Design Thinking: Empathize and Define

August 2013

Problem Statement

The school leaving students need to have more flexibility in what they study in their college and be assured of jobs prospects for non-engineering courses because it is better for them if they get a chance to study what they love and enjoy and so, there is a greater chance of their success.

Solution: Regulation Driven

•Be a socialist economy where everyone, from engineers to artists to farmers are having full employment and equal wages

•Government benefit schemes for non-engineers who want to pursue more non-traditional jobs

•Encourage basic research or fine arts through grants and scholarships

•Make investments in students to encourage such courses tax deductible

•Mandate team composition with % non-engineers in many jobs e.g. product design teams

•Reserve government projects or sourcing to companies which employ people with basic science (Physics / Chemistry, etc..) or liberal arts background

Solution: Midway Solutions

•60:40 devotion of time in college with 60% to streams which are employment oriented (e.g. engineering) and 40% of time devoted to doing what a student is intrinsically motivated to do or is good at doing and continuing this into workplaces at 80:20 rule (e.g. broad extension of 20% of personal project time in Google)

•Continuing education and Open courseware projects to learn what one is interested in, at one’s place pace and place of convenience to open for interesting broadening of knowledge: employment focused and motivational

•Mandate a year which is free for students to explore different subjects to know more about a topic they like before deciding on a college mix

Solution: Futuristic

•Create a population through artificial selection at birth such that a person’s internal skills are according to needs of society

•Create a society where employment benefits are indexed across an occupation and every occupation has same hierarchical benefits

•Have different planets across universe populated so that each person is placed in a planet where he / she is free to pursue a subject or work he / she is passionate about and benefits that planet as well so dual benefits of personal and society is obtained

Idea Selection: Easiest

•60:40 devotion of time in college with 60% to streams which are employment oriented (e.g. engineering) and 40% of time devoted to doing what a student is intrinsically motivated to do or is good at doing and continuing this into workplaces at 80:20 rule (e.g. broad extension of 20% of personal project time in Google)•So, for 40% of time in college, a person can study arts even though he / she is an engineering student•Later, more time and resources (e.g. a stipend) to pursue ones interests•Although similar things may be happening in some countries, in India, the choice of subjects one can take in college are limited and there is not much choice of mixing and matching

Idea Selection: Disruptive

•Be a socialist economy where everyone, from engineers to artists to farmers are having full employment and equal wages•This may upturn our whole capitalistic society but give people incentive to pursue what one wants to, since he /she will be assured of decent living amenities, irrespective of career choice

Idea Selection: Favorite

•Continuing education and Open courseware projects to learn what one is interested in, at one’s place pace and place of convenience to open for interesting broadening of knowledge: employment focused and motivational•Online courses allow us to experiment and even fail, without public humiliation•One can discover new interests and sometimes, there are revelations that one may not be good at or like what one thought may be interesting initially•Allows people to pivot in life: 2nd chances, 3rd chances or more

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