There’s a naysayer in every group, a burr under every saddle. So, what do you do when you’ve gotten buy-in from higher-ups to use design thinking to tackle a human-centered design challenge in your department, and in the midst of it one person on your team just won’t get with the program?

We’ve heard a lot about the benefits of design thinking for creative problem solving; as a way to brainstorm new ideas for processes or products; and as the vehicle that can break departments out of the past and into the future. But when we’re talking about design thinking, many of us confine our thinking to for-profit companies. But design thinking can be used to solve the complex problems a for-profit, non-profit or government organization needs to tackle.

There’s an old expression: the more things change, the more they stay the same. You can find examples of it everywhere from corporate America to academia to government. Whether it’s a new CEO promising sweeping changes after a merger, new policies trumpeted on a college campus, or a new Congressman taking office buoyed on the platform of change, things tend to…well, not change.

We know design thinking generates value for the business, and chances are since you are reading this post, you probably think so too. That’s awesome. Welcome to the ever-growing community of professionals who recognize that creativity and innovation starts by putting customers at the center of every decision you make.