Processes by which design concepts are developed
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What separates useful design research from simply asking people what they want?In this episode of Designing in the Wild, Rob sits down with longtime friend and colleague Jill Bohaboy, owner of Trek Solutions, to explore the craft of consumer and design research, and how better observation, better questions, and a willingness to explore can uncover needs people may not be able to articulate themselves.Jill brings years of experience conducting research across an enormous range of industries and product categories. Together, Jill and Rob revisit some of the research they've conducted over the years and unpack the methods behind it—from observational research and shop-alongs to qualitative interviews, quantitative studies, co-creation, and hands-on "build-it" sessions.They also get into one of the biggest challenges in research: bias. How do you ask questions without steering the answer? How do you identify the right people to speak with? And how do you get beyond what someone says to understand what their behavior is actually telling you?For designers and smaller teams, Jill also makes an important case that meaningful research doesn't necessarily require a Fortune 500 budget. Sometimes it starts by simply getting out from behind the computer, watching people interact with the world, and asking a thoughtful question.In this episode:• Qualitative vs. quantitative research• Observation and contextual research• Finding latent needs and compensating behaviors• Co-creation and "build-it" sessions• Avoiding bias and asking better questions• Recruiting the right research participants• Bringing clients into the research process• Conducting useful research on a limited budget• Turning consumer insight into better productsAs Jill puts it: don't let research become a roadblock—let it become a launch pad.Welcome back to Designing in the Wild, Season 3.Have ideas or just want to say hi, shoot me a note. Support the show
SummaryIn this episode, I'm joined by Moses Adedoyin. Moses is leading Venture Design & Innovation over at GuideWell, where he's testing new healthcare solutions to help patients.We discuss what testing looks like when you work in one of the most heavily regulated environments imaginable. Moses shares how his background in engineering and simulation helped shape the way he approaches testing and how his team built a lab where they could test new ideas safely before introducing them into a live healthcare environment.We deep dive into the real world practicality of using synthetic data to increase the fidelity of experiments and how that can dramatically reduce the time and cost required to evaluate new solutions. Moses and I explore digital twins, AI-assisted simulation, and how technology enables healthcare teams to spend less time on administrative work and more time actually helping patients in need.If you want to learn more about testing in highly regulated healthcare, using AI and synthetic data, then you'll love this episode.TakeawaysTesting in regulated environments requires a different path. In healthcare, teams can't always “just talk to customers” or run a quick experiment because PHI, consent, security, procurement, and regulation all shape what is possible.Synthetic data can help teams build evidence earlier. Moses' team uses synthetic data to test concepts, technology, and early value before involving real patient data, which helps reduce both cost and cycle time.Increase data fidelity as the evidence gets stronger. Their progression moves from little or no data, to synthetic data, to de-identified data, and eventually to real PHI only when the experiment justifies it. The goal is faster, higher-quality decisions, not just faster experiments. Synthetic data can help eliminate weak technologies or partners before teams spend months navigating legal, security, and procurement requirements.Synthetic data does not replace real patients. It can work well for feasibility, proof of technology, and early proof of value, but real people are still essential when testing behavior, trust, experience, or clinical outcomes.A safe sandbox makes experimentation possible. Creating an environment outside the core production system allowed Moses' team to fail faster, learn safely, and generate evidence before asking the organization to make larger investments.AI should free people to do more of the work only humans can do. In healthcare, Moses sees the opportunity in automating administrative work so clinicians and care managers can spend more time directly helping patients.Guest LinksLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mosesadedoyin/
Julie Sayers never planned to become a business owner or mayor. She began her career as a dealer designer, became a co-owner of encompas, and now serves as the mayor of Lenexa, Kansas.In this conversation, Julie shares how design skills like listening, problem-solving, building coalitions, and serving people have shaped every part of her career. She talks about encompas's unique approach to design and customer service, the future of AI in the industry, taking on major leadership roles, and why she rejects the idea that imposter syndrome should hold people back.Julie's story is a powerful reminder that a career in design can lead in unexpected directions. And that sometimes the best way forward is to say "yes" and figure out the details along the way.Connect with Julie Sayers on LinkedInLearn more about encompasLearn more about the Lenexa, KansasConnect with Alexandra on LinkedInFollow The Design POP on LinkedInLearn more about working with The Design POPAccess on-demand training at The Design POP.Questions? Email info@thedesignpop.comThe Design Pop is an Imagine a Place Production (presented by OFS) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Social impact teams are happy to experiment. Where they struggle is admitting when the experiment fails. Jonathan and I dig into what design thinking and the scientific method can teach the sector, and why our refusal to name failure may be the thing holding impact back.Episode Highlights: [00:03:30] Defining design thinking and the scientific method, side by side [00:08:00] The real failure point: we won't admit when things don't work [00:11:00] How science learned to publish its failures [00:18:00] A closed-door conference where funders aren't invited [00:24:30] In defense of design thinking [00:31:00] Knowing where failure is okay and where it isn'tNotable Quotes: Jonathan Hicken [00:08:25]: "Failure of an experiment is just as valuable as the success of an experiment." Eric Ressler [00:09:45]: "You don't want to tell your donors you messed up and you failed. But that's the trap."Resources & Links:You Design Your Culture. Here's How : Designing Tomorrow Podcast Episode from August 18, 2026 — https://youtu.be/L9oi0lF4mIIStanford Social Innovation Review — https://ssir.org/articles/entry/when-evidence-isnt-enoughIDEO U — ideou.comStanford d.school — dschool.stanford.eduHosted by Eric Ressler, Founder & Creative Director of Cosmic, with co-host Jonathan Hicken, Executive Director of the Seymour Marine Discovery Center. New episodes every Tuesday.→ Subscribe: designingtomorrow.show → Work with Cosmic: designbycosmic.comListeners, now you can text us your comments or questions by clicking this link.*** If you liked this episode, please help spread the word. Share with your friends or co-workers, post it to social media, “follow” or “subscribe” in your podcast app, or write a review on Apple Podcasts. We could not do this without you!We love hearing feedback from our community, so please email us with your questions or comments — including topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes — at podcast@designbycosmic.comThank you for all that you do for your cause and for being part of the movement to move humanity and the planet forward.
The best design in healthcare is the kind you never notice. When it works, a patient feels safe before a clinician says a word. When it doesn't, trust wears away one small friction point at a time.Jamie sits down with Mallory Phillips, creative director at Your Health. She led the creation of the company's logo and now helps shape how its teams learn. Mallory trained in advertising design at the Savannah College of Art and Design, and she argues that design is far bigger than logos and brochures. It covers forms, instructions, onboarding, the words staff choose, and the moment a clinician steps into a patient's home.In this episode:Why patient experience rarely fails because of one big mistake, and how a hundred small friction points do the damage insteadHow in-home care flips the rules: you're a guest in someone's home, so trust has to be earned differentlyWhat Chick-fil-A's "my pleasure" and Airbnb's "home away from home" can teach healthcareThe science of readable design, and why a confusing door handle is the designer's failure, not the user'sThe story inside the Your Health logo, from a handwritten signature to a plus sign that puts the patient at the centerIf you've ever wondered why some care feels personal and some feels like paperwork, this conversation answers it. You'll also come away noticing the small details that make people feel seen. www.YourHealth.Org
Lutz besucht Christian Cordes im Schiller40, Deutschlands erstem kommunalen Coworking-Space, mitten in der Wolfsburger Fußgängerzone. Was als kleiner Ort für die Kultur- und Kreativwirtschaft startete, ist heute eine ehemalige Markthalle mit Design-Thinking-Studio, FabLab, Filmstudio, VR-Equipment und Räumen für alles zwischen Betriebsratssitzung und Death-Metal-Probe. Christian erzählt, wie das Konzept über ein halbjähriges Pop-up mit Campingbussen und Schnippeldisco entstand, warum kein Raum doppelt genutzt wird und weshalb er lieber ein gutes Landgasthof-Prinzip kopiert als ein sauberes Konzept aus dem Lehrbuch.
Ketika kita berbicara tentang kerja-kerja sosial dan perbaikan ekosistem masyarakat, kita sering kali dihadapkan pada godaan untuk menyelesaikan masalah rumit hanya dengan pendekatan teknokratis dan target kuantitatif. Namun, pengalaman mengajarkan kita bahwa program terbaik di atas kertas sering kali layu di lapangan karena kehilangan unsur manusiawinya. Misi podcast kali untuk membedah kembali cara kita merancang intervensi sosial melalui perkawinan dua kekuatan besar: metode penalaran inovasi yang berpusat pada manusia (Design Thinking) dan kedewasaan batiniah kita sebagai fasilitator melalui Kecerdasan Emosional. Inovasi tanpa kepekaan rasa akan berujung pada arogansi teknis yang mengabaikan kearifan lokal. Sebaliknya, empati yang meluap-luap tanpa pisau analisis metodologis yang tajam hanya akan berhenti pada sentimen belas kasihan yang tidak menghasilkan dampak terukur. Di sinilah letak urgensi perjalanan belajar kita: menempatkan akal budi dan kepekaan nurani pada satu tarikan napas agar ikhtiar perubahan kita memiliki akar yang kokoh di tengah komunitas dan daya tahan menghadapi tantangan zaman. Mari kita buka podcast ini bukan sekadar sebagai pelatihan teori teknis, melainkan sebagai sebuah ruang refleksi bersama untuk melihat bagaimana kedua instrumen ini menyatu menjadi sebuah kesatuan nalar dan rasa yang padu pada slide berikutnya.
