How Design Thinking Shapes High-Performing Teams at Work with Hannah Rosenfeld

What if designing a thriving workplace culture isn’t about mandates from the top but about intentionally shaping the conditions for people to come alive at work? In this episode, organizational design expert Hannah Rosenfeld reveals the six powerful levers that can transform teams and unlock lasting change from within.

Hannah Rosenfeld is an Executive Design Director at IDEO, renowned for her expertise in designing systems and interventions that organically shape organizational culture. With a background in design research and a passion for systems thinking, Hannah helps organizations foster meaningful behavioral shifts, favoring intentional design over top-down mandates. Her work challenges traditional notions of culture-building by focusing on creating the conditions for innovation, collaboration, and resilience to emerge and thrive. At IDEO, she leads multidisciplinary teams, leveraging real-world prototyping to drive lasting, transformative change within organizations.

Below are the key takeaways from this episode:

• Culture Can’t Be Dictated: Real culture is an emergent property formed by everyday behaviors and mindsets, not direct top-down control.
• Six Levers Guide Change: Hannah Rosenfeld highlights six organizational levers strategy, structure, infrastructure, process, incentives, and talent as key points for shaping culture.
• Alignment Drives Motivation: Connecting individual roles to the organization’s broader strategy and purpose boosts engagement and fulfillment.
• Incentives Must Match Goals: Lasting change requires incentive structures that truly support the behaviors and outcomes the organization values.
• Change is Gradual: Transforming culture is complex and takes time; successful change comes from prototyping, patience, and a willingness to experiment.

Todays guest, Hannah Rosenfeld, can be found online at:

Website: https://www.ideo.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-rosenfeld-86805940/

Your host, Dr. Bobbi Wegner, can be found online at:

Groops: https://www.joingroops.com/

Harvard Extension School Faculty Spotlight: https://youtu.be/zwLai-lu-pk?si=GpKNhtxVvTrS3-pu

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbiwegner/