Capacity Building 101: How to Scale Your Impact Module 2 Design Thinking: Turning Challenges into Solutions Your Goal In this assignment, you'll ake the recommendations from the module and use them to brainstorm a solution to build capacity in the area you've prioritized, Because this activity involves brainstorming new ideas, it is recommended that you do this activity with others in your organization. As you do this exercise, remember to keep an open mind, don't overthink your ideas early on, and have fun! More specifically, in this activity, you'll follow the steps outlined below: Phase 1: Defining & Selecting The Problem Brainstorm the various challenges your organization faces in the capacity area you've prioritized ‘© Group the various challenges together based on their similarities Select one problem you'll try to solve Phase 2: Brainstorming a Solution © With your particular problem defined, brainstorm as many solutions as you can ‘© Group the solutions together based on their similarities Select the solution that you want to try out in your organization. Phase 3: Reflection © What are the strengths and weaknesses of your solution? ‘* What is the end-product (deliverable) of the solution you've created? How will you know when you've implemented the solution? ‘What are the specific tasks or steps your organization might need to take to achieve your solution? Phase 1: Defining & Selecting the Problem Step 1: Define Your Problem For this first step, you will brainstorm all of the challenges your organization faces when it comes to building capacity in the area you've prioritized. Take a moment to think deeply aboutCapacity Building 101: How to Scale Your Impact why this area is an organizational weakness. What are the pain points, and what obstacles are you trying to overcome?Write 5 or more challenges that your organization is facing in the area of capacity you've chosen to prioritize. Example. Capacity Building Area Prioritized: Leadership and Talent Our Challenges: Our organization doesn’t have a clear leader, many of our staff members are not trained appropriately, many people lack the motivation to do diffcull tasks, leadership doesn't reach out fo the staff for advice or input, there are many roles that are unfilled in the organization, it takes too long to hire new members. gS PeNe Step 2: Group Your Challenges Now, looking at the challenges you wrote in the space above, create different groups of challenges based on their similarities. You should create two or more groups. Label the theme of each of your groups. In other words, specify why you grouped them together. Example. Group 1: (Culture) Many people lack the motivation to do difficult tasks, Group 2: (Leadership) Our organization doesn't have a clear leader, leadership doesn't reach out f0 the staff for advice or input Group 3: (Hiring) Many of our staff members are not on-boarded appropriately, there are many roles that are unfilled in the organization, it takes too long to hire new members. ine Your ChallengeCapacity Building 101: How to Scale Your Impact Take a look at the different groups you've created. You likely won't be able to tackle all of them at once. To select the challenge you will focus on, choose one of the categories you highlighted above. Then, create a “how might we" question to solve it. Example: Group 3: (Hiring) Many of our staff members are not on-boarded appropriately, there are many roles that are unfilled in the organization, it takes too long to hire new members. Challenge: How might we create an onboarding process to hire and train top talent quickly? Step 4: Insights on Your Challenge Now that you have narrowed down one challenge, jot down what you know about that challenge. Write the facts you know about this challenge. Start with why it is a challenge in the first place. In addition to the facts about this challenge, write various insights on the topic. Insights can include your perspective, ideas, or beliefs on topic. You can also include the perspectives of others. Phase 2: Ideate Step 1: Brainstorming Solutions Your Problem Take a look at the "how might we...” question you selected earlier. In this section, you'll brainstorm as many possible solutions as possible to address the challenge. In this phase, try to generate as many ideas as you can and as quickly as you can. It's helpful to withhold any judgment about your ideas when brainstorming. Write the ideas that come to mind. You can refine these ideas later. If you need help you can use some of the questions below to help you generate solutions: If money wasn't an object | would suggest. Ifa 7-year-old was going to propose a solution, they'd say... From my point of view, the best solution might be to. From a beneficiary's point of view, the best solution might be to. ‘You should brainstorm at least 6 ideasCapacity Building 101: How to Scale Your Impact Step 2: Select the Best Solution Take a look at all of the solutions you've brainstormed, Which idea do you think might be the best solution? Copy your best solution to the area below. Step 3: Develop Your Solution Take a look at the solution you selected. Because you brainstormed this solution quickly, you might not have thought through all of the details of this idea. In the space below, provide more details on the idea. What else do we need to know about this idea? How does it work? Phase 3: Reflection Now that you have an idea you're ready to test out, let's take a step back and reflect on what, you've created. Answer the three reflection questions below, Make sure to take your time to answer these questions as they will be graded by others.Capacity Building 101: How to Scale Your Impact ‘What would you say are the strengths and weaknesses of your solution? Make sure to write at least one strength and one weakness. Rubric Unsatisfactory Needs Improvement Excellent The response does not ‘The response includes either | The response highlights both specify any strengths nor a strength or a weakness but | a strength and a weakness. weaknesses not both, What is the end-product (deliverable) of the solution you've created? How will you know when you've completely implemented the solution? Rubric Unsatisfactory Excellent The response does not specify a deliverable | The response does specify a deliverable or or end-product that marks the end of the ‘end-product that marks the end of the solution solutionCapacity Building 101: How to Scale Your Impact What are the specific tasks or steps your organization might need to take to achieve your solution? Write at least 3 tasks that will need to be carried out to achieve your solution, You may write more tasks if needed. Rubric Unsatisfactory Needs Improvement Excellent 0-1 tasks is specified 2 tasks are specified 3 or more tasks are specified The process outlined in this assignment is called the design thinking process and itis used by some of the most successful social startups to tum ideas into powerful solutions that allow organizations to maximize their impact.