Abstract:
Design thinking process provides a systematic way for teams to develop products and processes resulting in better solutions and outcomes for customers. This study proposes that the design thinking process can also be used as an organizational change intervention to positively influence levels of empathy and organizational energy. A pre- and post-test design study was used to examine the effect of deployment and utilization of design thinking methodology across 4 business units of a pharmaceutical company in Latin America. Empathy and energy measures were gathered via an online survey tool prior to and six months after teams undergoing training on design thinking methodology. The hypotheses were that empathy and positive energy would increase and that negative energy would decrease. Although the trends for all three measures were positive, the results were not statistically significant. The results of the study were mixed in that only the decrease in negative energy was shown to be statistically significant. However, this finding is important, as negative energy can have long-term effects on organizations. The study also suggests opportunities for future study, specifically around implementing the design thinking methodology itself, around the need to focus on the ethnographic and behavioral aspects of the tool, and in monitoring its use for consistency.
