to recycle. In additional data is needed or missing at the
Japan? 70% of PET bottles are recycled. In current stage and what action steps will be
USA? 30% (Berengueres, 2012) taken to get it.

Pitch time!

Start Day 1 Day 2

Collect data Collect data Prototype

 32

Debriefing session: post-it wall evolution

Debriefing session, minute 5

 33

Evolution of the post-it wall during session 1

Wall of post-it
 Chapter 3: The Toyota Way

The Toyota Way - Tools to “see”

`
Did you know that many of the core design thinking principles were being used by the
Japanese in the 1970s? Visualization, time management, Genchi-Gembutsu and iterative
prototyping. From Toyota we will learn not only about the respect for the individual but
thinking tools that make you smarter.

t h ods
e
o ’sm team
id e g a
n y of
o w erin m, had
Ma s emp criticis
su c
h a
l l i ng b y the
c o ntro acticed 970
by
e e n pr s i nce 1
b e
p a nes
Ja

a
oyot
d T s
o a n
d l ine
h ide d dea ated.
t an tiv
Bo i m e m o e ed
e t m s s p
us te a x10
e e p U C
to k : FAN tory)
te ks
(No cloc
Chapter 3 >The Toyota Way >Brief History of Toyota 35

► Toyota. Founded 1918 by Sakichi Toyoda.

Location: Global.

►This is a documentary clip by Toyota. It is

presented by Alec Murdoch - who was a speaker
for Toyota USA. The full online version is here.
The point of the video is the stellar moment
where:
“A son decides to invent an automatic loom to
free her mum from tedious weaving work”
This scene synthesizes the Toyota ethos: Why it
exists and its purpose in life. Replacing a boring
job with automation (aka autonomation) was just
one step. However, they did not stop there. In
their drive to improve they stumbled upon some
awesomely productive principles and tools that
later became what is known as the Toyota
Production System (TPS).
A Toyota Kyushu factory tour organized by tikitabi.com
 36

copying Toyota. The first TPS consultants are born.

Management consultants at Chubu Seisanrenmei create TPS
kenkyukai (study group) where even Taiichi Ohno himself
would give some talks. It is in the second half of the 70s when
the perception that the idea that Toyota’s production
technique multi-product mini-batch is efficient diffuses through
the Japanese industrial tissue.” (p 27, Berengueres, 2007)

Toxic environments* for innovation - Toyota Today

However, the reader should not be fooled into thinking that
nowadays Toyota is a great place for inventive people. It is
not. Today’s Toyota is as a toxic environment for creativity as
Toyota USA assembly line. Photo by carenthusiast.com
GM, or Samsung.

When did Toyota become famous? The 1973 oil-shock

What the video omits is that no one was paying attention to i d e o,
h e v
Toyota until the second oil shock came. an d ing t MI
i t h st U M
“The first time that TPS gets public awareness is during the fall Not w n d the N o mic
e e ec o n
at th a s an s now
of 1973 right after the first oil shock. From that time are the r y w I t i t
facto se d .
mythical pictures of Japanese homemaker’s scrambling in a n d c l o
M o t ors -
re
failu b y Tesla c car
supermarkets for a WC paper roll. Due to the shock, WC- n e d e c t ri
ow
re t he el p enin
g
paper became scarce in Japan. The scenes are depicted in h e a p
w
i o n is h
lu t
some films of the era. That year many companies logged red revo
numbers in their Profit/Loss statements, but not Toyota. In fact,
that year Toyota boasts yet again record profits. It is then that
many companies realize that there might be something to be
learned about Toyota’s TPS. Many consider the possibility of *Toxic environments for
innovation (Esslinger, 2009)
36
Chapter 3 >The Toyota Way >Waste 37

Waste 無駄
The seven kinds
Chapter 3 > The Toyota Way >Waste 38

Seven kinds of waste found in the workplace Waste of doing unnecessary

1. Overproduction work. Due to ignorance, lack
of training, lack of
This is the number one
technological expertise, lack
source of waste. It is the
of planning and/or
waste that stems from
automation.
believing that producing in
big batches is more efficient
than producing in small 5. Waste of Movement
batches. Huge costs are These comprise all the
What is the true cost of Lack of training is a big
incurred in unsold items. movements done during a
storing? source of mistakes. Photo:
The Simpsons (c) News work shift that do not add
Corp.
2. W a s t e d u e t o
Superfluous
Waste due to the existence
of unnecessary things: such
as personnel, machines, and
inadequate machines. Little
savings add up over time.
How much did we save
here?

