Firmenich: Culture of empathy revives design thinking process.

The need: Leadership at the largest privately owned flavor and fragrance company rolled out an organization-wide training on design thinking, but progress stalled. Realizing they had under-emphasized the empathy component, they asked IX to train and equip leadership to form and maintain deeper connections with each other and the people they served.

The approach: By conducting stakeholder interviews before planning any specific training modules, we got to understand individual learning styles, to set clear expectations across the entire team. and to get a clean read on potential training obstacles. The subsequent full-day on-site interactive training included modules that focused on listening, acknowledging the plurality of each person’s story, and identifying clear boundaries between self and other.

The result: Design thinking program is successfully back up and running, with several groups of 5-6 continuing to meet and practice exercises. One executive added, “I’ve never thought about empathy as anything other than kindness. Today changed all that. It’s much more personal. I will absolutely take what I’ve learned here back to my team and to our business partners.”