Design thinking training for leaders

When it comes to people-centric processes, credit unions tend to be a step ahead, and First West Credit Union was no exception. Their leadership team had long embraced community-focused values. They had been immersed in agile methods, well-versed with Lean methodology, and were ready to add one more arrow to their quiver: design thinking for customer-centric innovation.

As with all of Domain7’s facilitation and training, it was important for us to customize the learning experience for the participants’ needs and environment. The planning started with a series of calls with their team, to build a base of understanding about the participants’ current knowledge and learning goals. Then we designed a pathway that started with their senior leadership team.

The leadership team knew they were ready to spread these toolsets and mindsets further, beyond the C-suite.

Coming up just a few months later was their annual leaders “Reach Summit”—a cultural cornerstone for the organization. Each year more than 300 emerging and established leaders across the organization came together in a multi-day conference to be inspired and equipped to continue putting members first.

Domain7 was asked to design and lead a session at Reach that would give the organization’s wider base of leaders a sense of design thinking methods. The session used the stage for storytelling and teaching, activated the participants with interactive scenarios, and supported the learning with a custom “Listening Leadership” planning canvas.

From here, First West was ready to introduce design thinking methods into the rest of their organization.

Thanks to First West’s committed leadership team and their culture of member-centricity, this organization was ready to use empathetic listening and design to empower true customer-focused innovation.