Becoming an unlikely change agent for innovation in financial services (Part 2 of 4)
Welcome back to our 4-part blog series on HSBC’s journey to implementing an e-learning Design Thinking course. Steve Suarez, Global Head of Innovation, Finance & Risk at HSBC, continues his four part series about working with d.schoolers Justin Ferrell and Jeremy Utley to create an innovation program at HSBC.
This is the second installment. If you need to get caught up, please click here to read Part 1.
In the first blog, I discussed how I was instantly drawn to the Stanford Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program as a foundation for my new role in leading Innovation in Global Risk. I was looking to challenge myself personally and professionally, and this program exposed me to new perspectives.
The combination of energy and the powerful subject matter shared by Perry Klebahn and Jeremy Utley immediately inspired me to think of ways to incorporate design thinking concepts into my day-to-day role. Previously, I completed an online course with the Stanford Center for Professional Development in Advanced Project Management in 2006, and felt a step-change in my skills, significantly contributing to my leadership journey in Transformation and Change Management. I immediately experienced the exact same step-change when I completed the entire eight course program of which Empathize and Prototype: A Hands-on Dive into the Key Tools of Design Thinking was one. I learned why design is key and if that is not right, what you are trying to execute is flawed.
As part of the Innovation Program, it was my responsibility to lead idea management, experimentation, idea governance, and drive Proof of Concepts such as ChatBots, faster credit decisioning and new ways to better our customer experience. I knew the design thinking framework would seamlessly lend itself to this, and it genuinely helped us avoid pitfalls in the early days of the programme. Instead of blindly pushing forward with my concept of what innovation should look like, I recognised that by opening up to different opinions, even challenging ones, I could pivot and enable the programme to flex and grow more organically.
Certificate Awarding…Planting the Seeds to Bring Design Thinking to HSBC
The Stanford Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program was entirely virtual so when I finally had the chance to meet Jeremy and Perry in person at the certificate awarding ceremony, I was incredibly excited, and couldn’t help but share with them my vision for a bespoke design thinking training course for HSBC colleagues. The idea was met with great enthusiasm which was infectious! That night we recorded a short video that became the genesis for the design thinking course. Check out the videos below.
Back to HSBC
Initially, my idea was to create our own internal design thinking course for employees. I thought by democratising this content and making it accessible for our colleagues globally beyond the Risk organization, it would have a larger impact. After several months of gathering requirements and pulling material together, the team and I looked at the curated content. Whilst in essence the shape and feel of the course looked great, I knew something was missing. I pictured myself as someone learning about design thinking for the first time; would I want this to come from a team that was new to the concept or would I want to have the opportunity to hear from the experts, just as I had at Stanford? Did our course recreate the energy and impact of the teaching? The answer was no.
At that point in time, there were several design thinking courses available at the bank — all created internally and designed for people who already had knowledge of design thinking. That’s when it struck me; why not create a powerful 101 that would then lend itself to the other courses already established? For colleagues to truly buy into design thinking and for the courses to be credible and come alive, I knew it had to focus on tangible, real-life tips that could be applied immediately. So, who better to go to than the originators?
The Negotiating Table
Often in the innovation community, we only hear about the ground-breaking, visionary, profit-generating success stories. But innovation is also about the perseverance and determination behind the scenes.
I have to give a lot of credit to both HSBC and the Stanford Center for Professional Development here — both parties were determined to deliver this, and the support I received from stakeholders was empowering throughout the process.
After many months of ideation and back and forth between us, we were able to define a structure for the course and how it would be implemented. We decided on a two-day offsite with Justin Ferrell, Adjunct Professor at Stanford University, where we would record the content, split these recordings out into different modules and host them on our internal learning management system. We even designed a special camera system where we cut a hole in the centre of the tables to enable a 360-degree view of the participants, to capture all of the natural engagement and contribution real-time with the least amount of interference — in the wild if you will! With the ideas coming to life, everything was falling into place and on its way to fruition.
Ready to go
Once we ironed out the logistics, I was elated. My vision would finally be implemented. March 17th and 18th, 2020 couldn’t arrive soon enough for me, and I had asked Justin to purchase his ticket to come to London, England. On March 11th, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the world came to a halt.
Next: In part three of this series, I will discuss how we managed to pivot to deliver this training amidst a pandemic.
About Steve Suarez — With a track record of over 27 years of transformation experience in consulting, telecommunications and financial services, Steve is a strong advocate of design thinking and its application for customer solutions. He is passionate about Innovation and the Growth Mind-set which drives his continuous learning. Most recently Steve took part in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship programme at Stanford. Please reach out to innovation@hsbc.com with any questions.
Want to bring innovation to your organization? Join our Stanford d.school Design Thinking Bootcamp to bring design thinking to your team.
