Recipes for Systemic Change - Helsinki Design Lab

Subsection93Selecting a ChallengeThe richness of the topic that you choose for the Studio isan essential part of determining the Studio’s likelihood ofgenerating something useful by the end of the week. A goodtopic is neither too small in scale, nor too grand. It is relevantto you, the talent you hope to attract and your organization’snetworks. Of these factors the question of scale is the hardestto determine, and in some ways the most important.Topics that balance scale well take a big, general themeand connect it to a focused, specific entry point, allowingthis connection to be traversed back and forth by the Studioteam. This is why all of our challenge briefings have a titleand subtitle, as you will discover in the next How-To. YourStudio will benefit from being able to work between scales,exploring the thematic issue through specific examples, andtesting the relevance of specific possible solutions against thebroader concerns of the big picture. Selecting something asbroad as ‘ageing’ as a Studio topic, for instance, requires thatthe team spend an undue part of their week trying to definethe term and what it includes. Conversely, something as narrowas ‘cutting costs in the system of home visits to bedriddenelderly citizens’ is so specific that it may not really be astrategic issue.PeopleProcessProblemPlaceUse these four criteria to select a theme and its specificentry point.1 Is it important to your organization?Our mandate is to improveFinland’s international competitiveness,so we lookedfor topic that matter to thefuture of Finland2 Is it relevant outside yourimmediate sphere?To be able to attract worldclasstalent we need aproblem that talent all overthe world cares about andare working on3 Can you build a networkaround the issue?A quick reality check ofhow much effort would berequired to discover andengage stakeholders forresearch, lectures, Studiomembers etc.4 Is it a focused topic with bigpicture implications?Avoid problems which areeither too specific or toobroad