In this Talent Tales episode, talent.imperative Founder Nicole Dessain had the honor to interview Lee Kim, Global Congress Lead PIH & Innovation at Pfizer.
Lee’s superpower is jumping off a cliff and not knowing what’s going to happen.
Lee is a mechanical engineer by training who pivoted to design thinking seven years ago. This transition came with a lot of self-reflection around how to interact with people differently and develop solutions in new ways.
One of the ways Lee is exploring the connection between humanity and creativity is through her whimsical “Wearable Tracy” initiative which was featured in The New Yorker and turned into a documentary.
At Pfizer, Lee is responsible for making connections with customers through large events. In her work, she tries to design the experience from the perspective of those who are attending the event. She asks herself: “What do we want our audience to feel and think about as they experience the space they are in?”
In her internal work with leaders, Lee facilitates workshops to create alignment around strategy and vision. Her goal is to make sure that these sessions result in ongoing changes in mindsets and behaviors.
Lee’s tip for overcoming the “flavor of the month” resistance when bringing design thinking into the organization is to embed it as an ongoing practice rather than a one off event or workshop. One way to so is to always ask whether we heard about the issue directly from the customer and if not, encourage each other to go out and collect those insights every time we embark on shaping something for them. Once designers hear these customer insights, it usually is a huge eye opener.
Recently, Lee collaborated with HR to re-imagine the onboarding experience due to the pandemic. As she conducted empathy interviews with employees, she not only extracted information but used these conversations to connect and give back to the employees. In her mind, it’s our duty to approach empathy interviews with our employees this way because they are also our colleagues and deserve that additional level of care and attention.
Want to learn more about the “Wearable Tracy” story and how to infuse more creativity into your life and work? Watch the entire interview on YouTube or listen to the Podcast.