Problem-Based Effectual Action fuels Digital Mindsets.

Organizations stand at different stages on their inevitable digital transformation journey. All must keep up with the speed of emerging technologies infiltrating office and factory floors. But often it remains a matter of chance whether employees develop the required digital mindsets to make valuable use of digital opportunities. This paper summarizes pattern how to grow digital mindsets within the conditions and constraints of medium to large enterprises. The pattern stem from a digital upskilling curriculum that runs at PricewaterhouseCoopers since 2018. Employees applying for this program are encouraged to develop and cultivate digital competences by resolving problems from their working domain with a special focus to leverage digital means. The authors learned that existing digital trainings were insufficient to most people in making best use of digital tools in a digitized world. To address this matter, they borrowed ideas from two distinct theoretical approaches and created a pedagogical framework called Problem-Based Effectual Action (PBEA). It is a superimposition of research from two different realms, namely innovation processes (Double Diamond) and entrepreneurship (Effectuation Theory). The Double Diamond focuses on the importance of separating problem analysis from solution building. Effectuation Theory adds ideas on how to proceed in organizational environments that restrict the development of forward innovative ideas. After outlining the need for such a framework, the authors present seven pattern that emerged from best practices anchored in matching those theories for the purpose at hand. The greater goal behind their efforts is to create a future-prove digital empowerment program which helps individuals in and beyond organizational settings “to beat their own paths through the digital jungle”.