3. No flow
It is the waste due to the lack of flow. Stop and go in
production and/or suboptimal line layout, lack of
synchronization, changeover times.
4. Operational
Spaghetti diagrams. Same machines, two layouts.
Where would you rather work?
38
Chapter 3 > The Toyota Way >Waste
value: Ex. a bolt picked up from an unnecessarily low recipient,
transportation. Compared to a straight line production layout, a
u-cell layout reduces the time spent by workers on walking
anywhere from 2xL to 1xL, this can add up to 4 to 6 km per day
in a typical factory. This Kitchen Kaizen video by Gemba
Academy illustrates how to measure improvements in
movement economy.
6. Defect Production
It is the waste due to production of defects caused by: lack
!
A Toyota recall according to The Guardian
39
39
of training, not enough poka-yoke, quality controls, and poor
and inadequate maintenance of machinery. In 2010 Toyota
recalled more cars than it had produced. The cost of the
recalls is not disclosed.
7. Overstock
!
How overstock hides problems. (Berengueres, 2007)
It is the waste related to the cost of maintaining oversized
warehouses that act as a buffer between poorly communicated
processes. Additionally, one pernicious effect of overstock is
that it hides problems.
Chapter 3 > The Toyota Way >Waste 40

However, the big savings opportunity is reducing resources

Added Value versus non-value-added Activity spent in the non-value-added activity because it is simply put:
larger.
A typical breakdown of how time is spent to make a product:
Time can be spent doing things that add value or that do not Value sav
add value: When optimizing operations, most of the time Added ings
managers focus on the green part. For example, buying a
faster machine.
Non Value Added savings

Time

Non Value Added activities Value

Added
Photo by Steve
Jurvenston
Non Value Added activities Value
Savings of
Added 30%

Non Value Added Value

30%
Added

40
Chapter 3 > The Toyota Way >Waste 41

The Nissan turnaround case

When Beirut-born Carlos Ghosn arrived at

#1
Nissan circa 1999, Nissan was losing money.
What had been one of the flagships of
Cross-functional
Japanese car-making knew how to make teams
Genchi Genbutsu? Carlos Ghosn at Nissan’s
cars but could not manage to make a profit Honmoku Wharf, a logistics hub about 10 km
anymore. It did not take long for the triple southeast of Nissan’s global headquarters in
digit IQ CEO to figure out was wrong. For one Yokohama, July 16, 2011. Picture by Bertel
he was appalled that a plant manager proudly reported Schmitt.
that he had raised the productivity to a new record, while he
did not know what the costs his efforts to the company as a
whole were (cost of storage, cost of raw materials, labour).
This was a sign of clear dysfunction: engineers, purchase
managers, designers, and sales people were not working with
the same goal. Carlos had to cut costs and cut them fast.
To solve this he forced various types of
#2 employees to work together in cross-
Don’t waste time functional teams. For example in a
being diplomatic, meeting when designing a new door for a
there is no time! car, there would be various employees
from different parts of the organization so Ghosn stars in the movie The revenge of the
electric car by Payne (2012).
41
Chapter 3 > The Toyota Way >Waste 42

all costs could be represented/optimized. This means not only

purchasing costs, but assembly costs, warranty costs,
customer points of view, etc. He also forced the Japanese
managers to use English to communicate. This is what
happened: while a manger in speaking in Japanese would talk Even if your workplace is not
very politely and say his opinion very diplomatically in long a factory, and you do not
sentences, when forced to use English produce cars, Can you tell
What he would be ruthless, direct and where is the most waste in
your surroundings?
is my goal at clear (time saving). Five years
NISSAN? later, from near bankruptcy,
I am having fun! Nissan improved its operating
profit (EBIT, or earnings before
----
interest and taxes) from
Carlos Ghosn
negative to 9% (Magee, 2003).
WBS TVTokyo
2007

Cross-functional
teams? Of course! Isn’t
that common sense?
Carlos G. Nissan ceo pay in Millions

2013

0 2.25 4.5 6.75 9

42
Chapter 3 >The Toyota Way >The Five Whys 43

なぜなぜ5回
The Five Whys Method
Chapter 3 > The Toyota Way >The Five Whys 44

Itsutsu no Naze means in Japanese The Five Why’s. It is an

expression born in Toyota that has been popularized recently
by popular magazines such as R25. It is a technique based on
searching relentlessly for the root cause of problems (it
requires stepping out of the comfort zone). It also means that if
we want to solve a problem properly in a permanent manner it
is necessary to focus on the root cause not in its sprawling
branches. Example problem:

😪 Boy, I have a headache...

❓ Why does it ache? Because I have a cold.

Solution:
❌ Solution: Take an Aspirin. Wrong!
Install a thermometer in the balcony and watch it before
Meanwhile at Toyota’s...
going out. The intake of an aspirin is just a superficial
😪 I have a headache... countermeasure. The thermometer, on the other hand,
would solve the problem permanently. However, it requires
$ Why? Because I have a cold. two things: The creation of a rule (watch the thermometer
before going out) and discipline. As in real factories, success
% Why did you catch a cold? Because yesterday I depends on how motivated and disciplined the workforce is.
spent time in the cold. Why five and not another number? It is curious but at Toyota
they wonder the same. It turns out that if one asks repeatedly
& Why? Because I didn’t take my coat. five seems to be the magic number of steps. Itsutsu no naze is
a powerful tool that can help to solve problems for a long term.
' Why? Because I didn’t think that it

would be so cold outside.

( Why? Because in the morning I

don’t check the weather forecast. (✅ )

44
Chapter 3 > The Toyota Way >The Five Whys 45

Why do we catch colds? The body is

continuously generating antibodies that
must be replaced continuously in its war
against microbes. The microbes try
continuously to invade our warm body.
When it is cold, the body stops
manufacturing antibodies as an energy
saving measure. If the cold period is
long, the defense level drops and the risk
of infection rises.