In this episode, Trent Bell sits down with Lee Schneider to explore the role storytelling plays in creativity, architecture, and the way we understand the places around us. They discuss imposter syndrome and creative confidence, why stories help communicate complex ideas, and how architects and designers can use narrative to make their work more meaningful and engaging. The conversation expands into city branding, the identity of place, and even the ways architecture can communicate ideas about culture and gender. At its core, it's a conversation about how stories shape not only the things we create, but how we experience the world around us.About Lee: Lee Schneider draws on a multi-decade career in media-making, and education to help architects and design professionals use storytelling to transform complex concepts into projects that get funded. For more than 10 years, he has taught a popular graduate-level media-making class at the University of Southern California (USC) School of Architecture. He has taught workshops at the University of Minnesota College of Design and at Public Architecture. As the founder of Red Cup Agency, an award-winning podcast production agency, Lee has developed a storytelling masterclass called the Storyline Sessions. The award-winning author of novels, screenplays, teleplays, stage plays, and audio drama podcasts, Lee has written for Good Morning America and been a producer for Dateline NBC. He has created hit TV shows, and produced, directed, edited, and written documentaries for the History Channel, the Learning Channel, CourtTV, Discovery Health, the Food Network, and ReelzTV. Website: https://www.redcupagency.com/Personal Website: https://leeschneiderbooks.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/docuguyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/leeschneiderbooksYouTube: @leeschneiderpodcasts
KI im Einkauf: Mit Thomas Brunner und Selina Gärtner KI im Einkauf ist für viele Mittelständler noch ein blinder Fleck – dabei steckt hier einer der wirkungsvollsten Hebel für die Bottom Line. Thomas Brunner, Einkaufsberater und KI-Strategieberater im Koerting Institute, erklärt, wo Einkaufsprozesse im Mittelstand typischerweise haken, warum der direkte Einkauf oft besser aufgestellt ist als der indirekte, und wie der AI-Design-Sprint in ein bis zwei Tagen konkrete Anwendungsfälle liefert. Wer verstehen will, warum Tool-first-Ansätze scheitern und wie Problem-first-Denken echte ROI-Sicherheit bringt, sollte reinhören. Vom Sportmode-Einkäufer zum KI-Strategieberater – Thomas Brunners Weg Thomas Brunner hat das Thema Einkauf von der Pike auf gelernt: Über 15 Jahre verantwortete er internationale Beschaffung und Produktmanagement in einem mittelständischen Unternehmen der Sportmode- und Funktionstextilbranche. Danach wechselte er in die Beratung – zunächst im Change-Management, dann als Partner eines spezialisierten Franchise-Netzwerks für Einkaufsoptimierung im Mittelstand. Die logische Weiterentwicklung war die KI: Als ChatGPT im November 2022 erschien, erkannte er das Potenzial, nahm zunächst eine Ausbildung als AI-Trainer und entschied sich dann für die KI-Strategieberatung im Koerting Institute. Sein Kernargument: Er kommt nicht von der technischen, sondern von der kaufmännischen Seite – und genau diese Brücke zwischen betriebswirtschaftlicher Problemkenntnis und technischer Umsetzung fehlt vielen Unternehmen. Direkter vs. indirekter Einkauf – wo wirklich Geld versickert Im direkten Einkauf, also allem, was direkt in die Herstellung fließt, sind Mittelständler laut Brunner noch vergleichsweise gut aufgestellt – oft abgebildet in ERP-Systemen, mit klaren Prozessen. Kritisch wird es beim indirekten Einkauf: alles unter den sonstigen betrieblichen Aufwendungen, von Verpackungen über Logistik bis zu Büromaterial. Dort kann ein produzierendes Unternehmen schnell 40 bis 50 verschiedene Ausgabenkategorien ansammeln. Brunner hat Unternehmen erlebt, die 20 oder 30 verschiedene Lieferanten allein für Büromaterial hatten. Im Longtail – viele Artikel, viele Lieferanten, wenig Ausgaben – herrscht häufig das, was er diplomatisch als „Wildwuchs" bezeichnet. Auch der direkte Einkauf hat Schwachstellen: Die manuelle Verarbeitung von Auftragsbestätigungen ist ein klassischer Zeitfresser, der gleichzeitig Produktionsstillstände riskiert. Strategischer Einkauf: Drei Hebel, die den Unterschied machen Viele Mittelständler betreiben laut Brunner eigentlich nur Disposition – sie wissen, was sie brauchen, und bestellen. Echter strategischer Einkauf geht weiter: Erstens eine saubere Bedarfsanalyse mit Kategorisierung der Ausgaben (Category Management). Zweitens ein bewusstes Lieferantenportfolio mit Ausschreibungen, Verhandlungen und Rahmenverträgen für vorteilhafte Konditionen und gesicherte Lieferfähigkeit. Drittens eine systematische Risikobetrachtung – besonders relevant angesichts der Ereignisse der letzten Jahre: Corona, Ukraine-Krieg, Iran-Konflikt, Straße von Hormus, Zollpolitik. Brunner nennt das konkrete Beispiel eines Mineralwasserabfüllers, dessen Natronpreise für die Flaschenreinigung plötzlich durch die Decke gingen – ein bis dahin irrelevanter Posten wurde zum echten Kostenfaktor, der die Bottom Line gefährdete. Problem-first statt Tool-first – und der AI-Design-Sprint als Abkürzung Brunners zentrales Credo: Vom Problem herkommen, nicht vom Tool. Er erlebt regelmäßig Kunden, die 50 Copilot-Lizenzen gekauft haben und dann fragen, was sie damit anfangen sollen. Sein Gegenmodell ist der AI-Design-Sprint – ein hochstrukturiertes Format mit Elementen aus Design Thinking und dem Google Design Sprint, das in ein bis zwei Tagen mit allen Prozessbeteiligten durchgeführt wird. Das Herzstück: Time-Boxing, eine Divergenzphase zur kreativen Ideenfindung und eine Konvergenzphase zur Priorisierung – mit rund 30 bis 40 vorgegebenen Fragen, die alle Facetten des Problems durchleuchten. Das Ergebnis: konkrete, beschriebene Anwendungsfälle und oft direkt ein Prototyp zum Anfassen. Vorkenntnisse in KI sind bei den Teilnehmern nicht erforderlich – nur Prozesskenntnis und die Bereitschaft, sich einzulassen. Kunden reagieren laut Brunner regelmäßig überrascht, wie viel in so kurzer Zeit entsteht. Fazit: Der digitale Zwilling des strategischen Einkäufers – eine Vision für drei Jahre Change-Management ist kein Anhang, sondern Teil des Formats: Weil alle Prozessbeteiligten von Anfang an eingebunden sind, entsteht Partizipation statt Widerstand – die eigene Lösung, nicht ein externer Blueprint. Für den Mittelstand sieht Brunner die Jobangst durch KI übrigens als weniger dramatisch als oft dargestellt: Einkaufsabteilungen sind dort eher unterbesetzt und überlastet, nicht überbesetzt. Dazu kommt der demografische Wandel – die Babyboomer-Generation verlässt den Arbeitsmarkt, in Deutschland werden in den nächsten Jahren vier bis fünf Millionen Personen ausscheiden. Seine Vision für die nächsten drei Jahre nennt er den „Digitalen Zwilling des strategischen Einkäufers": ein KI-System, ein sogenannter AI Procurement Hub, der strategische Einkaufsaufgaben übernimmt und mittelständischen Unternehmen ermöglicht, ihren Einkauf auf Topniveau zu führen – ohne teures Spezialpersonal und ohne massive Systeminvestitionen. Das nimmst du mit: • Indirekter Einkauf ist im Mittelstand oft komplett vernachlässigt – mit 40 bis 50 Ausgabenkategorien und teils 20 bis 30 Lieferanten für eine einzige Kategorie liegt hier das größte ungehobene Einsparpotenzial. • Strategischer Einkauf bedeutet drei Dinge: saubere Bedarfsanalyse, bewusstes Lieferantenportfolio und systematisches Risikomanagement – gerade geopolitische Ereignisse machen Lieferketten zur Chefsache. • Wer erst ein Tool kauft und dann ein passendes Problem sucht, riskiert teure Frustrationsprojekte – der richtige Weg führt immer vom konkreten Problem zur technischen Lösung. • Der AI-Design-Sprint liefert in ein bis zwei Tagen beschriebene Anwendungsfälle und einen greifbaren Prototyp – ohne KI-Vorkenntnisse bei den Teilnehmern, aber mit hoher Prozesskenntnis im Raum. • Mitarbeiter im Mittelstand-Einkauf müssen KI weniger fürchten als oft angenommen: Unterbesetzung, Überstunden und der demografische Wandel sprechen eher für Entlastung als für Jobverlust. • Der „Digitale Zwilling des strategischen Einkäufers" ist Thomas Brunners Leitbild für die nächsten drei Jahre – ein KI-gestützter AI Procurement Hub, der strategischen Einkauf für den Mittelstand zugänglich macht. Kapitel: 00:00 Intro & Vorstellung: Thomas Brunner und Selina Gärtner 00:44 Thomas' Hintergrund: Sportmode, internationale Beschaffung, 15 Jahre Mittelstand 01:58 Weg in die Beratung: verlängerte Werkbank und Einkaufsoptimierung 04:42 ChatGPT-Moment November 2022 und der Weg zur KI-Strategieberatung 07:28 Direkter vs. indirekter Einkauf: wo es hakt 10:00 Pain Point: manuelle Auftragsbestätigungen im Procure-to-Pay-Prozess 11:00 Typisches Einstiegsszenario: Kunden wissen nicht, wo sie mit KI anfangen sollen 15:12 Drei Hebel des strategischen Einkaufs: Bedarf, Lieferanten, Risiko 17:54 Geopolitik und Lieferketten: Corona, Ukraine, Iran als Beispiele 22:00 KI-Prozessidentifikation: Auftragsbestätigungen und Rechnungsprüfung automatisieren 24:36 Problem-first statt Tool-first: warum 50 Copilot-Lizenzen der falsche Start sind 27:48 AI-Design-Sprint: Format, Ablauf und was am Ende rauskommt 32:05 Prototyp als Gamechanger: KI zum Anfassen und Basis für die Umsetzung 35:03 Change Management: Mitarbeiter von Anfang an einbinden 38:09 Jobangst durch KI im Mittelstand – warum sie überschätzt wird 38:45 Vision: Digitaler Zwilling des strategischen Einkäufers in drei Jahren 40:47 Für wen ist Thomas der richtige Ansprechpartner und wie erreicht man ihn? Noch mehr von den Koertings ... Das KI-Café ... jede Woche Mittwoch (>350 Teilnehmer) von 8:30 bis 10:00 Uhr ... online via Zoom .. kostenlos und nicht umsonst Jede Woche Mittwoch um 8:30 Uhr öffnet das KI-Café seine Online-Pforten ... wir lösen KI-Anwendungsfälle live auf der Bühne ... moderieren Expertenpanel zu speziellen Themen (bspw. KI im Recruiting ... KI in der Qualitätssicherung ... KI im Projektmanagement ... und vieles mehr) ... ordnen die neuen Entwicklungen in der KI-Welt ein und geben einen Ausblick ... und laden Experten ein für spezielle Themen ... und gehen auch mal in die Tiefe und durchdringen bestimmte Bereiche ganz konkret ... alles für dein Weiterkommen. Melde dich kostenfrei an ... www.koerting-institute.com/ki-cafe/ Mit jedem Prompt ein WOW! ... für Selbstständige und Unternehmer Ein