Design-Thinking - Empathize. Define. Ideate. Develop. Implement.

Invite me to speak

Guest lectures, keynotes, and facilitated workshops.

I speak on design thinking, the Growth Diamond Model, and practical product problem-solving - for MBA and engineering programs, leadership offsites, and cross-functional teams. Sessions are interactive, not slide-only.

Learn the framework first. The Academy is a free, full guide to the Growth Diamond ModelTM. Share it with your students or team before our session.

Topics

Each topic can be delivered as a guest lecture or expanded into a hands-on workshop.

  • What is design thinking - and what it is not

    MBA, engineering, and executive audiences

    60-90 min guest lecture

  • The Growth Diamond Model in practice

    Product, program, and operations leaders

    60-90 min keynote or lecture

  • Empathize & Define bootcamp

    Cross-functional teams with a live challenge

    Half-day to 2 days

  • From pain points to problem statements

    Product teams stuck in roadmap debates

    Half-day or full-day workshop

  • Design thinking for operational excellence

    Operations, quality, and process improvement groups

    1-2 facilitated sessions

  • Faculty development on the Growth Diamond Model

    Professors building design thinking into curriculum

    Custom

Formats & duration

FormatDurationBest for
Guest lecture60-90 minLarge batches - framework intro + Q&A
Half-day workshop3-4 hoursOne EDIDI phase deep-dive with exercises
Full-day workshop6-7 hoursEmpathize through Ideate on a live scenario
2-day bootcamp2 daysEmpathize and Define with team outputs
Executive briefing2 hoursLeadership vocabulary and decision framing
VirtualFlexibleSame formats, adapted for distributed teams

For a sample MBA agenda, see How to Run a 90-Minute Design Thinking Workshop in an MBA Classroom. For a recent college bootcamp, see the MBA bootcamp case study.

What audiences take away

Sessions draw on 20+ years of product and program leadership - including design thinking workshops run at scale inside global organizations.

  • A shared vocabulary from the Growth Diamond ModelTM - PSM spaces and EDIDI phases
  • Hands-on practice with empathy interviews, pain points, or problem statements
  • Artifacts teams can use immediately - not theory-only inspiration
  • Free Academy resources to continue learning after the session

What participants say

Names withheld until confirmed - roles reflect design thinking and problem-framing workshops.

The session forced us to slow down and listen before jumping to solutions. Our problem statement finally matched what customers were actually telling us.
- Program manager, operations workshop
I've sat through many innovation workshops. This one left us with artifacts we could use the next Monday - not just sticky notes on a wall.
- Cross-functional team lead, design thinking cohort
The empathy interview practice was uncomfortable in the best way. We realized we'd been validating our assumptions, not discovering new ones.
- Workshop participant, product and operations team
What stood out was the structure - Empathize through Define with clear handoffs. Teams that usually debate for weeks left with a shared frame.
- Facilitator peer, internal learning program

Invite me to your campus, offsite, or team session.

Share your audience, format, and dates - we'll align on topic and depth.