45
Chapter 3 >The Toyota Way >A3 / PDCA 46

A3 / PDCA
Chapter 3 > The Toyota Way >A3 / PDCA
PDCA according to Johannes Vietze.
P.D.C.A stands for Plan-Do-Check-Act. It is also known as the
Deming circle. The virtue of P.D.C.A is not in the Planning,
Doing, Checking or Acting but in the separation of Planning
from Doing, Doing from Checking and Checking from Acting. It
is a methodology that ensures that a change to a process such
as one improvement is isolated from the following change. If
you change a process very often, as in kaizen/continuous
improvement, the hygiene of your process might suffer. If
changes are applied randomly or not managed properly it can
47
47
be hard to track which of them improved the
process and which didn't. PDCA solves this
by:
1. Plan = Think of one potential improvement
2. Do = Try it
3. Check = Measure the “effects”
4. Act = Adjust. Evaluate. Fully implement the
proposed change OR discard change.
5. Go to step 1 and repeat cycle.
The A3 restriction
Tracking a PDCA initiative can be done by
using the A3 method. A3 method is very
simple: you need to be able to display all the
information regarding your project in one
single A3 size paper. This space restriction will help you focus
on the essential information only. The A3 method can be seen
as a reporting method. The idea is to access all the essential
information regarding a project with a single look. A3 reporting
is commonplace in Toyota and at many other Japanese
corporations.
Note: Since the Japanese language is twice as dense as
English you might need to use smaller 8-point size typeface to
be on an equal density footing. Summarizing: A3/PDCA is
about quantifying the effects of change and the time-evolution
Chapter 3 > The Toyota Way >A3 / PDCA 48

of the change process itself. The ultimate goal is to have total

control over the change process so it leads to steady and
reliable improvements. This cannot be insured if one change is
not separated from the other changes. The following figure is
an example of a famous PDCA example by Staffan Nottaberg.

How–to A3 Report and Value Stream Mapping

A3 Report is a way to implement Deming’s PDCA (Plan-Do-
Check-Act). Toyota uses it in meetings for problem solving and Value stream map according to Staffan Nottaberg.
to restrict information overload.
Here goes the example: The so-called Value stream map of the morning activities
might help you visualize the problems. It indicates that value
adding processes only are 17 out of 45 minutes, the rest
Briefing: We have a family that gets stressed during the
seems wasted time.
morning, there are three daughters.
Here is how a Toyota man would solve and organize the
Goal: Ready to leave for the bus within 45 minutes without
information using A3/PDCA:
stress.
In Theme section write: Stress free morning procedures.

In Background whatever info you collected, for example:

School starts at 8.20. The children need to sleep for as long as
possible. They must leave home at 7.45 to catch the school
bus.

In Current Condition: Lack of time almost every morning.

Stress creates bad atmosphere in family.

48
 49

The A3 method according to Staffan Nottaberg.

Chapter 3 > The Toyota Way >A3 / PDCA 50

Let’s assume that the father investigates why T2, for instance, many minutes late they are, or survey of the daughters’
is so long and finds out... happiness.

Root Cause Analysis (using Five Why’s)
Why stress? Because a considerable amount of time is
spent on T2.
Why is so much time spent on T2?
Because Samantha (one of the daughters) has to wait
for the hairbrush.
Follow-up Actions: Did the countermeasure work? If yes,
adopt it. Mother will buy another two hairbrushes. It’s a backup
in case of one ordinary is lost. Due Tuesday. As always for
every task define clear responsibility of who when what.
More A3 Samples

Why does she have to wait?

Because her sisters use the hairbrush.

Countermeasures
(Try to define who is responsible for what action)
1. Mother buys two more hairbrushes. Due Friday.
2. Father reserves space for new hairbrushes, when they are
not used. Due Saturday.
3. Father will measure if T2 decreases after (1) and (2) is
done.

Effect Confirmation (try to be visual, charts): Try to

measure the effect of the countermeasures... Does the stress
A Microsoft Excel based A3 PDCA.
decrease over a week or not? Find and use a key
performance indicator. For example: dBA noise levels, how

50
 51

A3 from 2012 class - How to prevent car accidents.

 52

2013 Fall A3 / PDCA

How to discipline children?

Chapter 3 > The Toyota Way >A3 / PDCA 53

The Student’s Reflection (unabridged) #1 Naama Al Shamshi #4

Ohoud Alkaabi
I think that A3/PDCA helps me to solve
complex problems in an easy way. However,
I can solve the problem by following (Plan, Do,
Check, Act) and in only one paper. It has developed
my thinking to find the best solutions, and
improvements with safe-to-fail
experimentation (methodology), so it's
really awesome.
A3 I believe that the A3/PDCA is very helpful, Seek the
not only that it helps you summarize
Less is more Root cause
and display the problem and the solution
in a fun, interesting way, but what is more
important it helps you identify the problem first,
by using the 5 whys for example, you may found
out that a simple problem is bigger and deeper than you think.
#2 It helps you get to the root of the problem, because cutting the
branches won’t kill the problem, but finding out the real cause
Fail safe will.