klarer Leitfaden für Unternehmer, Selbstständige und Entscheider, die Künstliche Intelligenz nicht nur verstehen, sondern wirksam einsetzen wollen. Dieses Buch zeigt dir, wie du relevante KI-Anwendungsfälle erkennst und die KI als echten Sparringspartner nutzt, um diese Realität werden zu lassen. Praxisnah, mit echten Beispielen und vollständig umsetzungsorientiert. Das Buch ist ein Geschenk, nur Versandkosten von 9,95 € fallen an. Perfekt für Anfänger und Fortgeschrittene, die mit KI ihr Potenzial ausschöpfen möchten. Das Buch in deinen Briefkasten ... https://koerting-institute.com/shop/buch-mit-jedem-prompt-ein-wow/ Die KI-Lounge ... unsere Community für den Einstieg in die KI (>2800 Mitglieder) Die KI-Lounge ist eine Community für alle, die mehr über generative KI erfahren und anwenden möchten. Mitglieder erhalten exklusive monatliche KI-Updates, Experten-Interviews, Vorträge des KI-Speaker-Slams, KI-Café-Aufzeichnungen und einen 3-stündigen ChatGPT-Kurs. Tausche dich mit über 4.000 KI-Enthusiasten aus, stelle Fragen und starte durch. Initiiert von Torsten & Birgit Koerting, bietet die KI-Lounge Orientierung und Inspiration für den Einstieg in die KI-Revolution. Hier findet der Austausch statt ... www.koerting-institute.com/ki-lounge/ Starte mit uns in die 1:1 Zusammenarbeit Wenn du direkt mit uns arbeiten und KI in deinem Business integrieren möchtest, buche dir einen Termin für ein persönliches Gespräch. Gemeinsam finden wir Antworten auf deine Fragen und finden heraus, wie wir dich unterstützen können. Klicke hier, um einen Termin zu buchen und deine Fragen zu klären. Buche dir jetzt deinen Termin mit uns ... www.koerting-institute.com/termin/ Weitere Impulse im Netflix Stil ... Wenn du auf der Suche nach weiteren spannenden Impulsen für deine Selbstständigkeit bist, dann gehe jetzt auf unsere Impulseseite und lass die zahlreichen spannenden Impulse auf dich wirken. Inspiration pur ... www.koerting-institute.com/impulse/ Die Koertings auf die Ohren ... 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Aux urgences, chaque minute compte. Mais quand un enfant autiste ou porteur de trisomie 21 arrive en crise, les protocoles standards montrent leurs limites.Il faut du temps. De l'adaptation. Des outils spécifiques.Natacha Rudio est infirmière responsable du pôle Urgences à la Clinique des Grangettes (Hirslanden Genève) et connaît bien cette réalité.Sa préoccupation : comment permettre aux enfants à besoins spécifiques d'être pris en charge de façon adaptée aux urgences ?En suivant la formation Design Thinking en Santé, elle a pu transformer cette préoccupation observée sur le terrain en solution concrète : une salle bulle hypostimulante et des pictogrammes co-créés pour guider l'enfant pas à pas dans son parcours de soins.Dans cet épisode, elle partage son retour d'expérience complet, du recueil de besoins auprès des familles jusqu'aux premiers patients accueillis dans la salle.Vous aussi vous souhaitez appliquer la méthode design thinking pour transformer vos problématiques terrain en projets innovants ? Inscrivez-vous à la journée découverte DTS du 29 septembre pour expérimenter la formation avant de vous engager.Ou rejoignez la prochaine promotion du Programme Éclaireurs en novembre 2026.Toutes les informations sont sur notre site : https://novisano.fr/formation-dtsCrédits de l'épisodeInterview : Aude NyadanuMusique : Aude Nyadanu & Pierre RoquinMontage : Charline Yao
SummaryIn this episode, I'm joined by Martin Eriksson, founder of Mind the Product and author of The Decision Stack, to talk about how organizations can make better decisions from strategy all the way down to everyday execution.We talk about the difference between speed and velocity, why empowered teams still need strategic context, and how assumptions exist at every layer of an organization, not just inside individual products.We also explore what AI changes and, maybe even more importantly, what it doesn't. Building has become drastically faster and cheaper, but that doesn't eliminate the need to understand the customer, the business, and whether or not you should be building something in the first place.If you want to learn more about how strategic choices connect to everyday decisions and how assumptions can be tested throughout your organization you'll love this episode.TakeawaysSpeed without direction is not enough. Teams can build, ship, and test faster than ever, but without strategic alignment they may simply move in different directions more quickly. Martin frames this as the difference between speed, velocity, and organizational momentum.Empowered teams still need strategic context. Autonomy works best when teams understand where the business is going, how it plans to get there, what matters now, and how their work connects to those choices.Assumptions exist at every layer of the organization. They are not limited to products or experiments. Vision, strategy, objectives, opportunities, and execution all rest on assumptions that can become dangerous when they remain unspoken.Strategy is a series of connected choices. The value of a decision stack is not just having vision, strategy, objectives, opportunities, and principles—it is making sure those decisions connect from the top down and can be traced back from everyday work.Use testing and discovery on strategic decisions, not only product decisions. Teams have become good at de-risking what is directly in front of them, but the same tools can be applied to bigger bets around strategy, markets, and the future of the business.Not every assumption can be eliminated, but it should be named. At the strategy and vision level, some choices will always remain bets on the future. Making those assumptions explicit allows leaders and boards to monitor when conditions change and decide whether the risk is still acceptable.AI changes the economics of building, not the fundamentals of product. Faster and cheaper delivery reduces feasibility risk, but teams still need to understand customer value, business value, usability, distribution, pricing, and whether something should be built at all.Guest LinksMartin's Website: https://martineriksson.com/Martin's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martineriksson/Coherent & Wrong: https://www.thedecisionstack.com/coherent-and-wrong/
Wissenschaftliche Berichte mit über 200 Seiten liest kaum jemand. Genau an dieser Schnittstelle setzen Eugen Litwinow und Bernd Riedel an. Mit ihrer Kreativagentur Ellery Studio übersetzen sie komplexe Forschungsthemen wie die Energiewende, Nachhaltigkeit, Cybersecurity und soziale Innovationen in außergewöhnliche Formate: vom wissenschaftlich zitierfähigen Energiewende-Malbuch über das Gender Equality Toolkit (EQT) bis hin zu spekulativen Objekten aus der Zukunft. In dieser Folge von Working with Startups from Science sprechen Host Nicolas Rode sowie Eugen Litwinow und Bernd Riedel darüber, warum Design Thinking oft nur in den Rückspiegel blickt, weshalb die Welt mehr Speculative Design braucht und wie man radikale Komplexität begreifbar macht. Die Highlights dieser Episode: Vom East River an die Spree: Wie aus einem gemeinsamen Studium in New York eines der innovativsten Studios für transdisziplinäres Design in Berlin entstand. Impact messen in Transformationsprozessen: Warum harte KPIs oft zu kurz greifen und warum manchmal Anekdoten echten Kulturwandel zeigen. Das Gender Equality Toolkit (EQT): Wie Ellery Studio ein partizipatives Kartenspiel entwickelt hat, um Diskursräume für Unternehmenskultur spielerisch zu öffnen. Key Learnings für Start-ups, Deep Tech & Forschung: Working out loud: Kommuniziert den Prozess und den Weg der Transformation, nicht nur das finale Ziel. Transparente Zwischenschritte schaffen Akzeptanz. Embrace Complexity: Reduziert Komplexität nicht durch Weglassen relevanter Details, sondern schafft zugängliche, unfertige visuelle Oberflächen, die Stakeholder zur Partizipation einladen. Design als Brücke: Wissenschaft braucht visuelles Storytelling, um in Politik, Wirtschaft und Zivilgesellschaft zu wirken. Über die Gäste: Eugen Litwinow: Director & Founder von Ellery Studio, Fulbright-Alumnus und Parsons Dean's Scholar. Experte für Design Thinking (HPI D-School) sowie nutzerzentrierte Strategien. Co-Organizer von Speculative Futures Berlin. Bernd Riedel: Transdisciplinary Designer & Design Director bei Ellery Studio, Dozent für Strategic Design (SRH Berlin). Spezialisiert auf visuelles Storytelling, Strategic Foresight, Infografik und Systemdenken. Links & Ressourcen: Ellery Studio: https://www.ellerystudio.com Eugen Litwinow auf LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eugen-litwinow Bernd Riedel auf LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernd-riedel Zukunftsforscherinnen-Netzwerk: https://zukunftsforscherin.de #StartupsFromScience #Wissenschaftskommunikation #SpeculativeDesign #DesignThinking #Energiewende #StrategicForesight #Transdisziplinarität #ElleryStudio #Innovation #Gleichstellung #FutureIsFeminist
Professor Daniel Graff leads design and AI research at Tongji University's College of Design and Innovation. He is a Distinguished Research Fellow, educator, and co-author of the 2026 book "Design Thinking with Artificial Intelligence". With a background spanning design innovation, business, and emerging technology, his work explores how humans design, collaborate, and create alongside artificial intelligence. Today we talk about creativity, critical thinking and the tension between technology and human input. _______________________ (00:00) Meet Professor Daniel Graff (01:32) Will people reject AI-made products? (05:43) Can AI replace human creativity? (16:08) Why one-shot prompting fails (24:00) The next phase of AI (32:01) The AI boom: scary and exciting (37:37) Faster work, cheaper output, more sameness (43:19) Creativity requires taking risks (55:15) China and Europe approach AI differently (01:04:01) AI saves time, then creates more work (01:14:31) Why people sometimes prefer AI (01:17:10) AI hallucinations and human mistakes (01:25:33) What happens when junior jobs disappear? (01:30:50) Are we choosing machines over people? (01:40:03) Does Higher Education still matter? _____________________ If you enjoy this show don't forget to leave a rating! Follow Us On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehonestdrink_/ RedNote: THD The Honest Drink WeChat: THD_Official Find us on: Spotify, Apple, YouTube, 小红书, 小宇宙, 网易云音乐, Ximalaya, Bilibili or anywhere else you get your podcasts.
