ElevateyourChangemakingwithLEAN+DesignforSocialImpact APRILJEFFERSON,AprilJeffersonCorp,LivewithDesign,DesignActionLabBRIELLEMAXWELL,LivewithDesign,DesignActionLab

Are you an agile or UX professional or communityminded person looking for somethingmore? Discover howwe experimentedwithorganizingandaddressingsocialissueswithlean,agile,anddesignthinkingbyallowingustoleadyouthroughourexperiencethatcouldhelpyouimprovetheoddsofimplementingyoursocialchangeinitiatives.

1. INTRODUCTION:AWAKENING

Social change is complex,messy and often overwhelming even to determine a place tomake ameasurableimpact.Many changemakers know the ins and outs of feeling inspired only to lead to failure and burnout.Oftenmanyactivistandnonprofitprojects takea traditionalapproach that involvesabigdesignprocessupfront.Successfulsocialchangeisoftendesignedandintroducedincrementallyandaddressestherootcause.

MayaAngelou soeloquently stated “theneed for changebulldozeda roaddown the centerofmymind”.Thatresonateswithusasweliveinatimewherethereisacravingtobecomemoreengagedcitizensandtofindnewwaysofcreatingandorganizingforsocialchange.

2. BACKGROUND

Briellegrewupinafamilyofentrepreneursandworedifferenthatsincreativeindustriesfromfashion,arttofilm.StudyingdesignandbusinessatParsonsseemedlikeanaturalchoiceasshebegantoseedesignasthelinkbetweenbusinessandcreativity.Sheispassionateaboutdesignasadrivingforcetocreatesocialchangewith a human-centered design approach. Since 2008, she led a design collaborative to explore matchingpassionatedesignerswithnonprofitdesignchallengescalledLivewithDesign.

AprilwaseducatedatMichiganTechnologicalUniversity,hasworkedinITformanyyears.Sheembracesthemoniker of a positive disruptor as an independent lean agile coach and consultant for businesses. Thepositivechange focusedworldviewsheholdswithinorganizationsshebrings tohercommunities.Aprilwastaught thatshehadanability tomakea local impactandshebelieved it.Herpositivemindsetandservant’sheart keeps her active in her community. April is a serial volunteer that leverages her talents learned fromagile and lean when the opportunities present itself while speaking at meetups, leading scouts, coachingrobotics,helpingsheltersorrotaryclubprojects.

3. OURSTORY

In2015afterlivinginNewYorkCity,BriellereturnedtoherrootsinDetroit.ShefeltitwastimetoexploreanewversionoftheLivewithDesigncollaborative,withthegoalofcreatingandfundinglocalprojectswithadesignfocusonsocialchange.Detroitposedanewsetofsocialissuesandchallengesandisknownasafertileplace for grassroots change. Inspired by trends in collaboration, crowdfunding and the ability to bring herdesigntoolkittolocalproblemsheputoutacalltoaction.

Theinitialhypothesistotestwasduringa12-weekdesignchallengecouldwetakeacomplexsocialissuesuch as police brutality or improving education and lead participants with design thinking to begin Author'saddress:AprilJefferson,23125Elmgrove,FarmingtonHills,MI48336;email:jeffersonapril@yahoo.comorapril@livewithdesign.orgSecondauthor'saddress:BrielleMaxwell;email:brielle@livewithdesign.orgCopyright2017isheldbytheauthors.

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implementingaprototypeofapotentialsolution.Thepilotbeganwiththeexpectationtotestwhetheradesignchallengeonasocialissueutilizingsolutions

thatareactionableandfundableusingacrowdfundingmodelwithdesignthinkinginmindcouldbesuccessful.AprilfirstconnectedwithBriellebeforeattimeinherlifewhensheneededatrustedadvisor.However,it

was at thismoment we had our first ahamoment that we have similar but complementary approaches ofmaking a local impact. Brielle brings her background in human centered and social design approach, AprilbuildsonthisapproachwithherknowledgeofbeingAgilewithaLeanfocustochangeandcreatingalignmentfromadiversesetofstakeholders.

Togetherwedecidedtopartneronthissocialdesignchallengeandtogetherleverageourprofessionalgiftsforsocialimpact.WeidentifiedthepainpointthatDesignActionLabaimstosolveisthatmanypeoplewanttotakeactionbutdon’thaveaccountability,capacitywhenworkingalone,orknowwheretobegintoidentifyaroot cause of a complex problem and how to turn it into viable solutions.Wewanted to create a network,learning environment and structure that could fill the gapbyusingourprofessional backgrounds inhumancentered design, agile, and lean. Being in environments where design thinking was often celebrated butabandoned when the fun collaborative ideation was over and resources were short we were inspired bygrassrootscrowdfunding.Wewonderedhowitmighthelpbringnewprototypestolifeandhaverealimpactintheworldbyhelpingsupportotherstocreateprojectsaroundsocialissues.

