I embarked on this project curious about the practical ways in which design and innovation skills can help overcome barriers to making change happen in small businesses. Having researched the topic over the last years, I had a good theoretical and practical understanding of what the barriers were and the reasons for them. But the tricky part is that these barriers are often highly obscured, manifesting in surface level issues. So what I was really curious about was what the gap for making change happen in businesses really meant in practice, particularly for the strategic and tactical aspects.

I've been speaking to a lot of small business leaders who wish to move out of their comfort zone but are frustrated by the inherent ambiguities of the process… How do you, as a small business leader, hone in on opportunities and navigate the tension between the old and the new to create the change you want and need?