SummaryIn this episode, I'm joined by Teresa Torres. Teresa is an author, speaker and a product discovery coach who I've been a fan of for quite a long time. We chat about why assumptions look different depending on the level you're working at, why showing your work is so important for alignment, and how using AI inside your courses can give students more opportunities to practice and receive feedback.We also dig into AI evals - how Teresa uses them to measure the quality of her AI coaching tools, identify failure modes, and systematically improve their performance instead of just trusting that an LLM will get it right on the first try.If you want to learn more about testing assumptions, designing better learning loops, and using AI without giving up your critical thinking skills, this episode is for you.TakeawaysAI can create a safer space for learning. Teresa found that people are often willing to ask an AI questions they might feel embarrassed asking another person.An AI coach works best when it is grounded in a clear teaching model. Teresa's interview coach was effective because it was built on years of refined curriculum, rubrics, and explicit feedback criteria.AI can dramatically increase opportunities for deliberate practice. Instead of waiting for an instructor, students can practice repeatedly and receive immediate, personalized feedback.Building AI tools can improve the underlying curriculum. When an agent struggles with ambiguous instructions, it exposes gaps in how the material itself is taught.Evals are simply a way to measure AI quality. Teresa uses evals to identify specific failure modes, track how often they occur, and test whether changes actually improve the agent.Domain expertise still matters. Recognizing that an AI coach has given subtly bad advice often requires deep knowledge of the subject, not just technical skill.Product teams should define what “good” looks like for AI. Generic quality metrics are not enough; teams need acceptance criteria and evals tied to the unique value their product is supposed to create.AI changes the role of the teacher, not just the tools. Teresa is moving away from being the expert who simply delivers answers and toward creating environments where people can practice, get feedback, and learn for themselves.Guest LinksProductTalk Website: https://www.producttalk.org/Teresa's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teresatorres/
Professor Daniel Graff leads design and AI research at Tongji University's College of Design and Innovation. He is a Distinguished Research Fellow, educator, and co-author of the 2026 book “Design Thinking with Artificial Intelligence”. With a background spanning design innovation, business, and emerging technology, his work explores how humans design, collaborate, and create alongside artificial intelligence. Today we talk about creativity, critical thinking and the tension between technology and human input.____________________0:00 Intro3:34 Good Design and Subjectivity23:01 Phases of AI Adoption27:37 Work, Jobs, and Disruption39:10 Efficiency and Creative Risk54:35 Cultural Responses to AI1:13:57 Trust, Hallucinations, and Standards1:22:34 Critical Thinking in the AI Era1:31:37 Phones, Friction, and Relationships1:39:30 Education's Changing Value1:43:45 Looking Ahead Together____________________下载节目文字版: Episode Transcripts____________________If you enjoy this show don't forget to leave a rating and subscribe!小红书: THD The Honest DrinkFollow Us On IG: @thehonestdrink_Join Us On WeChat: THD_OfficialEmail: contact@thdpod.comFind us on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, 小宇宙, 喜马拉雅, 网易云音乐, 小红书, Bilibili or anywhere you get your podcasts.前往小宇宙评论区与主播互动
I denne episoden møter vi Hogne Gjersvik, gründer av tjenestedesignbyrået These Ways. Han deler historien om veien fra Frog / CapGemini til å starte eget selskap i 2019, gjennom en pandemi som nesten sendte firmaet konkurs, en gullalder under koronaen, og til slutt et salg til et dansk equity-selskap. Vi snakker om hvordan These Ways nylig vant en rammeavtale med Oljefondet, hvordan design thinking brukes til å sette folk først i digitalisering og AI-strategi, og hvorfor Hogne mener AI aldri kan erstatte kreativiteten til en god designer. Han deler også tanker om det trege norske investeringsklimaet, satsingen i Oslo, og hva som skal til for å bygge en kultur der de beste folkene vil jobbe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Visual collaboration is missing from the AI era. That's the provocation Elaina O'Mahoney, Chief Product Officer at Mural, brings to this episode of The Product Podcast with Carlos (CEO at Product School). We spend all day alone in our tools, typing or talking to an LLM, and when it's time to collaborate we drop words into a doc instead of thinking together visually. Elaina makes the case that AI has quietly turned work into "solo-player mode," and that the teams who win next will be the ones who rebuild shared context and multiplayer collaboration on top of it.Elaina and Carlos get into why ideas are now cheap (you can go from a thought to a working prototype in hours) and why that makes shared context, not idea generation, the real bottleneck. She argues that everyone is a designer at heart, that product leaders should replace the five-page strategy doc with a fast prototype that conveys the North Star, and that "shipping" can mean a workflow or an agent, not just a production release. They also dig into the crowded "where work happens" landscape (Slack, Teams, Jira, Linear, Notion) and the blank-canvas gap around how and why decisions actually get made, how to create safe spaces for people to try AI and fail inside large enterprises, and the pricing tension between legacy seat-based SaaS and AI-native usage models.What you'll learn:- Why Elaina says visual collaboration is "absent" in the AI era, and why that matters- The "solo-player mode" problem: how AI made work lonely, and what multiplayer should look like- Why ideas are now cheap, and how that shifts the bottleneck to shared context and faster decisions- Why the real blank space isn't planning or chat, but how and why decisions get made- The case that everyone is a designer, and how visual thinking speeds up decisions- How a CPO ships to demo a direction (a prototype instead of a strategy doc)- What's still scarce in an AI world: data science, taste, and synthesizing analytics- How to create safe, low-risk spaces for teams to try AI and fail inside big enterprises- Why smaller "champion" teams beat top-down rollouts, and how internal builders spread practices- The pricing dilemma: seat-based SaaS vs. AI-native usage modelsChapters:00:00 Intro00:59 Intro: Elaina O'Mahoney, CPO at Mural01:31 Mural's origin as a collaboration canvas03:01 Multiplayer vs. AI's solo-player mode04:23 Ideas are cheap now: idea to prototype in hours05:44 The competitive landscape and convergence08:31 The blank space nobody owns: how decisions get made09:22 Lowering the bar so everyone can design11:33 Everybody should be shipping now12:25 Shipping to demo, not to production14:04 Creating safe spaces to try AI in the enterprise17:10 Forward-deployed engineers19:14 Building a community around Mural22:11 The pricing dilemma: SaaS vs. AI-native usage24:07 Measuring real AI impact26:19 How Elaina structures her team28:20 The innovator's dilemma30:03 From annual QBRs to monthly loops31:05 Ten years of Mural, and a World Cup sign-offConnect with the Guest:Elaina O'Mahoney, Chief Product Officer, MuralLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eomahoney/Host: Carlos, CEO at Product SchoolLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/villaumbrosia/About Mural: Mural is a visual collaboration platform built for teams to brainstorm, converge, and make decisions together on a shared canvas. Originally created by co-founders in Argentina, it scaled rapidly during the shift to remote work.About the Product Podcast: Product School's podcast brings you candid conversations with the founders and product leaders shaping tech.Social Links:Find out more about Product School hereFollow our Podcast on TikTok hereFollow Product School on LinkedIn here
If the future of work is less about replacing people and more about helping them work differently, design deserves a seat at the planning table. Kyndryl's 2026 People Readiness Report found that 61% of organizations have already redesigned roles within or across functions. In this episode, our guests explore how human-centered design can help organizations create experiences that drive meaningful business value and deepen trust. They suggest what AI makes faster, design must make smarter. Featured experts Kevin Bethune, President, Design Studio, ImagineCo Nicholas Kim,Global Lead, Vital and Transformation, Kyndryl
SummaryIn this episode, I'm joined by Barry O'Reilly, he's an entrepreneur, advisor, author and a friend of mine who works with executives to redesign how their organizations perform. He's also the co-founder of Nobody Studios, an AI venture studio building and launching over 100 companies.Barry and I chat about what he's learned from years of helping corporations experiment, redesign systems, and make better decisions under extreme uncertainty.We talk about why so many AI transformations start in the wrong place, why leaders should focus on the work before the tools, and how capturing conversations can create a kind of organizational memory that gets smarter over time.Barry also shares his lessons from building Nobody Studios and how that work influenced his new book Artificial Organizations.If you want to learn more about testing with AI to redesign how work gets done while making better decisions, you'll love this episode.TakeawaysStart with the work, not the AI tools. The biggest gains come from redesigning how work and decisions happen, then choosing technology that supports that flow.Human judgment becomes more important, not less. AI can capture, synthesize, and model information at scale, but leaders still need to decide what matters and what action to take.Treat conversations and decisions as data assets. Capturing meetings, transcripts, decisions, and outcomes creates organizational memory that can be reused instead of constantly recreating context.Better systems can outperform experience alone. Deep domain expertise still matters, but rigorous decision-making systems combined with machine intelligence can challenge gut instinct as the default.AI transformations fail when they are treated as tool rollouts. Buying Copilot or another platform does not change how an organization works unless behaviors, processes, and operating systems change with it.Leaders can accelerate adoption by role-modeling experimentation. Admitting “I don't know,” trying tools in real work, and openly sharing what works and what does not creates permission for others to learn.Start with one decision or workflow. Rather than attempting a company-wide AI transformation, pick a recurring decision or process, test a new way of working, and learn from the result.Guest LinksBarry's Website: https://barryoreilly.com/Barry's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barryoreilly/Artificial Organization: https://artificialorganizations.com/Nobody Studios: https://nobodystudios.com/
On this episode I'm joined by Jess Holbrook, Head of UX Research for Microsoft AI. We talk about what UX research can—and cannot—tell us about what people need; why user-centered design may be too individualistic for technologies whose effects extend across families, workplaces, communities, and institutions; and what it means to put researchers in the room while AI systems are still being built rather than after fundamental design decisions have already been made. Over the past 12 years, Jess has held senior research and design leadership roles across Microsoft, Meta, Google, and Amazon. He previously led Generative AI, Responsible AI, and data transparency UX research at Meta, and at Google he founded and led the People + AI Research group, or PAIR, before serving as Head of UX for the Responsible AI and Human-Centered Technology group. His work has focused on bringing human-centered and inclusive approaches into the development of AI systems and translating emerging machine-learning capabilities into products designed around people's needs. Jess also writes regularly about AI, frontier UX research, research slop and the future of human-centered technology on his Substack, Gen Purpose. This episode was produced by Jack Lucas Chang.
