Analysis. The lost art of interviews, gutfeel and google.
Could you do innovation, design thinking and process redesign without workshops? The answer is unequivocally yes.
The purpose of workshops is to get a large amount of information from a group of people in a short span of time. The opposite often happens, they take long, people are distracted and often we get little information.
Workshops play a role, but they are only one tool in your kit, there are several others. Don’t use a jackhammer when a screwdriver would work.
There’s quiet interviews, your own intuition, and googling similar industries and experiences. Once you’re ready, get a group together and proceed.
Find your buddy, trust your gut, and do your research. The workshops can wait for now.