The Leader Upheaval Handbook: Lead Teams on an Innovation & Collaboration Journey with The 3-4-5 Method

by Michele DeStefano

Overview

One of the barriers to innovation in professional services is a lack of training in how to apply design thinking principles and lead multidisciplinary teams in collaborative problem solving. With this handbook, which accompanies her other books Leader Upheaval and Legal Upheaval, Professor Michele DeStefano attempts to fill in this training gap.

 

DeStefano – a former marketing executive and now a professor at the University of Miami School of Law and Affiliated Faculty and Program Chair in Harvard Law School’s Executive Education program – has spent over a decade researching client-centricity, collaboration, and innovation. This handbook, and the method it is based on, are the fruit of DeStefano’s 13 years of experience leading over more than 230 multidisciplinary, multicultural, and intergenerational teams on a 4-month innovation journey from a problem to a viable solution.

 

In a conversational and descriptive fashion, DeStefano provides detailed instructions on how to get teams to proactively collaborate and innovate with a process she developed over the years. The 3-4-5 Method™ helps teams move from problem to innovative solution in 3 Phases, over 4 months or less, in 5 Steps. With real examples, this handbook brings to life how to help teams collaborate on solving problems or seizing opportunities of any kind and yield a higher level of collaboration, inclusivity, creative thinking, and actionable results.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781639053476
Publisher:	American Bar Association
Publication date:	09/12/2023
Pages:	126
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Michele Destefano, BA, magna cum laude, Dartmouth College, JD, magna cum laude, Harvard Law School, is a Professor of Law at the University of Miami and Guest Faculty at Harvard Law School’s Executive Education Program and at IE School of Law. DeStefano is the founder of LawWithoutWalls and MOVEL∆W. DeStefano is a former Climenko Fellow and Lecturer at Harvard Law School. Before attending law school at Harvard, she was an advertising executive at Leo Burnett and a marketing manager at Levi Strauss & Company. Michele frequently speaks and runs workshops on creative problem solving, collaboration, culture change, communication, and innovation for lawyers. Michele currently lives in Miami, FL.

Read an Excerpt

This handbook is an accompaniment to my books Leader Upheaval and Legal Upheaval. It is designed for inclusive, adaptive leader-managers who have already read one of these books and have taken the recommended steps to hone their own skills and mindsets and develop the right processes for a culture of collaboration and innovation to thrive. It is designed for those who don’t have to be convinced of the importance of collaboration and innovation to client-centricity and culture creation.

This book is designed for the leader-managers who are tired of the design thinking methods that are messy and confusing and not geared toward professional service providers’ temperament, training, and current ways of working.

This book is designed for those who desire to lead multidisciplinary teams on a collaborative, innovation journey and who seek a method that is methodical, clear, and proven successful among professionals who have no prior training in design thinking or innovation.

If all of that describes you, this handbook is for you.

Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction v

 

1 An Overview of The 3-4-5 Method™: Why, What, and How . 1

 

A. Why The 3-4-5 Method™ Was Created................................................................1

B. What Is The 3-4-5 Method™?............................................................................. 4

1.             Phase 1: The KickOff (Individual, Team, and Community Building) 7

2.             Phase 2: Teaming through the 5 Steps to a Project of Worth . 9

3.             Phase 3: The ConPosium (Pitching, Assessing, and Celebrating) . 11

C. How to Apply The 3-4-5 Method™ and Use this Handbook................................ 12

 

2 Planning for a Collaboration or Innovation Journey . 15

A. Developing a Roadmap..................................................................................... 16

B. Creating the Right Space and Place................................................................... 18

C. Selecting Participants...................................................................................... 22

D. Identifying Team Project Topics........................................................................24

E. Creating Teams and Assigning Roles.................................................................27

F. Building Community Across the Teams.............................................................33

 

3 Phase 1: The Kickoff 35

A. Starting with Why and a Teaming Icebreaker.....................................................37

B. Introducing and Practicing the Three Rules of Engagement................................38

C. Setting Expectations and Explaining The 3-4-5 Method™.................................. 40

D. Creating Team Identity and Understanding Work Styles................................... 40

E. Exploring Step 1, the Talent, and the Topic........................................................ 41

F. Creating P.A.C.T.s and Reviewing Upcoming Deliverables..................................42

G. Celebrating the First Small Wins.......................................................................43

 

4 Phase 2: The 5 Steps to a Project of Worth . 45

A. Step 1: Exploring and Investigating the Challenge..............................................47

B. Step 2: Finding and Refining the Problem or Opportunity..................................52

 

iv The Leader Upheaval Handbook

C. Step 3: Understanding Key Stakeholders and Target Audience(s)........................63

D. Step 4: Solving the Problem and Prototyping.....................................................70

E. Step 5: Planning, Assessing, and Testing the Solution........................................ 80

 

5 Phase 3: The ConPosium and Beyond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91

A. Prepping for the ConPosium............................................................................. 91

B. Facilitating the ConPosium...............................................................................97

 

Conclusion 101

 

Appendix . 103

 

Acknowledgments . 113

 

About the Author 115

 

Index . 117