SummaryIn this episode, I'm joined by Mark Graban, he's an expert in Lean Leadership, Psychological Safety, and Continuous Improvement. Mark and I discuss the idea of the “smallest test of change,” a principle rooted in lean thinking that can be applied far beyond manufacturing. Speaking of manufacturing, we sort of geek out on what we've learned from being around Toyota and seeing how they work in practice, not just in theory.We also dive into why organizations reward people for sounding certain, how leaders unintentionally punish experimentation, and why psychological safety is essential if you expect people to admit what they don't know.Mark shares how he's applying these ideas to his own work by testing a new book through iterative publishing.If you want to learn more about creating a culture where people feel safe to speak up and use smaller tests to drive meaningful change, this episode is for you.TakeawaysStart with the smallest test of change - something quick, inexpensive, and focused on learning.Separate knowledge from assumptions by asking, “How do we know this is true?” before acting with certainty.Psychological safety is essential for experimentation because people must feel safe admitting mistakes, asking for help, and challenging ideas.Leaders shape culture through their reactions. Saying failure is acceptable means little if people are punished when a test does not work.Even experienced practitioners can overbuild. Mark's AI coaching experiment reinforced the need to test demand and usefulness before adding more features.Guest LinksWebsite: https://www.markgraban.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mgraban/
AI has made building cheap.The cost of being wrong is still expensive.I help organizations make better AI and growth investment decisions before committing major capital.→ Book a Growth Strategy Call at Precoil.com/EMTSummaryIn this episode, I'm joined by Mike Yarbrough, he's the founder of Rustic & Main, a custom jewelry company that's known for crafting unique, story-driven wedding bands and engagement rings. They specialize in combining traditional heavy metals with unconventional, nostalgic inlays.Mike shares how his handmade wooden wedding band accidentally started it all by generating unexpected customer demand, while still working his day job. We discuss how the business grew from a garage operation into a team producing handcrafted rings with deeply personal stories.We also get into the product failure that led Mike and his team to create its durability-testing process (appropriately called “the ringer”) and how he uses prototypes and limited launches to test out new revenue opportunities.This is a story about following market signals, learning from what breaks, and building a company without losing the craftsmanship and meaning that made customers care in the first place.TakeawaysCustomer pull can be one of the strongest early signals that an idea is worth pursuing.Starting small gave Mike time to test demand, refine the product, and understand the business before leaving software development.Product failures led Rustic & Main to create a more rigorous durability-testing process for every new design.Customer requests helped the company expand from wooden rings into titanium, gold, custom inlays, and new product categories.Testing a new business model, such as retail, requires patience because not every opportunity grows as quickly as the original business.Guest LinksRustic and Main: https://rusticandmain.com/
In this talk, Maryam Ramezani-Bartsch, Data and AI Leader with over 20 years of experience at companies like adidas and Zalando, shares her extensive career journey from building foundational ML systems at adidas to coaching data experts through the modern AI landscape. We explore the critical intersection of technical strategy and the essential human skills needed to thrive in the AI era.LINKS:- https://maryamramezani.com/designyourdatacareerYou will learn about:- The surprising similarities and critical differences between the current Generative AI boom and the previous Big Data era.- Why the traditional boundaries between data roles are disappearing and the specific T shaped profile companies are actually hiring for today.- The hidden danger of perfectionism in corporate tech, and what a healthy margin of failure actually looks like in practice.- How to stop leaving your career trajectory to chance by applying product Design Thinking to your own life.- A practical framework for navigating industry uncertainty and tech career anxiety without burning out.- Battle tested strategies for regaining your footing and standing out in a highly competitive job market after a layoff.- The specific non technical human skills that will become your ultimate career moat against automation.TIMECODES:00:00 Human Skills in the AI Era07:07 Building ML Systems at Adidas12:49 Generative AI vs Big Data Era18:39 T-Shaped Data Engineering Roles24:04 Overcoming Perfectionism in Tech30:34 Design Thinking for Data Careers38:59 Managing Tech Career Anxiety45:07 Aligning Passion with Tech Skills50:18 Job Search Strategies After Layoffs56:03 Essential Soft Skills for JuniorsThis talk is essential for data professionals, software engineers, and tech leaders looking to future proof their careers in an increasingly automated world. Whether you are a junior developer navigating a tough job market, an engineer bouncing back from layoffs, or a senior professional looking to strategically design your next pivot, this session provides the tools to build a highly resilient career.Connect with Maryam- Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryam-ramezani-bartsch/- Website - https://maryamramezani.com/- Substack - https://maryamramezani.substack.com/Connect with DataTalks.Club:- Join the community - https://datatalks.club/slack.html- Subscribe to our Google calendar to have all our events in your calendar - https://calendar.google.com/calendar/r?cid=ZjhxaWRqbnEwamhzY3A4ODA5azFlZ2hzNjBAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ- Check other upcoming events - https://lu.ma/dtc-events- GitHub: https://github.com/DataTalksClub- LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/datatalks-club/ - Twitter - https://twitter.com/DataTalksClub - Website - https://datatalks.club/
Explore places of people with needs to find more meaning, money, and momentum:“Leaders leave thinking they're on the same page.”“You can't pull out the nuances over the phone.”“Get out there, see the reality.”The table, cat, kitchen, route, and agent may know what AI misses...See BoldEncounters.TVTable Turners SeriesIn Table Turners, Mark invites former guests to reverse roles and interview him on subjects he has spent a career studying, testing, and teaching. In this series, Angela Finlay presses Mark on Bold Immersion: getting close enough to clients, users, employees, patients, workflows, and actual places to see what meetings, reports, AI, dashboards, and assumptions often miss.Opening SummaryFormer guest Angela Finlay reverses roles and interviews Mark about Bold Immersion, the practice he names as the strongest predictor of better client outcomes, stronger financial impact, and deeper passion at work. Angela begins with Harvard Business Review's “false alignment” problem: leaders meet, discuss Artificial Intelligence, strategy, and customer needs, then leave seeing different parts of the elephant.Core ValueBold Immersion means entering the real world of the person you serve before you decide what to build, sell, fix, lead, or automate. Mark connects it to customer journey mapping, in-home observation, ride-alongs, product ethnography, contextual inquiry, Voice of the Customer, workflow observation, Human-Centered Design, Design Thinking, Lean improvement, product development, field marketing, and customer experience. The deeper move is simple: replace secondhand confidence with firsthand reality.Inside This Episode• Why false alignment can be more dangerous than visible disagreement.• How Chad Wells used Medicare customer journey mapping and ride-alongs at UnitedHealth Group.• Why camera crews, kitchens, old books, artifacts, and a cat revealed hidden customer context.• How Queens and Bronx sales-agent ride-alongs changed what marketing needed to build.• Why Bold Immersion belongs in ordinary workflows, not only innovation, UX, Lean, or product roles.Go Deeper — Premium Action PlanThis four-part Table Turners series culminates in Mark's Premium Action Plan. Begin this week by selecting one customer, employee, user, patient, beneficiary, prospect, agent, partner, or internal customer whose reality you have only experienced secondhand. Decide whether your next move requires a ride-along, contextual interview, workflow observation, site visit, customer journey review, or field conversation before your next important decision.Listen + Connecthttps://www.BoldEncounters.TVAngela Finlayhttps://www.windwardhcm.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ablumfinlay/Chad Wellshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-j-wells/Mark S. Cookhttps://www.WindfallPartners.comMoments To Revisit• Angela's elephant-vantage warning about AI, meetings, and false alignment.• Chad Wells describing hundreds, maybe thousands, of in-home Medicare appointments.• The dining-room customer who could not be understood through a phone call.• The female sales agent entering places that changed the marketer following her.• The UnitedHealthcare sales kit born from seeing agents and customers in motion.What Now?Watch Part 1, then continue the Table Turners Bold Immersion series at:https://www.BoldEncounters.TVThank YouChad Wells, customer journey mapping and ride-alongs at UnitedHealth GroupCalvin Cook—Caljo, original music, @Caljo MusicSach Arias, Post Production, aliyahmpena@gmail.comAliyah Peña, Post Production, aliyahmpena@gmail.comSkyler Maudsley, Video Editing, skylermaudsley@gmail.comRosalie McGinn, Social Media, rosalie.mcginn1@gmail.com
