DOEC in the Field: Chels Watkins Embraces Design Thinking for Effective Organizational Problem-Solving
Our latest MSLOC community member profile with alum Chels Watkins (MS22) is based on a live interview conversation, conducted via Zoom, in January 2024.
Please introduce yourself and share a little about your professional background before and after completing the Designing for Organizational Effectiveness Certificate (DOEC).
Before joining the Master of Science in Learning & Organizational Change (MSLOC) and Designing for Organizational Effectiveness Certificate (DOEC) programs, I held various roles in strategy and operational excellence at a renewable energy organization. I’ve always been drawn to helping organizations achieve their missions and strategic goals through design, process, people, and culture.
In my current role as an Experience Design Consultant, I solve problems by working to surface and challenge enterprise-wide assumptions and name and explore unknowns within the organization's internal and external environment. I do this by constructively guiding stakeholders through ambiguity without diminishing creativity and helping organizations develop organizational ambidexterity so they can successfully manage the paradox between innovation and stable growth, a skill I developed during my seven-year tenure at a high-growth start-up.
How has the Designing for Organizational Effectiveness Certificate (DOEC) influenced your career trajectory?
DOEC helped me build out a robust toolkit of frameworks and methodologies that has aided me in cracking open complex organizational challenges. But that toolkit isn't the game changer about this certificate; this program, and the coaches and professors who lead it, helped me develop a new way of thinking grounded in design and continuous discovery.
Processes are ever evolving, and organizational contexts are always changing. I am trying to resist the binary working style that we can just drop a bunch of resources on a project, and it will work as planned. Situations are going to shift, and one should be able to adapt and build touchpoints to identify the shifts and reactions. An organization must take incremental steps to achieve strategic goals. Long term project outcomes cannot be predicted with 100% accuracy, so it is necessary to understand goals, set expectations, be open minded and experiment on a journey of continuous discovery.
I had been using design thinking and experimentation instinctually for most of my career; the courses helped me develop a more formal repertoire of training, terminology and frameworks. A lot of problems are solved in isolation at the leadership level. However, incorporating the people who might be impacted by any proposed change, especially in the discovery phase, helps generate novel perspectives that could lead to better solutions and outcomes.
I appreciate the art of qualitative interviews to elicit stories, reflect on those valuable interactions and frame them in ways to get at the core of the experience to focus on people and their journeys as opposed to issues or processes. This specific way of thinking and problem solving has been an instrumental tool in shaping my career so far, and the certificate played a major role in helping me refine my approach.
How has being part of the community benefited you in terms of connections and/or collaborations?
Design thinking and experiential solutioning is at the core of my problem solving style. There are not many in my regular professional interactions who work this way. MSLOC & DOEC has given me a connection point to a community of practice with like-minded individuals. I always find my discussions with community members insightful and energizing. This is also the first group I draw inspiration from when I plan my career progression. I feel extremely supported by the community – members always go the extra mile in setting each other up for success; be it advice, help expanding one’s network or discussions regarding future career steps
What advice would you give to current or potential students pursuing the Designing for Organizational Effectiveness Certificate?
I would ask current students to have as much fun with the program as possible. It is one of the safest spaces to be vulnerable and experiment. I‘d advise students to invest time in building connections that they can rely on later; be it with the instructors, coaches, cohort members or alumni. One thing I wish I would have done while in the program was taking the learnings and applying them to an organizational situation from my past. Spending time applying the learnings to a context one is familiar with can really embed the knowledge and help rethink how one could have approached the problem in the past.
I encourage anyone who is potentially considering this Certificate to just go for it. The coursework broadens one’s perception around the meaning of design and how it can be adapted to almost all settings.
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MSLOC in the Field is a series where community members share perspectives on their professional journeys and the roles MSLOC has played in advancing their learning and career goals.
About Chels Watkins: Chels has ten years of experience designing and leading complex operational and strategic initiatives. Chels balances systems thinking with an unyielding commitment to human-centered design practices, creating space for difficult conversations and reflexive learning cycles even in the most ambiguous and fast-paced environments. Chels' leadership style enables strategic insight, agility, and creative problem-solving by relentlessly working to surface and challenge enterprise-wide assumptions; name and explore unknowns within the organization's internal and external environment; constructively guide stakeholders through ambiguity without diminishing creativity; and manage the paradox between innovation and stable growth by cultivating organizational ambidexterity.