The A3/PDCA also helps you solve your problems by easy

Aisha Al Shamshi
The A3/PDCA helped me to solve problems in
a really fun and interesting way and how we wrote the tiny
steps to get to the main idea and write down the best solution
of the problems, and the most important thing about the A3/
PDCA is that it helps us in solving the problems of the layout.
So by the A3/PDCA which has all of these details.
#3
Step by
step solves
easier
steps, it allows you to classify what you know, what you need
to know and the goal you want to reach. By doing that you can
view the problem in hand as small pieces rather than a huge
one so it get easier to find a solution to it.
Plus when doing the counter measure and the
effect you can see which solutions work and
#5
which don’t, or which solutions could cause
Check what
other problems.
works and what
does not

53
Chapter 3 >The Toyota Way >The Five S / 5S 54

The Five S / 5S
（ごエス、ごーエス）
Chapter 3 > The Toyota Way >The Five S / 5S 55

Historical Origins of 5S 5S in the class

5S is a “slogan” used in kaizen initiatives of the workplace in Now you are ready to do 5S. A class is a perfect place.
service and industry sectors to increase efficiency.

Seiri: Let the students clear the desks of superfluous objects,

5S is named after purses, wallets...
整理（せいり、Seiri） Seiton: Are the mobiles, papers and pens on the desk aligned
or placed at random orientations? Let the students align all the
Throw away superfluous things (put down seldom used
objects on the desk. Do they look smarter?
ones,...)
Seiso: Can we clean any dirt in the room?
Seiketsu: If the previous three initiatives are liked by the
整頓（せいとん、Seiton）
students why not make them a rule?
Every tool must have its designed place and be returned Shitsuke: Lets think about how to enforce the rule so it is
to that place after use. effective.

清掃（せいそう、Seisou） We can also do 5S by organizing a 5S-kaizen drive:

Clean, clean and clean.

Organize a kaizen drive

清潔（せいけつ、Seiketsu） There are three golden rules on how to successfully carry out a
kaizen-5S drive:
If you make any change in the workplace, make sure it is
When there is a 5S activity (such as a meeting) all the
easy to follow by making a standard, or rule.
employees from the boss to the newest employees are
engaged and on an equal footing.
躾（しつけ、Shitsuke） Things are decided by consensus. Consensus rules.

Build a culture of rule obedience.

55
Chapter 3 > The Toyota Way >The Five S / 5S 56

Someone left Doritos on my desk.

What is a long term solution?
Desk before and after seiton.

Standardizing solutions.
Same table,
smarter looks!
Desk before and after seiton part II.

The directives of Kaizen committees’ actions must be

followed up by controls and inspections.

How to make people follow the

standards?

56
 57

5S map by u-note.me (in Japanese) http://u-note.me/note/47485926

 58

5S map according to Strategos Inc. Consultants.

Chapter 3 > The Toyota Way >The Five S / 5S 59

5S in more detail Seiketsu. It means Standardize. It is the fourth S. It means to

try to make the improvements of the preceding S’s permanent
and sustainable. Establishing rules is a great way to
Seiri. Seiri should be the first S. If you cannot do Seiri you
encourage good habits. Works better if the employees are
won’t succeed with any of he other S’s. Seiri is related to the
involved as stakeholders. A poster can serve as a reminder
concept of muda. Definition – Seiri is about discriminating the
that no Doritos are allowed, that the pen should be returned to
superfluous things from the strictly necessary things needed to
a pot and that a clip should bound loose cards.
perform a task, job or project. In this way the work environment
is simplified, things are found faster, it is harder to make
mistakes and productivity increases. Seiri = using the trash bin. Shitsuke. The rules that the own employees have decided
should be respected and obeyed without exceptions. Shitsuke
is about the battle for the minds and hearts of the employees.
Seiton. Seiton is the second S. It means to align things.
Displaying a poster with the new rules is a great way to
Definition – Seiton means to have the work environment
encourage good habits every day.
ordered and tidy (everything labelled...) so that anybody that
needs something (for example, a tool) does not waste time
looking for it. Seiton means providing a place for things to be
stored. In the previous photo a small pot for pencils is added to
keep a pencil/s in place.

Seiso. Seiso (to clean). It comprises those measures to

prevent and avoid dirtying. The aim of seiso is to kill the
generation of dirt at source. Example: someone left Doritos on
the table. A brilliant seiso measure is to attach a vacuum
cleaner to an electric saw or grinding machine so that waste is
collected instantly. Killing the source of dirt.

59
Chapter 3 >The Toyota Way >Comparison of Ideo versus Toyota 60

Core Principle TOYOTA IDEO

Started 1918 ( with Pokayoke) 1977 (with the Apple mouse)

Less is more (time) Instill “sense of urgency” to Skillful use of deadlines

battle complacency

Human centered Ergonomy respect Empathy for user

Empowerment Any worker can stop the line Hire people good at building on others
ideas

Visualization solves most Kanban, A3, tackt time displays, Post-it everywhere, the whiteboard as
problems Visual Management, Andon a communication medium

Standardize Standardization of tasks,5S, The “standard” toolkit

Kanban, rule obedience

Kaizen, PDCA, humility in

Practice makes perfect Iterative prototyping
prototyping
Chapter 3 >The Toyota Way >On the Importance of Seeing 61

What did this two high-achievers have in common?