Theopencallofparticipantsattractedpeople interested inpositivechangeacross thecommunity.Therewasagoodresponsefromadiversesetofcultural,economic,andprofessionalbackgrounds.

3.1 WhatWeDid:Co-CreatingChangeDifferently

Figure1.Changeagentssilentlybrainstormaroundtherootproblemofpolicebrutality.

Embarking on the collaboration,we knewwewould need to discover how to keep people engaged, how toappeal to a variety of experience levels, and how to manage conflicts between people with differentmotivations. April began to leverage her background in positive coaching, alignment with collaborationagreements,andkeepingoneanotheraccountableforasolutionfocusedandnotblame-orientedcollaboration.

WemetwithparticipantstwiceaweekindowntownDetroitandadaptedaleanstartupapproach;whereas,aftereachmeetingweretrospecttoreflectonandadjustwhatwasworking.

Thefirstcollaborativeactionwastodeterminewhichproblemfromashortlistoflocalissuesthegroupofchange agents should focus on. Police brutality had the greatest interest with respondents, being that insummerof2016astringofeventsincludingthepolicekillingsofAltonSterlingandPhilandoCastilleandtheambushofofficersinDallaswereheadlinenews.

Inorder toget insidesomedifferentperspectiveswithpeople fromdifferentviewpointswestartedwithempathy mapping. By facilitating an empathy mapping exercise we challenged participants to gain

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understandingbyputtingthemselvesintheshoesofthoseaffectedbytheissues.Participantspickedapersonaandmappedwhattheyareseeing,saying,hearingandfeeling.Empathymappingcallonetomapthesenses,influences and immediate surrounding by asking questions: What do people feel? What do they say toneighbors, familyor friends?Whatdo theyhearonsocialmedia,atwork,andathome?Whatdo they thinkaboutdailyandwhatoccupiestheirthoughts?Theactivityhelpedseethelandscapeofinfluencesandthefullpictureofissuesfrominsideanotherperson'sshoes.

Figure2.ChangeagentscreatingEmpathyMapsandatemplateofEmpathyMapDiagram.

Through empathymapping, itwasquicklydiscovered that peoplewere on completely opposite sides of theissue,someparticipantsvoicedtheir firsthandunequalprofilingandmettensionfromparticipantsthathadclose relationshipswith law enforcementwhom sought to protect the police’s reputation and service. Aprilbegancoachingparticipantstofocusonapathforwardandawayfromwhowastoblameinthecurrentstateofheightenedtensionsonbothsides.

Figure3.Ourvirtualpost-itsrecreatetheresultoftheproblemdefinitionwithrelationshipsinallcategoriespolicy,relationships,training,mindset,andsystem.

Foroursolutionfocusedpathforward,wesetouttodefinetheproblemwewerelookingtosolvebyaskingapowerfulquestionaroundtherootcause.Thechangeagents(participants)ideatedaroundwhattheproblemwas by silently brainstorming each of their individual thoughts on sticky notes. Then we organized andgrouped sticky notes with similar ideas into categories of the problems. Categories were system, policies,

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training, relationships and mindset. Taking a step back we identified a common theme emerged aroundrelationships between officers and residents, seeing the underlying relationships aspect in every categorycreatedanahamomentandbecameafocalpointallparticipantscouldidentifywith.

Wethenledthemthroughavisioningexercisetoidentifyasharedstrategyforthechangethegroupwastrying to make around police brutality. This was done with a lean change strategy canvas, which is aconversational tool to align all those impacted by a change, and allow them to be an equal contributor todesigning it. Eachsessionwehaddesign thinkingconversationaroundourpurpose thatdefinedourscope,whatchangeweweretrying tomake,whythiswas important to thecommunity,howwewouldmeasure it,whowouldbeimpacted,howwecouldmakethechangesvisibleandadjustit,andwhathelpwewouldneedtosupportit.

Figure4.Changeagentsprioritizingideasaroundtheleanchangecanvas.

We set our scope to “Create a positive change through relationships between communities and policeofficers-thattheyknoweachotherinatleastoneprecinctaffectedbycrime”.