AI has made building cheap.The cost of being wrong is still expensive.I help organizations make better AI and growth investment decisions before committing major capital.→ Book a Growth Strategy Call at Precoil.com/EMTSummaryIn this episode, I'm joined by Maggie Baker, she's the Founder of Threadeco, an eco-friendly clothing company rethinking how people discover, buy, and keep fashion.Maggie talks about how she started with a high-end fanny pack business that landed some serious celebrity traction, but still failed when the economy shifted in 2008. That experience taught her hard lessons about pricing, channel risk and adaptability.Years later, she turned those insights into Threadeco, when she was inspired by imperfect produce boxes.Maggie shares how she tested her early MVP with a Google Form, friends and family, hand-packed boxes, and no real payment system. Fast forward to today, business is thriving and we discuss how she is now blending retail, styling and subscriptions together.It is a great conversation about learning the hard way, starting scrappy, listening to customers, and building a business model that can actually adapt.TakeawaysA past failure became the foundation for a better business model. Maggie's high-end fanny pack business got retail traction and celebrity attention, but the 2008–2009 downturn exposed pricing, channel, and adaptability risks she had not fully tested.Testing does not have to be sophisticated to be useful. Threadeco started with a Google Form, friends-and-family beta testers, hand-curated clothing boxes, and manual feedback loops.The first version of the model revealed the wrong customer. Early testing showed that customers who only wanted to try on many items and return most of them were not a good fit for Threadico's economics.Threadeco changed the model based on learning, not imitation. Instead of copying Stitch Fix, Maggie shifted to a prepaid five-piece box with limited exchanges, creating a model that better fit her inventory, cash flow, and customer behavior.The brick-and-mortar store became more than a retail channel. The store functions as a warehouse, styling space, discovery engine, and subscription acquisition channel.Location testing mattered. Moving within Old Sacramento changed the business dramatically, showing how even a two-minute difference in storefront location can create a completely different retail outcome.The next big test is integrating physical retail, subscriptions, styling, and tech. Maggie is exploring an app that connects customer style profiles, boxes, in-store experiences, and stylist recommendations into one ecosystem.Guest LinksMaggie's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/getajobla/Threadeco: https://www.threadeco.com/
Design thinking is a framework for creating things. And creating things, as Semour Papert argued in his theory of constructionism, is the kind of "hard fun" that engages people in meaningful work that helps them stretch themselves (Resnick). As his colleague at the MIT media lab, Mitchell Resnick, put it: "they're going to learn fast when they work on things they really care about. Seymour once said that education has very little to do with explanation, it has to do with engagement, falling in love with ideas." Design thinking is one of the many options in your teacher toolbox, but it's a good one, so let's dive into what it is and what it means. Sources: "Design Thinking Bootleg." Stanford d. School: https://dschool.stanford.edu/tools/design-thinking-bootleg. Accessed April 2026. "Mitchell Resnick on Seymour Papert." Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoczAscGYeQ. Accessed March 13, 2026. Potash, Betsy. "Empower your Students, with John Spencer." The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast, Episode 28. "The Launch Cycle: A K-12 Design Thinking Framework." Spencer Education: https://spencereducation.com/the-launch-cycle/ Accessed Apr. 13, 2026. Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. Snag three free weeks of community-building attendance question slides Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook. Come hang out on Instagram. Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the 'gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!
Ava beat the odds and got into UC Berkeley. Listen in to learn how she did that, despite having an application theme that is quite common (speech and debate).Part of her secret was empowering others to find their voice and gain the confidence to speak up. We discover how her work training young people learn public speaking is expanding beyond the 600 youth she has already worked with. Sign up for your child for Ava's training at www.JuniorSpeakers.com-----To register for the Ivy League Challenge, visit our websiteTo follow on Instagram: @TheIvyLeagueChallengeTo join us on our Facebook group for parents
AI has made building cheap.The cost of being wrong is still expensive.I help organizations make better AI and growth investment decisions before committing major capital.→ Book a Growth Strategy Call at Precoil.com/EMTSummaryIn this episode, I'm joined by Eric Lowe. He's the CEO and Co-founder of Aptiva Health, an outpatient group that offers specialized care in orthopedics, physical therapy, pain management, and mental wellness.Eric shares how solving one problem at a time helped him scale to 14 locations and why he believes great businesses are built by developing people first.We dig into launching an ambitious healthcare marketplace that had all the ingredients of a great product, only to run headfirst into the brutal realities of marketplace dynamics, timing and customer education.Eric also details how his team uncovered a breakthrough business by integrating mental health directly into orthopedic recovery. He shares how they experiment with new healthcare models before overinvesting, and why listening closely to patients and providers often reveals opportunities you never could have imagined.If you're building in healthcare and trying to figure out how to test bold ideas, this episode is for you.TakeawaysGreat businesses come from solving the next problem. Long-term growth often compounds from consistently identifying and solving the most pressing issue in front of you.Not every customer problem is yours to solve. Sustainable businesses focus on problems they are uniquely positioned to solve while aligning value across all stakeholders.Marketplaces are brutally hard to build. Even strong solutions can struggle when adoption requires changing deeply ingrained customer behavior.Sometimes the customer isn't who you think it is. Success often comes from recognizing when the original target market needs to shift entirely.Unexpected opportunities can outperform your biggest bets. Some of the strongest growth opportunities come from adjacent problems you discover while serving customers.Adoption depends on reducing friction. New solutions succeed when they fit naturally into how people already behave rather than forcing entirely new habits.Culture is built through actions, not slogans. Teams buy into organizations when leadership consistently demonstrates the values they claim to stand for.Big investments require proving the economics first. When capital commitments are high, getting the financial assumptions wrong can become incredibly expensive.Guest LinksEric's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericloweaptivaAptiva Health: https://www.aptivahealth.com/Broker Driven: https://brokerdriven.com/
SummaryIn this episode I'm joined by Courtney Honda and Slava Borisov co-founders of Puptqe. What started as a deeply personal response to a health scare involving their dog Champ has grown into a unique retail experience built around community and creating memorable moments for dogs and their owners.We explore how they tested their way through one of the most competitive retail categories imaginable, discovering that success wasn't about competing with big-box stores on price or selection. Instead, they focused on creating experiences that customers couldn't get anywhere else, from dog-friendly events and memberships to immersive in-store moments designed to turn visitors into loyal advocates.We also get into the realities of building a brick-and-mortar business, including lessons around site selection, customer retention, community-driven marketing, and the surprising acquisition channels they tested to help them grow. Courtney and Slava share how they learned to stop trying to serve every pet owner, focus on their ideal customer, and transform retail from a transaction into an ongoing relationship.If you've ever wondered how to test a physical retail store in a crowded market, this episode is for you.TakeawaysDifferentiate by owning a niche, not by competing on price - Puptqe succeeded by becoming a destination for dog experiences and hospitality instead of trying to out-discount larger pet retailers.Make the experience the product; sales will follow - Customers come for the events, community, and memories, which naturally drives purchases and loyalty.Stop marketing to everyone and focus on your ideal customer - Growth accelerated once they identified who their best customers were and tailored their offerings around them.Retention matters more than acquisition - Long-term success came from creating reasons for customers to return again and again, not just making the first sale.Community and word-of-mouth outperform paid advertising - Loyal customers and local advocacy generated more sustainable growth than trying to outspend competitors on ads.Understand customer behavior, not just demographics - Knowing how customers spend their time and make decisions proved more valuable than basic age, income, or location data.Design every customer touchpoint intentionally - Every interaction, from the greeting to the checkout experience, was crafted to create memorable moments.Consistency beats constantly chasing new tactics - Small improvements executed repeatedly created stronger results than jumping from one growth idea to the next.Guest LinksCourtney's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtney-honda/Slava's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/slavaborisov/Puptqe Website: https://puptqe.com/ If your leadership team is about to make a big strategic bet, the real risk usually isn't the idea, it's the assumptions behind it that haven't been surfaced yet. A Decision Sprint is a focused 6–12 week engagement where we extract, map, and test those risks so leaders can make a clear Commit, Correct, or Cut decision before major capital moves. Learn more or apply at precoil.com.
