Page 332 - The Design Thinking Playbook

#3.2 Lean models & business models # 3.1 Systems thinking

RÉSUMÉS Markus is the founder and managing partner of neueBerating Mike has been living in Switzerland since 2011. He works as a
GmbH and has been a business consultant for 15 years. As a Systems Engineering Manager in the health care industry. He also
student, he founded a start-up and gained invaluable experience in has experience in the aerospace and defense industry. He is a
e-commerce. Online topics and innovative business models are still co-founder of the Swiss Society of Systems Engineering (SSSE) and
part and parcel of his work as a consultant: He has designed the of the Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE). His great passion
digital transformation of many companies in the imaging and media is product development, and his track record in the implementation
industry. A graduate in business administration, he nonetheless of complex projects is impressive indeed.
feels at home among designers.

WHY ARE YOU A In my projects, I make sure I follow design thinking. Because only I’m not an expert in design thinking! My strength lies in the field
DESIGN THINKING when technology, economic feasibility, and the alignment come to- of systems engineering. Some time ago, though, I realized there
EXPERT? gether at the target group can real innovations emerge. I implement are significant overlaps between design thinking and systems
this in a form of project work, which is composed of workshops engineering. Over the course of my career, I realized many complex
and open-innovation elements, and test the planned project results projects. This experience helps me to educate and train others and
with the target group early on. to advance the approach through professional organizations such
as the SSSE.

YOUR MOST IMPORTANT Fail early! An excellent way is to build a 80% prototype with the In complex product development projects, the importance of the en-
DESIGN THINKING TIP? least effort and then test it with the target group. I’m a perfec- gineering team should not be underestimated. People are the most
tionist, so this part is always a little difficult for me. But it helps to complex systems in the universe that we know. For this reason,
keep up the speed and prevents hitting a dead end early on. systems made up of people (e.g., teams) are even more complex. To
guide such teams in a targeted way, it’s necessary to have a team
leader or facilitator with excellent communication and social skills.

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