Design Thinking with IDEO

Our Managing Partner, Mehrad, had the pleasure to host IDEO’s team in our offices.  They were on assignment from the UAE to give them a brief on the UAE startup ecosystem and to discuss various solutions to potential grand challenges faced by the government.

There was great exchange of ideas and brainstorming that led to a great couple hours of learning by all parties.  We were later invited to engage in a Design Thinking Workshop they were conducting as part of their assignment in the UAE, which was rather eye-opening as the participants were a mix of expats and Emiratis sharing their views on UAE’s innovative ambitions.

The main takeaway (without revealing the specifics): There are some grand societal challenges to be solved, that will take a collective solution from various stakeholders, it’s about identifying and empowering those stakeholders to be part of the solution.  The Dubai case study highlights a shift in traditional innovation thinking, the government is playing a big role in the Dubai innovation story in facilitating an environment conducive to grand challenge solutions for both local society and overall humanity.

Originally appeared on Mehrad’s Blog.