The "GE workout" process is a legacy practice that is an industry-standard - in fact, public library shelves are filled with books on the topic. These workouts emphasize the traditional, lean/six sigma mindset: map the current process, then trim the fat. However, the workout often pays little attention to the impact of process improvement on people.
Early on, I was exposed to GE Healthcare's Industrial Design team, who used design thinking workshops to create new concepts for hospital equipment. They injected these conversations with empathy, team building, and active listening - making the experience much more generative as a result.
A spark was ignited - I was determined to introduce design thinking to our IT & Process Excellence organization.
Impact: Changing the Workout Mindset
Fueled by research into the approaches used by other design agencies such as IDEO and Frog Design, I started small, leading a few design thinking-themed activities during workouts. In a flurry of Post-Its and whiteboard drawings, I led the team to uncover hidden needs and connect on a deeper level - discussing not just the process, but the emotion and experience behind it.
Soon, I taught full-scale, multi-day design thinking sessions for projects across engineering, supply chain, and services. With each new session, I turned up the heat on the "weirdness" and incorporated improv activities, storytelling, and multimedia. I sought to teach a mindset focused on human values and bias toward action - rather than solely arriving at an end solution.
In the past two years, I've designed the curricula and taught 22 design thinking sessions across GE Healthcare and the Michigan community, instilling creative confidence and introducing human-centered problem-solving tools to 350+ GE Employees and 100+ middle and high school students.