Let’s analyse what happened in the story in the previous chapter, step by step.
Step 1 – Critical Thinking: When Doug saw the child reaction to his MRI scanner, he was justifiably shocked.
He stepped back, critically analysing the situation. He realised that, while the machine was a brilliant work of engineering, it failed as far as the user experience went.
Critical thinking is the ability to question ideas and assumptions, to see something and not take it for granted, not take it on surface level, but to independently think it through and apply your mind and make a judgment on that situation.
In other words, it is to carefully observe and make up your own mind about something. That is exactly what Doug did.
He critically examined the MRI scanner design and its impact on young patients. He analysed the specific challenges it posed, such as anxiety and the need to sedate children before they used it.
It took courage to do that, because the hardest thing to do is to criticize your own work
Many of us would have likely made an excuse and covered up the problem.
Step 2 – Change Mindset: It is one thing criticise something, and an entirely different thing to actually do something about it.
Doug did not just identify there was a problem. He also resolved that he needed to fix it.
That is the very essence of a change mindset: recognising the need for change and improvement. It is a crucial step towards finding a solution, and enjoying success.
And that is where most people get it wrong; they can identify the issues, they might complain about them, but they fail to cross the chasm between “something’s wrong” to “I need to fix this.”
Very, very few people make that jump. That is why so few people are successful.
Why don’t they make the jump? Because they don’t have a change mindset. They lack the courage to embrace the problem and to pursue a solution. It’s hard work.
When a situation arises, whether at home or at work, they fail to do some much needed self-talk at that point, saying to themselves: “This needs to change. I can do something about this. I will do whatever it takes.”
When a new technology is introduced at work, rather than embracing it, they become afraid and resort to scepticism and criticism. They make excuses.
But that’s not what Doug did. After criticizing his machine, he committed himself to change.
Step 3 – Complex Problem-Solving: Once Doug’s mind was made up to change, it was time for action.
The task ahead of him was a huge challenge: changing the user experience of the MRI scanner from terror to fun, without redesigning the machine, was a very complex problem.
The best approach would be to start by analysing the problem and its root causes. This would typically be a process of framing the problem as question, and then working to find an answer. A good starting point would be something on the lines of:
“How can we improve the user experience, thereby making this machine children-friendly?”
Beyond that, they would have probably broke down the issue into its constituent parts to pinpoint exactly where the issue lies. Just like a dentist, who will identify exactly which tooth has the cavity that is causing you the pain.
“Exactly what about this machine makes it so terrifying for kids, and how can we fix it?”
Next, they would go about finding a viable solution by applying problemsolving techniques.
Step 4 – Creativity: Solving problems requires creativity.
What followed might have been the team meeting and putting their minds together, each providing their own perspectives and ideas. They would have identified what resources they had, and what their constrains were.
They would have gotten inside the mind of a typical child. Then, they would have gone through a series of intense sessions of brainstorming, spit balling, sketching, mind mapping, playful exploration and prototyping.
In other words, they would have gotten creative.
Step 5 – Collaboration: No matter how clever you are, or how educated and experienced you are, you don’t have all the answers.
Nobody has all the answers.
As such, Doug’s team would have looked for ideas outside of their circle. They would have likely collaborated with a wide range of people from
diverse backgrounds, like school teachers, child psychologists, children’s book authors and graphic designers; basically, anybody who is clued up in understanding children and how they think.
Through this collaboration, they would have come up with ideas that were beyond anything the core team could have come up with.
Step 6 – Communication Skills: Make no mistake: one of the most valuable skills you can ever learn, is the ability to communicate effectively. Very few skills have the power to catapult a career, like the ability to effectively get a message across to your desired audience.
But communication is not just about speaking. This is a major fallacy. We can communicate in myriad ways – writing, body language, facial expressions, photography, art, poetry, song – the list goes on and on.
Often, other forms of communication are far more effective than verbal communication.
This story is a very good example of that. If you really think about it, this entire story is about communication, and nothing else. There was essentially a message that needed to be effectively sent to someone: the child. And the message was, “the MRI machine is not something to be afraid of!”
The father tried to send this message through verbally when he said to the little girl: “We’ve talked about this. You can be brave.” Despite her father being a person she inherently trusted, she clearly did not believe him. His attempt at verbal communication had failed dismally.
Consequently, the team at GE Healthcare decided to use a combination of two completely different types of communication: visual communication – with graphics – and story-telling, and the end result was a success.
And that, my friends, is how Doug Dietz and his team at GE Healthcare used the 6C’s, to innovate and design an extremely successful machine.
You can apply these skills too, in any way you choose: individually, or all at once; in the order described above, or in any order you deem appropriate to your situation.
You’ll be able to use these skills to turn any problem into a golden opportunity