Design Thinking for Leaders Training in Dublin, Ireland

This course equips leaders and managers with the mindset, tools, and practices of Design Thinking to foster innovation, drive customer-centric strategies, and lead teams effectively. Participants will learn how to apply Design Thinking at a strategic and organizational level, create a culture of experimentation, and enable their teams to deliver impactful solutions.

Foundations and Strategic Problem Framing

Module 1: Introduction to Design Thinking for Leaders

• What is Design Thinking and why it matters for leadership
• Design Thinking vs traditional leadership approaches
• The leader’s role in fostering innovation and human-centered design
• Case studies of Design Thinking in business strategy

Module 2: Empathize – Building a Customer-Centric Mindset

• Understanding users, employees, and stakeholders
• Empathy as a leadership tool
• Methods for gathering insights (interviews, shadowing, surveys)
• Activity

Module 3: Define – Framing the Right Problem

• Translating user insights into opportunities
• Identifying systemic and organizational challenges
• Writing clear problem statements at a strategic level
• “How Might We” questions for leaders
• Activity

Driving Innovation and Embedding Design Thinking

Module 4: Ideate – Facilitating Creativity in Teams

• Encouraging divergent and convergent thinking in organizations
• Techniques for idea generation and prioritization
• Leading inclusive brainstorming sessions
• Activity

Module 5: Prototype – Enabling Experimentation

• Why leaders must support rapid prototyping
• Building a culture of experimentation and safe-to-fail learning
• Types of prototypes in business and strategy (process maps, service blueprints, mockups)
• Activity

Module 6: Test – Driving Feedback and Iteration

• The importance of feedback in innovation
• Testing prototypes with users, stakeholders, or employees
• Interpreting results for strategic decision-making
• Activity

Module 7: Embedding Design Thinking in Leadership Practice

• Aligning Design Thinking with organizational strategy
• Encouraging cross-functional collaboration
• Building a culture of empathy, creativity, and iteration
• Best practices for leaders adopting Design Thinking
• Wrap-up: Recap, personal action plans, and leadership roadmap