Larry Bird - three times NBA Manfred von Richthofen - WWI

Most Valuable Player. Three
times NBA winner. Barcelona’92
Dream team member. Photo by
Steve Lipofsky.
respected flying ace. He defeated
more than 100 enemy planes in
battle. When he died Allied
squadrons stationed nearby
presented memorial wreaths,
one of which was inscribed with
the words, "To Our Gallant and
Worthy Foe".
 62

Visual Acuity Why did von Richthofen defeat so

many enemy planes even though he
was flying a red plane? He could spot
enemy planes before they spotted him,
and then adopt a winning tactic.

Larry’s visual acuity was tested

once by NASA. He scored one of Tools such as Genchi-Genbutsu
the highest scores ever. and Five Why’s can help
(BloombergTV - you to “see” better
Game Changers)
Chapter 4: Case Studies

y p oint
Ke
s i n real
i l l
o t e st sk
T d
worl

Eri Nobeashi / Comptoir Des Cotonniers Japan

Chapter 4 >Case Studies >The Five Dollar Workshop
Did
►Tina Seelig, Executive director you know that
of the Stanford Technology
humor is always based
Ventures Program.
on reframing a situation?
You can be more creative by
reframing a problem.
-------
Tina Seelig
Hey!
Didn’t I say that
in 1968!?
-------
Edward de Bono
TEDx Stanford. Photo by Tamer Shabani
64
►In this video you can see what Tina’s
students do as part of her workshop courses at
Stanford. I like this video because it does not
explain how to be entrepreneurial, it shows
how her students became so. The talk is
based on her 2009 book, What I Wish I Knew
When I Was 20. Love Tina? Her lectures are
online at the Stanford e-corner & her iTunesU
channel.
Briefing - Each group is handed an envelope
with 5 dollars, or with 10 clips or with a pack of
post it notes. Your mission: you have five days
to create as much value as possible from this
initial seed capital / investment. Now you have
the tools such as the ideo toolkit to organize
knowledge and have the know-how to organize
workshops. After five days Stanford students
came back with an average of 400 dollars,
others come back with something much more
important: a newfound self-efficacy.
Chapter 4 > Case Studies > The Five Dollar Workshop 65

What you need to know

1. No Problem, no opportunity, no business, no fun.
2. Something leads to something, nothing leads to nothing
(Danny Choo).
3. Make your own luck.

An example of make your own luck

Zappos objective is to hire positive people
because positive people are better at customer
service. Interview: The applicant is given a task, to find the
mistakes and typos in a (fake) newspaper. The newspaper
contains a headline that reads: “I you read this stop the
exercise and claim $400 from the interviewer.” People who
Group A earned $236 in 4 hours by means of a mind
consider themselves lucky usually find the headline and get game. They iterated three business ideas and settings.
$400. (Hsieh, 2010)

Two days later the students presented their experiences in a

Workshop time
In contrast to Tina, we did not hand out clips or post-it packs.
We gave each group two fridge magnets from Daiso store. We
told them that they had four hours to start a business to make
as much money as they could.
three minute pitch. I was blown away.
Group A
Group A collected $236 by going to the UAE Maqam campus
university canteen and challenging students to beat them to a
mind game based on a National Geographic TV episode.

