Writing sample 5: New methods drive Innovation Team’s progress

At the heart of Bridgestone’s innovation process and methodology is one critical tool: sticky notes.

If you visit the Innovation Team’s designated space at Stok’d, a shared design and collaboration space in Nashville, you’ll see the small squares of paper everywhere, evidence of ideas contemplated, and then either fleshed out or thrown out. Groups of Bridgestone teammates have visited this space in order to create new ideas, or test existing ones, through the use of Stanford University’s Design School methodology, an intense five-step process that includes gathering anecdotal information (empathy), developing ideas from it (ideation) and then rapidly testing them (prototyping). In the space of a few hours, a team can take a business question from a simple thought to a plan ready for Boss input using this process, using good, old fashioned shoe leather, a bit of imagination and of course, sticky notes.

Both Innovation team leads Erica Walsh and Ross Slaneff have attended Stanford’s Design Thinking Boot Camp, where they learned the process in order to bring it back to Bridgestone. They both described the experience as one in which they’ve collaborated with team members like never before, to get results they never imagined.

The Design Thinking process begins with a series of questioning called empathy, where groups go out and talk to customers to better understand their buying habits, preferences and experiences . The information collected during empathy is used to create potential ideas that may help meet specific Boss needs. Teams go through a series of discussions and eliminations to narrow down to an idea that’s actionable. Then, the team creates a mockup of that idea that they can then share with the Boss to get additional feedback or buy in. Speed serves as the pressure cooker in this recipe, forcing results in the shortest possible timeframe.

“Time being a limited resource, the Innovation Team’s design process maximizes the quality of time that innovation project members spend together,” said Oscar Romero. “The amount of work that gets done in those short bursts of activity is absolutely amazing. This process is the embodiment of Radical Collaboration and fast go-to market strategies.”

Since Walsh attended Boot Camp back in March, she’s implemented the methodology by training teammates across the organization through the Ideation Invitational event, and has taught smaller teams the process for individual projects. Specifically, the team working on a partnership with car service UBER has utilized the method to create ideas that could serve both Bridgestone and UBER customers.

“We handed out empathy guides to a small team, and rode in cars in groups of three, “Walsh said. “From the beginning, we were already having a different conversation; we weren’t talking about the car, were we talking about the person, and THEN we learned about their car. The groups came back feeling empowered and energized, and had really interesting stories.”

The Bridgestone Innovation team has several projects currently in the works, including Project Cobbler, Project Canvas 2.0, and the Next Steps Challenge (based on the ideas created at this summer’s Ideation Invitational).

“Sixty-two people have signed up for the Next Steps Challenge, in which they’ll do empathy, ideate and prototype right in a BSRO store,” Walsh said. “They’ll be doing videos at each step of their work, over eight weeks. Hopefully, at the end of October, we’ll be pitching some new ideas, and in November, potentially celebrating some early wins.”

And Bridgestone’s work has caught the attention of the Mayor’s office. Walsh, Slaneff, Joey Leslie and a small team of teammates will be working directly with Mayor’s Office staff to teach them the design thinking methodology to create solutions around youth employment and lower health care costs.

While Walsh is moving into another role, and Gandhi and Slaneff will officially take the lead of the Bridgestone Innovation Team, she believes there’s a sense of empowerment that teammates are drawn to through this process, because people can be closer to the Boss no matter what their job is.

And members of her innovation teams agree—this process offers a new way to think about what we do, and who we do it for.

“The innovation projects and collaboration methods used allowed the group to move beyond the confines of our typical corporate ideology,” said Amanda Greene, who has participated in innovation projects.  “This methodology provided those involved the ability to step outside of the box and embark on a new way of thinking.”