What if the reason your idea isn't working isn't the idea itself, but the questions you're asking before you build it?About This EpisodeTracy Brandenburg has taught design thinking at Stanford's d.school, built three programs at Cornell, and helped student entrepreneurs go from "I already know the answer" to actually talking to real humans and learning something.Tracy unpacks what design thinking really means, where it comes from, and why it might be the most practical tool a social entrepreneur can have.Tracy started as a cultural anthropologist, showed up at Stanford not knowing why she was there, and ended up running design thinking workshops on her living room floor with popsicle sticks and craft supplies. From there it grew into JetBlue airport fieldwork, Cornell university programs, and now work with student entrepreneurs at Denison University's Red Labs.The conversation covers the full arc of the design thinking process, from building empathy and asking better questions to prototyping, pivoting, and integrating what you learn. Tracy is honest about what students consistently struggle with: getting out of the classroom to talk to strangers, and letting go of an idea when the feedback tells them to.There's also a genuinely fun tangent about designing your life the same way you'd design a product, and what a pirate surf camp in Costa Rica has to do with finding your calling.Episode in a glance00:00 Introduction to Design Thinking and Its Impact01:30 How an anthropologist ended up at Stanford's d.school03:26 Empathy as the foundation of design thinking05:44 From living room workshops to university programs08:35 Getting students to talk to strangers and what actually helps12:30 Applying design thinking with student entrepreneurs at Denison15:15 Why pivoting is the hardest skill to teach17:34 Designing your life like a prototype 221:54 Reimagining the Rust Belt with design thinking24:20 What Tracy wants to build next in social innovationAbout the GuestTracy Brandenburg is a design thinking trainer, anthropologist, and social innovator who has taught at Stanford's d.school, pioneered three design thinking programs at Cornell, and currently leads design thinking work at Denison University's Red Labs. She is also the founder of Reimagining the Rust Belt, a social innovation project in her hometown of Middletown, Ohio.Connect with Tracy and her work:→ tracydesign.rocks→ LinkedIn
Some Cliffs This Week - FAAF 263In this 263rd episode, I share my reflections from June 1-5, 2026. Check out the WHOLE SPOTIFY PLAYLIST I put together with all the listens mentioned below:>>> bit.ly/E263FreshAirAtFivePlaylist
What does it really take to lead meaningful change in today's fast-moving world? In this episode, strategic consultant, leadership expert, and author Angnieszka Wolińska-Skuza shares insights from her journey working with global organizations including Google, IBM, Citi Bank and more. From developing the MasConsulting Delivery Framework and Design Thinking methodology to combining creativity, mindset and innovation in business transformation, she brings a deeply human perspective to leadership and growth. We also explore the role of emotional intelligence, human potential, and why sustainable success begins with inner balance. A thoughtful conversation on strategy, innovation and creating impact that lasts. https://awolinskaskuza.com/Episode streaming now on Spotify, Apple Podcast, YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. [Angnieszka Wolińska-Skuza, Consultant, Leadership, Design Thinking, Innovation Strategy, Business, Strategic Thinking, Consulting Frameworks, Business Growth, Podcast, Melting Pot, Payal Nayar] #Leadership #DesignThinking #Innovation #Management #Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Amy Schwartz, Chief People Officer at Wiz, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about why HR alone can't create a high-performance culture, why relationships and influence matter more than HR systems, and why "picking up the trash" - a leadership philosophy she picked up working in casinos - has stuck with her ever since.---- Sponsor Links:
Kako se inovacije uvode u banke, a kako na odeljenje neurohirurgije? U 371. epizodi podkasta Pojačalo, Ivan nastavlja razgovor sa Nikolom Kalinovićem, partnerom u agenciji Evoke i Design Thinkers akademiji. Nikola nas vodi kroz svoj dinamičan životni put - od ambicija na fudbalskom terenu, preko freelancinga, do uvođenja Design Thinking metodologije i postavljanja ozbiljnih biznis sistema na našem tržištu. Otkrivamo zašto su korporacije trome kada su inovacije u pitanju, kako prepoznati stvarne potrebe korisnika i izgraditi brend sa svrhom. U duboko ličnom delu razgovora, Nikola deli svoje iskustvo suočavanja sa tumorom kičme i kako ga je boravak na neurohirurgiji naučio najvažnijim lekcijama o empatiji, preduzetništvu i zahvalnosti za ono što imamo. Prava epizoda za sve koji traže konkretne poslovne savete i snažnu životnu inspiraciju. Ukoliko ste propustili početak priče, toplo preporučujemo da prvo pogledate prvi deo razgovora kako biste imali potpunu sliku o Nikolinom putu - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJIH0cTizYE O čemu smo pričali: - Talanoa i mentor Dalibor Vasiljević - Otkriće design thinkinga - Erste banka i krediti za penzionere - Otpor organizacija prema novom - Zašto je razgovor sa korisnicima ključan - Tobako industrija i zamka globalnih persona - Zašto se velike korporacije teško menjaju - Projekti sa gostujućih terena: Dubai i Češka - Udruženje mladih privrednika Srbije - Povratak fudbalu - Partnerstvo u Evoke-u - Sređivanje procesa i alati Realizaciju ove epizode podržali su naši prijatelji i sponzori: - Epson Srbija - https://www.epson.rs - Orion telekom - https://oriontelekom.rs - Smilies - https://smilies.rs Hvala na poverenju i podršci! Podržite nas na BuyMeACoffee: https://bit.ly/3uSBmoa Pročitajte transkript ove epizode: https://bit.ly/43J6rO4 Posetite naš sajt i prijavite se na našu mailing listu: http://bit.ly/2LUKSBG Prijavite se na naš YouTube kanal: http://bit.ly/2Rgnu7o Pratite Pojačalo na društvenim mrežama: FB: https://www.facebook.com/PojacaloRS/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/pojacalo.rs/ X: https://x.com/PojacaloRS LN: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pojacalo TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pojacalo.rs
→ How can education podcasting impact professional growth over time?→ What is the single most dangerous misconception schools are making about artificial intelligence right now?→ How can design thinking prepare secondary students for a complex, uncertain, technology-driven future?Welcome back to the Teachers on Fire Podcast, airing live on YouTube most Saturday mornings at 8am Pacific, 11am Eastern. My name is Tim Cavey, and my mission here is to warm your heart, spark your thinking, and ignite your professional practice.Today's Teacher on Fire is Alex Gray. Alex is head of sixth form, BSME Network Lead for AI in Education, and founder of the DEEP Education Network, a global platform connecting 1,000+ educators across 50+ countries with courses, community, and evidence-based frameworks for modern teaching. He hosts The International Classroom Podcast, one of Dubai's largest education podcasts with hundreds of thousands of views.You can connect with Alexon LinkedIn,on Instagram @deepeducationnetwork,on YouTube @deepeducationnetwork, and on his website at deepeducationnetwork.com/blog.Timestamps from This Episode0:00:00 - Alex Gray is a secondary educator and podcaster in Dubai1:48 - Alex's journey from the UK to Dubai5:43 - Teacher sustainability in international contexts9:26 - Teacher burnout around the globe12:31 - Podcasting as professional development15:46 - AI literacy23:09 - School misconceptions about AI25:30 - Vibe coding29:20 - Design thinking in secondary34:54 - Alex's courses for educators at deepeducationnetwork.com37:46 - How and where to connect with Alex onlineVisit the home of Teachers on Fire at https://teachersonfire.net/.Song Track Credit: Tropic Fuse by French Fuse - retrieved from the YouTube Audio Library.
SummaryIn this episode I'm joined by Chris Butler. He's a longtime product leader and operator whose career spans companies such as Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and now GitHub, where he works on agentic workflows across the organization.We explore how AI is reshaping the way modern product teams think, collaborate, ship and its ripple effects on how we manage process and decision making. Chris and I chat about the messy realities behind agentic systems such as why removing too much friction can actually hurt decision quality and why qualitative research matters more now than ever before. Chris gives a candid behind the scenes look into what's working, what's failing, and why experimentation itself may become one of the most important capabilities in the AI era.If you've been wondering what testing AI Agents actually looks like inside a cutting edge company, this episode is for you.TakeawaysAI is collapsing traditional product development workflows, but not necessarily eliminating the need for product managers, engineers, or designers. Instead, roles are decomposing into smaller tasks where humans and machines each handle different types of work.Removing all friction from product development can actually reduce decision quality. Chris argues that tension between desirability, viability, and feasibility perspectives is still critical because reasoning often happens through human discussion, not just inside individual minds or AI systems.AI-generated “rude feedback” tools can help teams improve ideas faster because people are often more receptive to harsh critique from a machine than from another human. GitHub experimented with sarcastic AI Q&A systems that surfaced weak assumptions and missing details without the reputational risk of peer criticism.The future of AI inside organizations may be less about autonomous agents replacing humans and more about “process as code.” GitHub is experimenting with natural-language policy documents that both humans and agents can read to automate operational workflows, release management, and risk detection.Product teams are at risk of building faster without learning faster. Chris warns that vibe coding and rapid prototyping can unintentionally reduce time spent talking to customers and conducting qualitative research, which still remains essential for understanding mental models and uncovering hidden assumptions.Agentic workflows become most valuable when they reduce operational toil instead of replacing human judgment. GitHub is using AI to automate repetitive coordination tasks like release tracking, documentation generation, and status updates so teams can spend more time on strategic thinking and collaboration.Internal experimentation matters just as much as customer-facing innovation. Chris emphasizes that many AI workflow experiments inside GitHub are intentionally small, lightweight tests designed to explore possibilities quickly before deciding whether to scale, modify, or abandon them.The biggest long-term challenge for enterprise AI adoption may not be model capability, but integration, governance, and organizational coordination. Authentication, permissions, fragmented tooling, disconnected workflows, and siloed information remain major barriers to making agentic systems truly useful at scale.Guest LinksLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisbu/GitHub Next: https://githubnext.com/ If your leadership team is about to make a big strategic bet, the real risk usually isn't the idea, it's the assumptions behind it that haven't been surfaced yet. A Decision Sprint is a focused 6–12 week engagement where we extract, map, and test those risks so leaders can make a clear Commit, Correct, or Cut decision before major capital moves. Learn more or apply at precoil.com.