65
Chapter 4 > Case Studies > The Five Dollar Workshop
Group B decided to market handmade bracelets. One of the
team members skipped the lecture: She was in the canteen
selling the merchandise!
66
66
Group B
Group B audaciously refused the magnets and demanded
real money in seed investment (as they had seen in Tina’s
first workshop). So we lent them AED 50 ($10). Group B
invested money in raw materials and came back with AED
840.00 ($228). They decided to manufacture and sell their
own bracelet designs and they repaid the loan!
The Student’s Reflection (unabridged)
By Naama Al Shamshi
Making our own luck, and turning a nothing into a something
are things we heard from Professor Tina Seelig, but we
didn’t know how to actually translate it into our lives, into our
own luck. On Monday we were given a challenge by Mr.
Jose, he gave each group a pair of magnets and we were
asked to make money out of it. This might sounds crazy,
believe me it was.
We had no clue how to start, or where to start, one thing we
did know was that the magnets were the limit and we can’t
go over it. We tried brain storming while playing with the
magnets in our hands, and I remembered a trick I saw on
TV once, and it’s a trick related to a condition called
“overconfident brain”, it’s a game where you place an object
on the table and two people place their hands a little bit
above the object and one of the hands higher than the other,
Chapter 4 > Case Studies > The Five Dollar Workshop
both player race to catch the object, the higher one should give
the sign to start because he is a bit far from the object. We
knew that we can use that trick for our advantage, because
due to that condition in the brain the first player, which will
always be one of us, always wins.
We spent 2 hours experimenting different prototypes of how to
start, at first we would walk up to the girls and offer to draw
some picture for them for free if they won the game and they
will have to pay for the picture if they lost, it worked; but
drawing took much time and effort so we kept changing and
improving the idea.
After the 2 hours we realized that what we really can offer to
the girls is “knowledge” instead of just playing the trick we
would ask the girl “Do you think you are smart of stupid?”
most of the girls answered smart, then we said that we have
an experiment that can prove that you are not as smart as you
think you are, but this information isn’t free unless you win in
the next game, after losing of course we explained to the girls
that the reason they lost was the overconfident brain, and we
gave them different examples of this condition, after the mini
lecture we would ask the girls to play for us, but
we didn’t set a fixed price, we asked
GroupA
them to pay whatever they want, one
girl paid Dhs 80 because she loved the collected $236
information so much, that’s around Stanford’s average
21.78 US dollars. is $200.
We spent 3 hours working in the canteen
67
67
Never
in 2 groups of 3, and we collected a total of Dhs limit your max
867.75 that’s about 236.20 US dollars, which is revenue.
pretty amazing!
We walked out of this challenge as winners, not
only that we collected more money than any
other group in the class, but more or less we learnt
valuable things from experiencing this ourselves.
We gained confidence, walking up to total strangers and
asking for money in this weird way we needed courage and
confidence, we leant what kind of girls were willing to pay more
and which type wouldn’t pay anything at all, it was hard at first
but after a few rejections you know if you should talk to the
next girl or you should pass and move to the next one.
Furthermore, while experimenting different prototypes we knew
that if we had one table or a stand and waited for girls to come
over, no one will, every girl is like a potato sack of money
waiting for us, so we have to go and get it.
Aisha A. Ahmed Alshamshi said about her experience:
“I leant that there is an opportunity to start a business from
zero, nothing is impossible, and I learnt that there is no limit
for creativity, no limit for innovation and of course no limit for
MONEY. I also gained confidence by talking and explaining
to stranger girls in a friendly way. Finding the best way to
start a conversation with different type of girls was the
toughest part. I think that we won because we tried several
Chapter 4 > Case Studies > The Five Dollar Workshop 68
Patience,
communication,
prototypes, worked hard, we were a very fun and awesome the reason why we won.”
thinking, and
team, and we used unusual idea which kept the girls
analysis.
interested.”
It’s been a wonderful experience, we learnt so
much about how to think and work fast and
Ohoud Al Kaabi also learnt a lot from working in this effective, but I think the most important things we learnt
challenge: were about ourselves, and the things we are capable of, we
“I have learned that to be successful you need basic skills found out some hidden talents and gained more confidence,
Such as patience, communication, thinking, and analysis. now we know how to measure our success by more than just
Firstly, I find difficult to communicate with people and failure, the amount of money we earned.
but failure is an important part because it's helps me to
learning from life. And I have learned from my mistakes
through the many opportunities that I faced it and taking
risks. As I have become more successful at the end. I
thought I won because I learned how to manage my work
and how to earn the money easily. So, just think and think
then improve it in your life, it was really an amazing and
awesome experience :).”
The
When expressing what she has learnt Awatef Obaid Alketbi magnets and the
said: arbitrary four hour time
“I learnt how to earn a lot of money easily and tricky by limit was just a mental
basic resource. We have many opportunities excuse to help you step out
that allow us to be successful and we have to Sell of you comfort zone.
study our environment to identify these something that
opportunities. Working with others to increase has low cost like
our opportunity for success and I think this is
knowledge.

68
Chapter 4 > Case Studies > The Five Dollar Workshop 69

Reflection
At the beginning I was very weary of throwing the students into
the challenge of this workshop. However, given the outcome, I
am glad we did. Tina’s workshop is a great complement to a
design thinking course because it offers the opportunity for
students gain confidence quickly. After the workshop finished,
one student confessed to me that she could not sleep for one
night because he was trying to brain-storm a good business Tina’s
idea in time for the looming deadline. Nevertheless, Tina’s Five Dollar workshop
workshop role-model influence on students has been very
is probably one of the major
easy to assess. After we conducted her workshop here at
contributions to the field of
UAEU I noticed that students not officially enrolled were
attending the lecture. Then I spotted one of them reading an
creative self-confidence.
ebook with a familiar title... What I Wish I Knew When I Was ------
20. The author.

s
w ork
s
e e lig’ s hip
S r
: T ina r e neu
te tre p
No e n l o ped o
ut ve de
abo ere de ly of I
w ent
p e nd
y ota.
e
ind and To

69
 70

Failings

Your Failings
2000 2001
? No risk,
2002 2003 No failings no fun?
2004 2005
2006 2007
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Your Life in years 2014

Make a Fail Resume
Make a resume that highlights your failings rather than
your successes. This exercise, proposed by Tina Seelig, is
a great tool to help you asses wether you are failing in to a
comfort zone “black-hole-of-death” or not.
“I did not realize I had not been doing things I love for a
few years now” - said Naama Al Shamsi. “Before I used to
draw manga, and do lots of other things but when I wrote
the resume I realized I had stopped.” Naama’s fail resume
highlight was during her childhood. She and a friend drew
some manga books by themselves and they started a sort
of manga-kisa: They put the manga on display in their
house garden and invited other neighborhood kids to read
them for 1 Dhs (20 USD cents) per session. They collected
about 5 Dhs before the books were stolen.
Black hole illustration: Wired.com
Chapter 4 > Case Studies > The Five Dollar Workshop 71

Reflection
Students love to make video resumes rather than writing one.
Setting up a 60 second limit will help standardize.

71
Chapter 4 >Case Studies >The Microwave Workshop 72

►Zurich. Hugo Tschirky is Professor Emeritus of

Business Management at the Swiss Federal
►Hugo’s facilitated this
Institute of Technology (ETH).
microwave oven
workshop in Tokyo Institute
of Technology around 2006.

