DesignThinkers Academy, Nigeria

“Culture transformation in an organisation is a marathon, not a sprint, requiring a marathoner's mindset of endurance, stamina, and perseverance.” -Olukunle A. Iyanda, PhD

How easy is changing and transforming people's collective beliefs and behaviour? Many may conclude with the proverbial statement that it might be easier for a donkey to pass through the eye of the needle, which may be true when transforming an organisation's culture. Winning organisations have evolved to develop a winning culture.

My thought concerning this quote is that culture transformation is a tough call, no matter the cosmetic approach adopted to make it look easy. As leaders, you can successfully transform culture with the correct dose and mix of passion and perseverance.

My quote above vividly captures the essence of organisational change as a long-term, continuous process rather than a quick fix. It is a marathon where success hinges on persistent effort, resilience, and a steady pace rather than immediate results. Anytime my firm is engaged in a culture transformation project, I do not shy away from painting these realities to our clients; as expected, many CEOs are always in a hurry for results. The metaphor of a marathon emphasises the need for preparation, patience, and the ability to withstand challenges over an extended period of time. It suggests that transforming an organisation's culture involves gradual shifts in attitudes, behaviours, and values, which cannot be rushed.

My perspective highlights the importance of sustained commitment, strategic planning, and the willingness to adapt. This approach acknowledges that meaningful change is a complex process that requires initial enthusiasm, ongoing dedication, and a forward-looking mindset.

2023 WISH: A MIDAS TOUCH?

It is in our nature to load every new year with many wishes, aspirations and resolutions. So as you begin the year, what do you have on your wish list?

In Greek mythology, King Midas was a great King who lived in luxury and loved to delight his only daughter with good things of line that the world could afford. One day King Midas showed kindness to Satyr, the lover of Dionysus (the god of wine and performance). Dionysus was highly delighted and offered to bless King Midas with just one gift. So, he asked Midas to name one thing he would like to have. King Midas reflected and concluded that he wanted to acquire more gold and that anything he touched should 'turn to gold'.

Dionysus granted his wish; he gave King Midas the power to turn anything he touched into gold. So Midas began, he touched the palace wall, stones and roads, and it became gold. He was delighted, he touched his cutlery, buckets, and furniture, and everything turned to gold. What a splendid experience.

Once satisfied with his accomplishment for the day, it was time to refresh and eat. Not knowing, he left out a small detail in his prayer. His butler presented some apples and grapes for refreshment; he took the grapes and decided to bite the delicious fruit; sadly, the grapes turned to gold, and he almost broke his teeth. He asked for bread; the bread turned to gold as well. He was frustrated and yelled heavily; hearing his father shouting, his daughter came out. King Midas decided to pour his frustration into his daughter; he reached out to his daughter's embrace; behold, his only precious daughter turned into a golden statute.

Yes, King Midas got his desire but left out a "small detail". Sometimes even when we got all our desires, they do not solve all our longings. As you enter the year, don't ask for "Midas touch". Let God guide you in your goal-setting so your dream does not become a nightmare.

May you strive beyond Boundaries in 2023, and may your dream take flight beyond expectations.

You have probably heard about it, but what do you know about design thinking? We present to you an opportunity to attend a free introductory class to Design Thinking.

Infusing yourself and your organization with Design thinking tools have proven to help organizations to achieve innovative and measurable outcomes in solving complex problems.

You should not be left out, why would you suffer yourself with that knowledge gap, join our free online class on Design thinking, kindly copy and paste below link in browser

Course registration:

https://www.designthinkersacademy.com/nigeria/course-catalogue/february-2021/

Registration Closes Friday 6pm WAT

To view other courses:

https://www.designthinkersacademy.com/nigeria/

Warm wishes to all our Muslim friends and clients celebrating on this joyous occasion of Eid-el Maulud. May this celebrations bring you and your family joy. Greetings from everyone at Design Thinkers Agency and Design Thinkers Academy Nigeria.

In 2009, Airbnb was on the verge of bankruptcy. Like most startups at that time, the company was in obscurity; nobody knew about them and nobody cared. Their gross revenue at the time was barely up to $200 dollars a week- they were in muddy waters. That’s when Joe Gebbia, one of the founders heard about Design Thinking and enrolled to study it at the Rhode Island School of design. With what he learned about design thinking; the company put some strategies in place that has transformed it from a $200-a-week to a multi-million-dollar empire. Here are some of the things they did

Today we are celebrating Joseph Ladapo , a Nigerian-American Doctor who was recently appointed as the Surgeon General of Florida by the Governor of the state, Ron DeSantis .
Dr. Ladapo was born in Nigeria but immigrated to the United States with his family at the young age of 5. He graduated from Wake Forest University and got his MD from Harvard Medical School. He later went on to obtain a PhD in Health Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. He completed his clinical training in internal medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. We celebrate Dr. Ladapo for his brilliance and for helping give Nigeria a positive image in the diaspora.

Throwback to our Design Thinking training with Stanbic IBTC bank in 2019. In these pictures, our team are seen preparing materials that will make the design thinking training smoother. We are always committed to seamless training sessions where our trainees are given everything they need to succeed with the design thinking strategy.

CUSTOMER JOURNEY
The customer journey is a graphical representation of how the customer perceives and experiences the service interface over time.

Yahoo was one of the biggest internet companies during the early days of the internet explosion. With the company’s meteoric rise came the need for it to solidify itself as a strong digital brand. Unfortunately, Yahoo failed to live up to the billing. Making a series of mistakes that will dethrone it as the biggest internet company. Here are a few reasons why Yahoo failed.

Do you know the importance of good customer experience? Do you understand how it affects your business growth? In today’s post, we look at 4 ways that customer service and experience affects business growth.

Listening to customers' complaints and trying to resolve them is great, but that is not all that delivering a great customer experience entails. It entails the entire experience that a customer has with your business. Good customer experience has become even more important in today’s world. For one, customers consider a company’s customer service before and after they patronise your business. According to a study, 90% of customers consider a company’s customer service when deciding whether or not to do business with a brand. So, how do you use positive customer experience design to improve business growth? Here are 5 ways you can.