This Field Manual looks at how to apply design thinking to solve complex problems. It offers suggestions for how to undo our habitual approach to problem-solving, urging us to look at problems within the broader context in which they arise.

The answer to a given problem is influenced by the way we pose our questions. If we’re framing the problem with a limited viewpoint––or assuming a certain outcome––we’re unlikely to come away with an optimal solution. This Field Manual looks at how we can learn to reimagine a problem to discover more innovative answers.

When we approach a problem, we often overestimate our understanding of the conditions that brought it about. This Field Manual looks at a crucial step in the process: gathering real-world data. We’ll explore good interviewing techniques, ways to develop an ethnographic mindset, and––particularly key for HR professionals––how to bring empathy into our problem-solving.

Once we understand the problems we’re solving for, we need to generate ideas. This Field Manual explores a step in the design-thinking process that’s often rushed or even forgotten: how to create the conditions for ideas to flourish. It also explores how (and when) to balance big ideas with constraints.

The problems we face today are too complex and too unpredictable to be solved in the comfort of a conference room. Once we have good ideas, we have to experiment: testing ideas in their real-world context, carefully measuring what works for our people and our organizations, and gradually perfecting our thinking. This Field Manual offers insights into how to test, when to test, and what to look for at an experiment’s end.

Problem solving processes are iterative. We frame, learn, ideate, and test, over and over. Throughout the process, we make decisions that, ideally, move us forward. This Field Manual looks at the factors wrapping around our choices and how to use them to move closer and closer to an impactful solution.