The Innovation
Matrix is a knowledge Workshop: You have been hired by a
discovery tool. microwave oven brand. Recently, due to
------- Chinese competition, the oven margins are
paper thin so the survival of the company might
Hugo Tschirsky
very well depend on you coming up with a new
oven design for which customers want to pay
more.
Innovation Matrix (IM). In this workshop we
practice a mapping-tool called innovation
matrix (IM). The IM helps to formalize and
organize functional relations between:
market needs
technology
product features
This way to display information will help you to:
perform a functional analysis of the product
discover unmet customer needs
inspire new features

Microwave Illustration by Scientific American.

Chapter 4 > Case Studies > The Microwave Workshop 73

Warming-up This is what a Parent-with-kids primary brain sees when u

If you developed empathy skill in during the gift workshop you show him a microwave oven:
will see that a microwave is not one oven. It is multiple ovens,
depending on who uses it.
To a Geek’s an
microwave oven
looks like this:

The Cleaner’s oven:

To an Statistician it looks like this:

73
Chapter 4 > Case Studies > The Microwave Workshop 74

A microwave from a Systems point of view: Innovation Matrix How-to

1. Draw a matrix format by rows
1. Write the market needs (Why people buy ovens)
2. Product functions (heat, boil...)
3. Technologies behind those functions (Magnetron,
LCD...)
4. Basic Science field supporting those technologies. (RF,
IC)
2. Link concepts
1. Clarify
A microwave oven from a sales man point of view:
2. Seek deep truths
3. Use 5 Whys if needed
Once your product is clear and mapped out...
3. Innovate
Now that you have a clear picture of relationships between
value, customer needs, costs and technology. You are in a
better position to innovate either by:
1. Brainstorming
2. Planning an ideo style shopping cart workshop
The microwave oven was introduced to the American public in
1967: http://www.smecc.org/microwave_oven.htm 3. Edward deBono creativity tools

74
 Innovation Matrix Example 75

Healthy diet
Need hot-milk ready for breakfast Human need for
Market Appliances that make you feel better feedback
Needs
Wants Need to bake a birthday cake Need to save time
need for mobility

- - -

Defrost Alert
Melting
Product
FastHeating Timer
function

?
- - -

Faraday Cage Metal

Antenna LCD IC /
Technology Bell
Timer

Magnetron

- - -

Field Radio Frequency basic tech IC Sound

Engineering

Abridged from Hugo’s workshop 2006

Chapter 4 > Case Studies > The Microwave Workshop 76

Team A Matrix day one

76
 77

Team A Matrix day two (some

reordering, new relations)
Chapter 4 > Case Studies > The Microwave Workshop 78

Light and Functional Innovation example

oven window seem two

unrelated technologies in an
oven. However, they serve a
common need: The need to
check for mistakes!
Aha!
Cost of (Window +Light) >
Cost of (X)?
Consider the cost of a window + light. Their sole
purpose is now clear. Can X do their function
better, cheaper? Lets find X!

78
 79

IM
can help clarify
why people buy
your product

Team B Matrix day one

 80

Team B Matrix day two, (Now on a more practical horizontal position)

 81

<
t
e y poin
K u
h e lp y o
an hips
IM c i o n s
Aha
if y relat o duct
l ar p r
Did you know some c your .
betw
e e n
st o mers
people buy u
d y our c uy.”
microwaves because an e y b
y th
they don’t have space “Wh
for an oven?
 82

?
now 1967 1923

Walkman/ iPod thinking

Chapter 4 > Case Studies > The Microwave Workshop 83

Prototypes Back-up man Reflection

160 minutes of IM activity helped clarify what the product is
about. However, when it came to propose new designs doing
actual prototyping job gave students a renewed energy. They
prototyped ideas that could / had not imagined at all while
doing brainstorming in step 3 IM. (But, we knew that from Tim
Brown’s book, there are some things that can only be
explained by doing a physical prototype)

Students’s Reflection
Comparing IM to the ideo method, they both do the same
“work”. Obviously, IM is systematic and more rational. Ideo
does what IM does without realizing that what they do is a
mapping. On the other side, IM does not take into account
team work dynamics, layout or process. Combining both
seems to be promising.

Innovation Matrix
+
Ideo Workshop method
___________________
Rational & creative product design process

83
 84

l is
na
io
n ct
t fu ut
a o
Wh l ab
al

Outdated GUI

Heating box Externalized GUI

 85

ppl buy microwaves to save

nal time. Does this GUI really

io
ct
u n ples
r e f xa
m help you save time?
mo e
in g
h ink
t

ppl buy microwaves to

heat something, not to

heat something during-a-

certain-amount-of-time.

