An integral part of the design thinking method is reflection. Reflecting on what was accomplished and what could be improved upon is critical to inhabiting a mindset of iteration and experimentation.
One year into launching the hr.hackathon alliance is a good time to reflect.
A popular way to capture reflections in design thinking is the rose/thorn/bud method. Here we go…
Rose (what has gone well):
I am beyond excited about what we have accomplished in our first year. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that what started as a small experiment to bring design thinking to the HR community in Chicago would ever grow beyond the Windy City.
5 cities, 31 prioritized ideas (focused on employee experience, employee engagement, diversity, first-time manager support, flexible work, to new hire onboarding), and 246 participants later a movement was born.
THE MOVEMENT
According to TED Talk speaker Derek Sivers, the first follower is what transforms a “lone nut” into a leader of a movement. It takes guts to be the first follower. I was lucky enough that fellow design thinking nerd Christina Chateauvert saw something in my idea of bringing the power of design thinking to HR. That’s how hr.hackathon arrived in Detroit.
“Design Thinking is a movement, one filled with contagious and inspiring energy. I wanted to be part of that movement to provide a supportive environment for people to push their thinking and open their minds to solve problems differently. Anything that encourages growth, holds a place for empathy, seeks experimentation at its core, and connects people in the process – which the hr.hackathon covers all four - sign me up!” – Christina Chateauvert
The second and third followers were Karan Ferrell-Rhodes from Atlanta and Bryan Moll from Denver. And last November, Stuti Dhandhania signed on to bring hr.hackathon to Los Angeles.
THE IMPACT
The feedback from hr.hackathon participants about their experience has been extraordinary.
Many participants state that it's different from other events in that all voices are being heard thanks to the collaborative nature of the design thinking method.
Laura Kempf, a participant at Detroit’s first hr.hackathon, wrote a blog post about her experience during the event and the impact that she feels the hr.hackathon movement can have. She concludes: “Realizing that transformation is hard work, it’s the little steps and the first steps like this hr.hackathon in Detroit that start the movement. You just need to dig in.”
Jennifer Howell, Human Resources Manager at the American Marketing Association, is a hr.hackathon veteran. She has attended almost every hr.hackathon in Chicago since its launch there in 2017. She reports the profound impact it has had on her career: “Bringing design thinking into the Human Resources world has been one of the biggest learning experiences of my career. I am a huge fan of what you have done with hr.hackathon. It has blown the doors open for me and my creativity.”
Kelli Koschmann, VP of Sittercity, was so inspired by hr.hackathon that she applied the method to tackling Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity at her organization. She shares her experience in this brief video: [Insert YouTube}.
One of the key elements of the hr.hackathon format is for one organization to bring their HR challenge to use for the collaborative ideation process. Being willing to let others look behind the scenes requires courage as well and I am immensely grateful to all the brave challenge providers who have stepped up.
One of these brave challenge providers in 2019 was Laura Winegardner, Employee Experience Manager at cleverbridge. Laura submitted her team’s employee experience collaboration journey as a challenge she wanted to get additional ideas on during a hr.hackathon. From the ideas that were generated during the event, she used several as inspiration for next steps in her employee experience journey. For example, she realized the criticality around leadership alignment at the Executive level and is now collaborating to create a people-first culture and connecting it to client experience. cleverbridge customers are now defined as “clients, prospects, and employees”.
Thorn (what didn’t go well):
Despite all the excitement about the initial reception and impact of the hr.hackathon movement, there are some things that didn’t go as well.
For one, I definitely underestimated the time commitment required of me to launch this initiative. From designing and maintaining the hr.hackathon alliance infrastructure to selecting, training, and coaching hr.hackathon hosts. I was lucky that most of the growth in the first year was organic.
As a result, I streamlined some of my commitments, most notably transitioning out of my role as President of DisruptHR Chicago.
I realized that in order to scale this movement in a sustainable way, I needed to be hyper focused on its growth.
Bud (what could be improved):
So, what’s next in 2020?
My vision is to bring the magic of hr.hackathon to even more cities around the world.
I need you to help make it happen.
This movement is not about me or the individual host in your city. It is about our collective efforts to equip our profession with a method and a mindset that will make us better HR professionals and more empathetic people. It is about building a global community of HR innovators who have the courage to be “lone nuts” and first followers in bringing innovative people practices to their organizations.
Fired up?
This movement is about you!
Get involved: Become a hr.hackathon host in your city, support us as a sponsor, join the virtual learning community, share your hr.hackathon story, or spread the word.
Let’s dance together!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Nicole Dessain is the Founder and Chief Talent Experience Designer at talent.imperative inc, an employee experience design consultancy.
Nicole's creative superpower is "connecting the dots" which she applies to her passion of bringing design thinking to the world of Human Resources through the hr.hackathon alliance.