We mapped responses back to the change we were trying to make to validate they were aligned withcoloreddotsandlimitedresponsesthatweresolutionsatthispointandwereblame-oriented.Todothiswegroupedlikeideasaroundthequestionsandpulledthoughtsinthathadthemostsimilarideasthenrefactoredthelanguagewithoneanother.Thismethodallowedeveryonetohaveavoiceincreatingthevision,participatewithasenseofempathyforoneanotherandfeelasenseofownershipinthepathforward.

Figure5.Communitychangeagentsworkingtogetherontheleanstrategycanvas.

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Itwasenergizingtowatchpeopleondifferentsidesoftheissueofpolicebrutalitycreateasharedvisionusingtheleanchangestrategycanvas.Thatvisionbecamethenewpurposeforgathering,whichwasthatwewantedtodeterminehowto improvetherelationshipwithresidents,businesses,andpoliceofficerssothatallwereagain,consideredapartoftheirlocalcommunity.

Completingthestrategycanvaswasabigmilestonefortheteamandwecouldseetheinitialtoolsworkedfor creating alignment across teammembers. Both sides of the issuewere actively participating and policerepresentationwasofteninattendancecollaboratingwiththeteam.

Figure6.Thefinishedleanstrategycanvasdefiningthevisionandhowwewouldmeasurethechangewewantedtocreate.

3.2 Problems:Lions,Tigers,andRedwingsOhMy!Onechallengethatbecameapparentwastheprimedowntownlocation.Wewereadjustingourmeetupsduetotraffic from the Detroit sports schedules. However, we found changing our meetups due to this wasunsustainable once three Detroit sport teams’ seasons were active. Moreover it prevented consistentengagementbyourvolunteerchangeagents.Wehadtospendasignificanttimerecappingduetoinconsistentattendance.Despitethis,ourmeetingswereenergizingandhadafeel-goodvibe,accountabilityandfocustogetthingsdone.

To have more consistent meetings we decided to experiment with having remote meetings. When wemoved to remotemeetings, the social connections and energywewere thriving onwas sacrificed, also theengagementofvolunteerchangeagentsdwindled.Wealso tried toraiseengagementaremotecollaborationwithaSlackchannelforacollaborativemessagingtooltonoavail.Aswemovedintotheimplementationphasetheteamdecidedtohaveusleadthechargetoengagethepoliceandthentheywouldengageonceweheldthecommunitymeeting.

3.3 Results:PartneringwithaPrecinct

Figure7.ChangeagentscreatingtalkingpointstodiscussourworkwithNeighborhoodPoliceOfficers,businessesandresidents.

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Whenourvisionwascompleteweinvestedtimeinresearchingwhatprecinctandcommunitywouldbethebesttopartnerwith.Changeagentspairedtocreatecommunicationstoreachoutwithprecincts,businessesand community organizations to gain interest in thework.We coached change agents on how to share ourvisionandhavepositiveconversationswithprecincts,businesses,andcommunitymembers.We identifiedashortlistofpotentialpoliceprecinctsandeachchangeagentwentoutandstartedhavingconversationswiththoseselectedprecincts.Wesharedlearningwhenwereassembledandcollaborativelyidentifiedtheprecincttopilot.Thegroupdecidedtogowithaprecinctthatwouldmorelikelyhavethebandwidthtoengagewithus,soweselectedonethatwasn’tthehighestinviolentcrimebutstillhadstruggles.Thenextstepwastoworkwiththeprecincttostarttheconversationatanopenforumtobeginsolutionbuilding.

The police precinct we identified had recently lost an officer and they were looking for ways to fostercommunityengagement.Wepitchedtotheneighborhoodpoliceofficers(NPOs),thecaseforchange,ourvisionof the strategy canvas and our story of how it was created, as well as, how our toolkit could start theconversation. The next step was to continue the method to create a community change canvas along withresidents,businessesandpoliceofficersbyfacilitatingaforumforalltovalidateandrefinethevision.Whichwouldsettheneighborhooduptosafelyidentifyimprovementsandexperimentsinbuildingrelationshipsthattheycouldimplementtogether.

TheNPOs confirmed theneed for the case for change, that the root cause resonatedwith them, andourpathwayforwardtheybelievedwouldcreatevalueandbesomethingthatresidentswouldbehappytoactivelyparticipate in. Moreover, they were enthusiastic to begin the journey to improve the relationship withresidents they serve.Thepitchwas successful and theyagreed topartnerwithus in apilotprojectof openforumstoactivateourmethodswiththecommunity.