Some ppl buy microwaves to

save space. But

dishes are square!?

only 1% of
?
M i c r o w av e s h av e

bells to fulfill a

function, what is a more

Wasted footprint
functional “bell”?
Chapter 5: To Learn More

Karen Endicott/Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth

Chapter 5 > To Learn More > References
Links to Multimedia
1. Warm up #1 - Sir Ken Robinson on Creativity http://
www.ted.com/talks/
ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
2. Warm up #2 - Three ideo projects: Dilbert, Prada and
Submarine by David Kelley: The future of design is
human centered https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=eXndL3TNCmo
3. T h e M a r s h m a l l o w c h a l l e n g e v i d e o h t t p : / /
marshmallowchallenge.com/
4. Charlie Rose interviews David Kelley for CBS 60
Minutes http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?
id=50138327n
5. Ideo Shopping cart project for ABC nightlife,
www.youtube.com/embed/M66ZU2PCIcM
6. Charlie Rose/ BloombergTV follow up interview on
‘creative confidence’ book http://www.bloomberg.com/
video/-creative-confidence-charlie-rose-10-29-
XkkPiqBVT16wi8VLB~EB3w.html
7. D. Kelley timeline by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, http://
www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-24/ideos-
david-kelley-how-did-i-get-here
Background Music for Workshops and sessions
8. d . S c h o o l 9 0 m i n u t e G i f t w o r k s h o p , h t t p : / /
dschool.stanford.edu/dgift/
87
9. I d e o W o r k s h o p To o l k i t p d f h t t p : / /
designthinkingforeducators.com/
10.How to interview http://dschool.stanford.edu/dgift/chart-
a-new-course/
11.Bandura Talk by Kelley http://www.ted.com/talks/
david_kelley_how_to_build_your_creative_confidence.h
tml
12.Ti n a S e e l i g t a l k h t t p : / / e c o r n e r. s t a n f o r d . e d u /
authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2266
13.Toyota the Global Story https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=T5zcCk-uF3g
14.Planeta Zara https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=ALPpvzgFElg
15.Cool down #1 Design & Thinking movie. This un flashy
movie features interviews with Tim Brown and others in
their own offices. http://designthinkingmovie.com/
16.Cool down #2 Innovation by Design video. The Aspen
Ideas Festival. 2013 (iTunes U) https://
itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/innovation-by-design/
id775460758?mt=10
17.Gift workshop http://dschoolmixtapes.blogspot.com/
 18.Course closing remarks. You can get it if you really want
by Desmond Drekker https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/
made-in-dagenham-music-from/id402892850#
Journal and Book References
1. Plattner, H., Meinel, C., & Leifer, L. (2014) Design
Thinking Research.
2. Liker, J. K. (2004). The Toyota Way.
3. Elberse & Thomas Dye. (2012). Sir Alex Ferguson:
Managing Manchester United. Harvard Business
Publishing.
4. Meyers-Levy, J., & Zhu, R. J. (2007). The influence of
ceiling height: The effect of priming on the type of
processing that people use. Journal of Consumer
Research, 34(2), 174-186.
5. Bowdon, T. B. (2010). 50 Psychology Classics.
Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
6. Magee, D. (2003). Turnaround: How Carlos Ghosn
Rescued Nissan. HarperCollins.
7. Kelley, T., & Littman, J. (2005). The ten faces of
innovation: IDEO’s Strategies for Defeating the Devil’s
Advocate and Driving Creativity Throughout your
Organization. New York: Double Day.
8. Brown, T., & Katz, B. (2011). Change by design.
Journal of Product Innovation Management, 28(3),
381-383.
88
9. Berengueres, J., Alsuwairi, F., Zaki, N., & Ng, T. (2013,
March). Gamification of a recycle bin with emoticons.
In Proceedings of the 8th ACM/IEEE international
conference on Human-robot interaction (pp. 83-84).
IEEE Press.
10. Berengueres, J. (2007). The Toyota production system
re-contextualized. Lulu Enterprises UK Limited.
11. Berengueres, J., Urago, M., Saito, S., Tadakuma, K., &
Meguro, H. (2006, December). Gecko inspired
electrostatic chuck. In Robotics and Biomimetics,
2006. ROBIO'06. IEEE International Conference on
(pp. 1018-1023). IEEE.
12. Autumn, K., Sitti, M., Liang, Y. A., Peattie, A. M.,
Hansen, W. R., Sponberg, S., ... & Full, R. J. (2002).
Evidence for van der Waals adhesion in gecko
setae.Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, 99(19), 12252-12256.
13. Blanco, X. R., & Salgado, J. (2004). Amancio Ortega,
de cero a Zara: el primer libro de investigación sobre
el imperio Inditex. La esfera de los libros.
14. Esslinger, H. (2009). A fine line: How design strategies
are shaping the future of business. John Wiley & Sons.
15. Tadao, A. (1995). Tadao Ando: Complete Works.
16. Hsieh, T. (2010). Delivering happiness: A path to
profits, passion, and purpose. Hachette Digital, Inc..
Acknowledgments

This book would have not been possible without:

Kenji Kurihara of Denso /Kentuky, who invited me to midnight undercover factory tours in Denso Kariya in 2007.

Kunio Takahashi, Tokyo Institute of Technology, who invited me to visit Toyota factories with Toyohashi University.

Ferran Pujol of McKinsey & Co. Chile, for awesome discussions about best lean practices.

Antoni Elias Fuster, who organized the first Creativity and Innovation class at UPC Barcelona in 1999.

Hannah Powlesland, Eri Nobeashi and Julie Grahame who provided artworks.

Hasso Plattner, who provided reprints.

Students of Design Thinking IBLC 124, whose experiences and enthusiasm are part of this book.

Timothy Gus Hegstrom, dean of UAE University College, who supported this book.

Tina Seelig, Executive Director Stanford Technology Ventures Program, who provided insightful comments.

Hugo Tschirky, Professor Emeritus ETH Zurich, who taught me the Innovation Matrix method in Tokyo.