Briefing

We find ourselves in times of hyper-change, in which many businesses face the constant challenge of matching the speed of the market in form of shorter release cycles, delivery timelines, or product life-cycles. This is why many companies are shifting their workforce to agile product development with self-organized interdisciplinary teams and flat hierarchies. In this operational model, the role and expectations of leaders are shifting from being the decision-taker to being the care-taker. However, the reason number one for employee engagement seems to remain the satisfaction with leadership. How can we better understand the needs of employees and leaders in this new form of collaboration? What are the key tasks and interactions of both? How might we design for better servant leadership?

In this course, students are asked to ideate solutions, services, offers for leaders and their employees in an agile organization. What services might we design to solve the current pain points or unleash untapped potential? What formats or artifacts – workshops, online platforms, apps, card games, role plays, campaigns, interventions, exhibitions etc. – might be the best and sustainable way to enable leadership development?