We had several meetings with the NPOs and left with clear action items on both sides each time. Ourmeetings with the NPOs appeared to be going well and the pilot project was in the planning stage whensuddenlytheprecinctsuggestedtablingtheideauntilwarmerweather,thinkingabettercommunityturnoutwouldoccurinthespring.Wesharedthatduetotheenergyaroundthistopicthatwebelievedpeoplewouldstillcomeouttoparticipate.However,werecognizetheprioritiesandothercircumstancesthatcausedthemtopause such as, theoutside impacts thepolice facedbeingunderstaffed and grieving the loss of anofficer intheirprecinct.Weslowedtoapplyingasofttouchtochecking-inwiththem;however,theysuddenlyhaltedallcommunicationwithus.

4. OURLEARNING

Sowewere leftwith figuring out how topivot.After trying to engageotherprecinctswithno responseweretrospect onour learning.Wewere able to confirmourhypothesis thatwe can share an idea thatwill getpeopleto joinyouincreatingan impact.Thatgettingpeoplecuriousandaligningthemaroundempathycangetpeopleonthesamepagetoidentifytherootcausethatcancreateavisionforpeopletobeunifiedaround;therefore,openingthemuptocollaborativelydevelopthepathforward.

During the processwe learned how to design the engagement as an incremental learning experience tosupport collaborating. How positive coaching was pivotal for engagement, collaborating, and successfullynavigating ideas to those impactedand togainalignmenton the root causeof adesignproblem;aswell as,avoidblameandlooktosolution-focusedproblemsolvingandmutualaccountability.Welearnedthatthisisanincremental journey and good facilitation was instrumental to keep change agents aligned to their vision.Moreover, as business professionals, filled with buzzwords, we learned how to adjust our language whenfacilitatingourmeetupswithourvolunteerchangeagentsfromthecommunity.

We learned how volunteer engagement is hard over a long term project and thatwe should consider aphasedapproachwithphaseoneconsistingofresearchingandsolvingtherootproblem;phasetwoconsistingofidentifyingsolutionsandprototyping;phasethreeconsistingofcrowdfundingandcommunityengagement.Participants shared how balancing work and the desire for change that has a social impact feelsinsurmountableattimes.However,theydidwalkawaywiththerealizationthatsocialchangedoesn’thavetobetoobigtosolveandtheyformedpositiverelationshipswiththosenotinitiallylikeminded.

As change agentswe are forward thinkers and see the future state of theworld, and oftendesire to getthereasfastwecan,withusfigurativelyandliterallydraggingpeoplealongwithus.However,wewereabletovalidatethatadoptingahumancenteredapproachtosocialchangecallsforempathy,curiosity,collaboration,andco-ownershipofsolutionsandthataninvitationtocollaborateisbestservedwithpeopleondifferentsidesof an issue towork towards sharedgoals incrementally.Moreover,weknew thatwe couldmakean impactusingourprofessionalgifts.

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4.1 Wherearewetoday?Thoughourfirstapplicationofourdesignchallengefellflatatimplementation,wewerestillpassionateaboutoursuccesseswithdrivingconsensuswithpeoplethatarenotlikemindedtorallyaroundacommoncauseandidentifyapathforwardwewantedtoinvestin.Sowedecidedthatthroughtellingthisstorywecouldinspireactioninprofessionalsinthewaystheycancreatechange.

We are now starting a nonprofit with a mission empowering people to collaborate and identify viablesolutions to social issues. In the meantime you can find us speaking out at conferences and hosting localworkshops to share with others how to gain alignment around a complex issue, identify a root cause andpotentialsolutionsusingleanandagilemethods.Weareconnectingthedotstobridgehowmethodsareusedintechtohowtheycanbesuccessfulincreatingchangeincomplexsocialissues.

Figure8.Causemappingisarootcauseanalysismethodthatvisualizesallcausesthatcontributetoanissue.ItwasnewtousandexcitingtowatchitdevelopinrealtimeamongtheparticipantsofourworkshopinEastLansingatMid-MichiganAgileGroupies.

Wehavebeenabletoleverageandrefinethemethodsweusedduringthepolicechallengeinordertoleadworkshopsand respond tobriefs fora rise inpovertyandhigh crime inEastLansing,high crimes inMetroDetroit JewishandMuslim communities, and froma33% increase inhate crimes inColumbus.Weuse realdata for local issues, build stakeholder personas and current positions that require role playing, and dobrainstormingexercisesthatidentifythenutilizemethodsfromparticipantsownprofessionaltoolkitsuchas,fishbonediagrams, fivewhys,empathymapping, thecoreprotocols,powerfulquestions,andcausemappingapproach.

