Design Thinking DC

*This is an in-person event.

Are you looking to enhance your decision-making skills and become more effective in managing your tasks and projects? Join us for a workshop on Prioritization Techniques, brought to you by Caitlin Anderson and Seema Habash from Thinkly Solutions.

In this workshop we will delve into why prioritization is crucial in today's fast-paced world and learn a variety of prioritization techniques that you can apply immediately. We'll also put these techniques into practice through exercises that will empower you to stop feeling overwhelmed by your to-do lists and start taking action.

This interactive session will give you practical tools and strategies you can use to prioritize both in your personal lives and with your teams. We’ll:

• Discuss prioritization and why it’s important
• Learn different prioritization techniques and when to use them

Agenda

1. Introduction
2. What is prioritization and what methods do people use?
3. Overview of several prioritization techniques with practice activities
4. Q&A

About our Presenters
Caitlin Anderson and Seema Habash are the Co-Founders of Thinkly Solutions, a women-owned company that is focused on transforming traditional ways of working. Through interactive workshops and meeting optimization strategies, we empower individuals, teams, and organizations to collaborate better, solve problems faster, and achieve better outcomes.

Before starting Thinkly Solutions, Caitlin worked at Uber and IBM Consulting where she successfully led complex cross-functional initiatives. She has a proven track record of managing diverse teams and delivering results that exceed expectations. She worked in China as a participant in the IBM Corporate Service Corps. As part of this global leadership development program, she facilitated design thinking sessions and provided pro bono consulting services. Caitlin holds a BA in Economics from UVA.

Seema spent her career at IBM Consulting prior to Thinkly Solutions, where she gained expertise in strategic consulting, designing and facilitating workshops, and conducting situation analyses. She is skilled in translating complex ideas into user-friendly language and fostering a human-centered mindset. Throughout her experience in team leadership, she focused on creating open environments that brought diverse perspectives together to implement solutions that meet end-user needs. Seema holds a BS in Information Systems, BS in Marketing, and an MBA from UMD.

*This is an in-person event.

Change is crucial to personal and collective development, yet it remains a daunting process. Every new year we make a range of promises to ourselves- eating healthier, establishing boundaries in relationships, becoming a better public speaker, being more direct in communication and feedback, etc. Even when we want it badly, breaking old habits and thought patterns can be a real struggle.

We've seen this challenge play out not just in our personal lives but also within our organizations, where leaders and employees grapple with change. Sometimes, the reasons are obvious – fear of power shifts, the stress of learning new skills, or the anxiety of moving to a new role. Other times, it's a head-scratcher. We have the desire, we have the skills, and are committed to change, yet we remain inert. Whether it's personal goals, professional aspirations, or systemic reforms, the ability to change often feels frustratingly elusive, even with all the motivation in the world.

So, what's causing these inherent tensions? How do we uncover the hidden motivations that hold us back and overcome this natural resistance to change? We'll be using Kegan and Lahey's Immunity to Change framework to diagnose why change is a struggle and figure out how to overcome it.

Agenda
6:30 - Networking
6:45 - Welcome & Introductions
6:50 - Overview & Exercise Introduction
7:00 - Exercise - Immunity to change
8:00 - Share-out, Q&A
8:30 - Wrap up

About our presenter
Ayushi Jain is a design strategist committed to cultivating human creativity and imagination to create meaningful change in the society. She uses human-centered design, systems thinking, and organizational change principles to drive innovation in impact-oriented organizations.