Maybe
creativity seems to be a luxury of life, nice but not necessary. Sir Ken
Robinson believes creativity is as important in life as literacy and numeracy.
And the older I get the more I believe this too.
The story
of Doug Dietz demonstrates this beautifully. Dough Dietz is a principal
designer with the US company GE Healthcare and for more than 20 years he has
been designing diagnostic imaging equipment like MRI scanners. When he
participated in the executive education program at Stanford’s Design School (d.school)
he decided to look into the experience children and families had when a child
had to have an MRI scan.
He quickly
realized that the experience was awful. The children arrived crying and scared,
the parents were stressed wondering how they would get their child through the
experience. 80% of the children had to be sedated. Doug had felt very proud
about the technical achievement of designing a MRI scan but now he was shocked
how much of an ordeal families and children had to go through. He made a firm
decision to change their experience for the better.
He gathered
a very diverse team which included children and child development experts to
help him create innovative ideas. He wanted to understand what caused the
children’s anxiety. He looked at the process of having a MRI scan from the
children’s perspective. He quickly realized that the whole process was cold, dark
and threatening. He also realized that the answer was to use imagination which
children have in abundance.
As a result
of the blue sky thinking process the MRI experience was completely transformed.
Instead of having to go through the scary ordeal, children entered a jungle adventure
or a pirate island, a cosy campsite or a nautical adventure. Doug explained how
he was talking with the parents of a little girl who was having a scan in one
of the new scanners and he described, with tears in his eyes, how the little girl
came back after the scan trying desperately to get her mother’s attention
because she had this burning question: “Can we come back tomorrow?”.
Doug
described the amazing results after only one year of the new MRI scans being
used: in one year only 2 children had to be sedated, waiting times were reduced
because more children could be scanned in a day and customer satisfaction went
up to 92%. He said that all these results were very impressive but what
really meant the world for him was the fact that he had improved children’s experience
of healthcare. He had taken out the stress and created a fun experience
instead. In addition, one of the healthcare professionals told him that she had
been reminded why she had become a healthcare professional in the first place.
If you want
to see all the amazing MRI scan designs I urge you to watch Doug’s tedtalk. It’s a
very emotional talk and it will touch your heart.
Doug
finished saying that when you design for meaning good things will happen. He also
said that even though the work is serious and important “if you’re not having
fun it’s half your fault.”
Being
creative is very important, it has meaning and it makes our life experience better,
richer and more fun. Best of all, we can all be more creative. All that is
needed is our decision and commitment to develop and nurture our creativity.
How are you
going to be a little bit more curious today? What can you do or see differently
today to spark your creativity?
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