Paving the way for an agile customer-centric approach of working A collaboration between AkzoNobel and DesignThinkers Academy By Nina Maldonado and Tim Schuurman Intro
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“AkzoNobel has always been a very product-driven company: quality and performance of our products have a high standard. However, based on customer’s trends and expectations we see a clear need to make a shift. We have to focus on understanding customers at the core; getting a deep understanding of their motivations and needs. We are making a clear transition in this, not only to maintain business for the long time, but also to develop new value propositions and business models that are highly relevant for our customers.”
AkzoNobel has been active in the paints and coatings market for more than two hundred years. They are regarded as the expert in the craft of making paints and coatings, setting the global standard in color and protection since 1792. AkzoNobel continues to deliver the utmost quality thanks to its expert touch and comprehensive color know-how.
Article
Introducing a network for Creative Leadership To create awareness around Design Thinking, DesignThinkers Academy (DTA) introduced a network for Creative Leadership. Tim Schuurman, owner of DTA: “People in these types of organizations who want to get started with new ways of working often need guidance: what steps should I take and what problems can you encounter along the way if you want to bring the organization along? We discovered years ago that they do have a large network, but not for discussing these kinds of issues. We introduced Design Thinking within AkzoNobel as a movement to make the transition to customer-focused working. This took place in the form of Creative Leadership sessions with people from Nina’s innovation team as well as colleagues outside her team. In addition, we were in constant contact and exchanged knowledge and experiences. We have organized capability building training programs to guide employees on how to implement Design Thinking in projects. Finally, we also coached project teams, in which consultants from DTA participated as Service Designers.”
“I was part of the team that started the innovation transformation. At that time, we started looking at what companies were doing, also outside the financial industry. We saw that many successful companies were focusing strongly on the customer. And Design Thinking resulted as one of the core elements helping to drive innovations. That’s why we reached out to DesignThinkers Academy. We followed some basic courses on Design Thinking and I invited DTA to help us understand how to apply Design Thinking in practice.”When Nina joined AkzoNobel, she found a rather traditional, product-oriented organization with excellent quality standards but immediately noticed that some senior leaders were making a big shift in their way of thinking: “They employed people with a different way of thinking: more digital, a customer-centered attitude, a drive for innovation. So, I started to get together with these people. We asked ourselves: how can we help the organization?”
Design Thinking as the driving force for innovation Nina has been working at AkzoNobel since the end of 2017 where she is currently a Change Manager with a strong eye for innovation. Previously she was working for ING Bank, where she initially came into contact with DTA. “We have to focus on understanding customers at the core; really understanding their motivations and needs.” Nina Maldonado, AkzoNobel.
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