Throughacommitment toexpandandgrowour impact,wehopetoupliftmanycommunitiesbysharingourengagementmethodstohelpsupport,iterateandsustainchange.Wedesiretoidentifylocallearningthatwe can adapt and take elsewhere and experiment in hopes to raise the accessibility of these innovativemethods to change agents innewplaces.Wehavedesign challengesplanned throughoutMichigan thatwillteach people thesemethods, allow them to ideate around a problem, and for some potentially compete forstart-upcapitaltoimplementasolution.

Aswemovealongourjourney,weaspiretotellthesestoriesandcontinuallycapturetheexperiencesthatcanmakethislocalimpactintoachangemovementtothatofamovementthathighlightssuccesseslocallytotriggeraviralchangeandinterestwithsurroundingneighborhoods.Ourexperienceisanopencalltoactiontointerestinvestors,sponsors,andchangeagentsinactivatingthistypeofsocialchangeasweperfectthewaytobuildourcollaborativeengagementattractingprofessionalsandactiviststojoinusinthefuture.

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4.2 InaNutshell

Figure9.TheintersectionofAgile,UXandleanleveragesresponsive,collaborative,flexible,iterativethinking.

Everydaywe saw the increasingdividebetweenpeoplewho relatewithdifferent issues. Insteadof justthinkingofsolutionswedecidedtofocusourimpactbylookingpastourimmediateideasandaligningaroundfindingtherootcause.Wepartneredwiththoseimpacted-sochangewasco-ownedanditisnotpusheduponpeople-sothatitwastransparent,engagedandsupportive.

Whenwepartneredwithpeopleondifferentsidesofasocial issuewediscoveredtheylookalot likeourlivesandthatourpreferredsolutionmaynotaddresstherootcauseoraddresstheissueforeveryone.Inthecomplexwebof social changewe sawpressing issues thatwere actually symptomsof the root cause. Ifweweretofocusonthoseperipheralissuessuchasfocusingonthereductionofpettycrimesratherthantherootcausethenwewastealotoftimeandenergythatdoesn’tgotosolvingtheproblem.

We know that we already learned these things from agile, lean, and design within business and theexperimentwastovalidateifthelearningcouldoccurwhenwithapplyingthemtosocialchangeinitiatives.Webeganwithcuriosityandleveragedthemethodsthatwepracticeinourprofessionalspace.

How has our hypothesis changed?We know lean design influences positive change more rapidly. Thatworkingonasolutiontargetingtherootcausecouldstartarippleeffectthatcanimpactmultipleissues.Evendeliveringsmallandincrementalchangesattheroot,maynotbesosmallafter-all.Webelievethatthistypeofdynamicchangeisthemindsetforthepeople,afoundationthatisnecessaryforaculturalshift.Thepowerofgrassrootsinchangecancreatetheconsensusfromthegroundupbecauseit’snaturallyhumancentered.It’spartofanleanUXmindsetweknow.Wherewecontinuallyreflectonandadjustonwhatisworkingforchangeinitiatives,wherewegoandsee.Onewherewetakeahumancentereddesignapproachcoupledwithleantounderstandit,digestitandsustainit.Toworktowardsthatsharedsmallwinthatgivesalljoyandissomethingtocelebratesothatchangeisnotsimplythereforamomentandgone.Webelievethatdoingthissetsthestageforourmissionoffosteringreallastingchangethatispartofthefabricofhowpeoplelive,work,think,play,andprotect;whereas,itsadoptedasaculturalnorm.

4.3 CalltoActionToday’sworldcouldusemoreactivecreativethinkersanddoerscreatingconsensus,fosteringcollaborationonthe frontlines of social change in their community. So use your gifts to surface ideas that can connect oneanother around a shared vision. Apply your experiences to determinewhatmethods from your toolkitwillworkbestforyoutoidentifyexperimentstotestinrealcommunities.

Remember to partnerwith those impacted, use agile, lean and UXmethods, leverage your talents in allthings,keepitsmall,andstayenergizedbycelebratingthewinsalongthewaytoincreaseyoursuccess.

5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Themanycommunitychangeagents,policechaplain,andNPOswhoinvestedtheirtimeandworkedalongsideus forourpilot.OurspousesRobert“Elisha”CespedesandAaronGriderwhocontinuallyholddownthefortwhilewework on our passion projects and our childrenwho are patient and supportive of ourwork. Theconferences andmeetups that have invitedus to speak and createworkshops includingMid-MichiganAgileGroupies, Self-Conference,Path toAgility.Ourpartner that gaveus space tohostourpilotdesign challenge,BambooDetroit.OurshepherdMargaretFogelwhochallengedusaswewrotedownourexperience.