Reflections from host Sarah Olivieri ... The Problem Isn't Change. It's the Size of the Decision. Most nonprofit leaders I talk to are not actually afraid of change. They are stuck between two sizes of it. On one side, a monster decision. Restructure the program. Leave the role. Overhaul the funding model. A move so big it feels reckless to say out loud. On the other side, no change at all. Keep going. Ride it out another quarter. Wait for more information. Wait for the board. Wait for a better moment. What nobody offers is the middle option. The small, cheap, fast, reversible move whose only job is to teach you something. That option is almost always the right one, and it is almost always missing from the conversation. Where This Thinking Came From I've been turning this over for a while. I recently had a conversation about exactly this with Ashley Jablow, who works with leaders and teams in transition and has deep training in design thinking. It sharpened how I think about why change gets stuck inside nonprofits and what actually unsticks it. The short version: the problem isn't that leaders lack courage. The problem is that the only option on the table is too expensive to say yes to. Change Is Neutral. The Story You Wrap Around It Isn't. Change is constantly happening. Seasons turn. Budgets shift. Staff come and go. A funder's priorities drift. A board member rolls off. None of that is catastrophic on its own. What makes change feel charged is the story we attach to it. In the nonprofit sector, that story is usually some version of: change is dangerous, so we should avoid it. That story hardens into a posture. The posture becomes the culture. The culture becomes the reason your organization cannot move. In short: Change is constant and mostly neutral. What makes it feel dangerous is the interpretation the organization layers on top. Culture that treats change as risky will struggle to adapt even when adaptation is overdue. If you want an organization that can respond to what the world is actually doing, you have to separate the event from the story. The Hidden Cost of "Staying Put" Here is the belief I keep running into inside nonprofits: doing nothing is the safe option. Especially with money. Especially with programs that "have always worked." Especially when funders are watching. The truth is, staying put is not neutral. It has a cost, and that cost is usually larger than the one people are trying to avoid. If a program is slowly losing relevance and you do not adjust, the cost shows up later as a funding cliff. If a leader is quietly burning out and the system does not adapt, the cost shows up as a crisis hire. If a revenue model depends on one big grant and you do not diversify, the cost shows up when that grant does not renew. In short: Inaction is not the absence of risk. It is a different kind of risk. The cost of standing still usually arrives later and bigger. Every "we'll deal with that next year" is a decision, not a non-decision. When leaders only weigh the risk of moving, they miss half the math. Why Nonprofits Over-Index on the Risk of Moving Two structural things push nonprofits toward inaction. The first is the donor stewardship story. Somewhere along the way, "be a good steward of donor money" got translated into "never take risks with money." That is not what stewardship means. Stewardship means using resources wisely in service of the mission. Sometimes that means holding the line. Sometimes it means making a bet. The second is harder to see, and it matters more. In most nonprofits, the people with the biggest formal role in risky decisions, the board, do not experience the consequences of those decisions. The staff does. The community does. The executive director does. The board votes and goes home. So when a decision comes with risk, the board defaults to "let's not do that." To them, sitting still feels responsible. To the people running the organization every day, sitting still might be the thing burning the building down. In short: Stewardship is not a synonym for risk avoidance. The people voting on risky decisions in nonprofits often do not bear the consequences. The people who bear the consequences are usually best positioned to lead the decision. Decisions belong, as much as possible, with the people who will live inside their outcomes. That is not a revolutionary idea. It is just rarely the way nonprofit governance actually operates. The Move That Makes Change Manageable This is where the size of the decision matters. When every change is framed as a cannon shot, people freeze. The stakes are too high, the ambiguity too wide, the board too uncomfortable. So nothing moves. But there is another option. Jim Collins calls it firing bullets before cannons. Ashley Jablow frames it as a design thinking question. It is the same idea in different clothes. Ask what is the smallest, fastest, cheapest thing I could do right now to learn the most? That is a different size of decision. It does not require a board vote. It does not require a three year strategic plan. It does not require certainty. It only requires that you be willing to run a small experiment and read the results. In short: The question to ask before any big change is: what's the smallest move I could make to learn the most? A bullet is cheap. A cannon is expensive. Fire bullets first. Experiments replace certainty with evidence. One line from that conversation with Ashley has stayed with me: "What is the smallest, fastest, cheapest thing that you could do or try right now in order to learn the most?" What I appreciate about this framing is that it does not ask the leader to be brave. It asks them to be curious. It shrinks the change until it fits inside the capacity the organization actually has, and then it uses the result of that small move to decide the next one. That is how sustainable change actually works. Not through heroic leaps. Through a chain of small moves that each teach you something. Self-Trust Is the Quiet Currency of Change There is a second thing small experiments do that nobody talks about, and it may be more important than the learning itself. They build self-trust. Every small move you make and see through teaches you that you are a person who follows through. Every small experiment that works teaches you that your instincts are worth listening to. Every small experiment that fails teaches you that failure is survivable and useful. You cannot lead a big change if you do not trust yourself to make a small one. And most leaders who feel stuck are not missing strategy. They are missing the lived experience of their own follow-through. In short: Small experiments are also self-trust training. Leaders who have never run a small move do not trust themselves with a big one. Evidence of your own follow-through is what makes confidence durable. This is why the "do one small thing" advice is not soft advice. It is structural. It is how capacity gets built. Another moment from the conversation sat with me here. Ashley named a question she said often hides under any change effort, whether leaders realize it or not: "Can I trust myself to actually accomplish this and follow through?" Most leaders never say that question out loud. So the answer never gets built. Small experiments are how you build the answer. What This Makes Possible When leaders stop sizing every change as either "do nothing" or "blow it up," the whole posture of the organization changes. What shifts: Change stops being a crisis event and becomes a practice. Decisions get made closer to the people who live with the outcomes. Self-trust builds through reps, not through a pep talk. The organization starts learning instead of defending. The work is not lighter. It is just better aimed. Closing This isn't about being braver. It's about picking a smaller move. Nonprofits can adapt without crisis. They can change without drama. They can build self-trust through evidence instead of hoping for it. Not by betting the whole organization on one cannon shot, but by firing a lot of cheap, honest bullets and paying attention to where they land.
SummaryIn this episode I'm joined by Chad Holdorf, longtime product and technology leader whose career spans John Deere, Salesforce, Pendo, and now Demandbase, where he leads AI initiatives across the company.We explore how AI is fundamentally reshaping the way modern product teams test, ship, and learn, from debugging customer issues directly against live codebases to product managers and support teams submitting pull requests themselves. Chad shares how tools like Cursor and Claude are collapsing traditional handoffs between product, engineering, and support, creating a much faster feedback loop between customer problems, experimentation, and shipped solutions.We also get into the messy reality behind enterprise AI adoption, including data quality, hallucinations, trust, evals, and why testing AI products inside real customer environments is much harder than most demos make it look. Chad gives us a peek into how his own workflow has changed, how his teams are learning by building in real time, and why this moment reminds him of the early days of Lean Startup, where he and I first met.If you've been wondering what AI-native product development actually looks and feels like inside a real company, this episode is for you.TakeawaysAI is collapsing traditional handoffs between product, engineering, and support teams. Chad described customer support teams going directly into code repositories with AI tools to investigate issues, understand root causes, and eventually submit merge requests themselves.Most enterprise AI demos fall apart when connected to messy real-world customer data. Chad emphasized that “just putting Claude on top of the data” failed quickly without extensive labeling, validation, testing, and human feedback loops. Customers could detect hallucinations within a few prompts.AI systems expose hidden data inconsistencies inside organizations. One example showed AI selecting a custom CRM field that technically produced better targeting results than the field support teams were trained to use, creating confusion about which “truth” was actually correct.Trust has become the critical success factor for enterprise AI adoption. Chad explained that once customers encounter inaccurate outputs, confidence in the system drops immediately, which forces teams to spend enormous time improving prompts, SQL queries, evals, and validation workflows before broader rollout.Product managers are increasingly becoming hands-on builders again. Instead of relying entirely on engineering handoffs, Chad now spends large portions of his week inside Cursor and AI coding agents investigating bugs, generating tickets, reviewing repos, and shaping product direction directly through code conversations.AI-native workflows dramatically compress feedback loops. Problems that previously took days of back-and-forth between support, product, and engineering can now move from customer issue to deployed fix in under an hour through AI-assisted workflows and automated merge requests.The biggest organizational bottleneck is shifting away from engineering speed toward enablement and adaptation. Chad compared this moment to early Agile adoption, where downstream teams like sales, support, and training struggled to keep pace with accelerated shipping cycles. AI is now amplifying that challenge even further.Continuous learning and experimentation matter more than formal process mastery right now. Chad repeatedly compared the current AI moment to the early Agile movement: the people progressing fastest are the ones willing to try tools, build things, stay curious, and learn in public rather than waiting for established best practices or certifications.Guest LinksLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadholdorf/Demandbase: https://www.demandbase.com/ If your leadership team is about to make a big strategic bet, the real risk usually isn't the idea, it's the assumptions behind it that haven't been surfaced yet. A Decision Sprint is a focused 6–12 week engagement where we extract, map, and test those risks so leaders can make a clear Commit, Correct, or Cut decision before major capital moves. Learn more or apply at precoil.com.
Most students start their personal statement by asking, “What should I write about?”That's the wrong starting point.In this episode, Steve explains why the topic is not the essay-- and why strong essays usually reveal three layers: the external problem the internal journey the deeper reason the story matters Before students begin drafting, they need to understand what their essay is actually trying to reveal: who they are, what they value, and why it matters.For students who have been through the Ivy League Challenge, this is the moment to connect the dots between core values, meaningful impact, personal growth, and application strategy.Register for the workshop at TILC.to/essay
In a market flooded with AI tools, the smartest legal teams aren't chasing technology first - they're slowing down to ask better questions. In this episode of Careers and the Business of Law, David Cowen sits down with Stacy Lettie, James Vinson, and Scott Milner to unpack why design thinking is making a comeback in the AI era. Special shoutout to Nitant Narang for jumping into the conversation and raising one of the most important questions of the episode: when does asking "why" become too much? The conversation cuts through the hype around legal AI and focuses on something far more valuable: defining the right problem before rushing toward a solution. From practical frameworks to real-world failures, the panel explores how legal professionals can think more strategically, collaborate more effectively, and avoid wasting time and money on "shiny software" that doesn't solve the actual issue. Key Topics Covered: Why most legal teams are moving too fast into AI adoption without defining the underlying business problem first The real meaning of design thinking - minus the consultant jargon and buzzwords How asking "Why?" repeatedly uncovers the actual issue hiding beneath the surface The shift from "technology first" back to "people, process, then technology" Why communities like Legal Data Intelligence help legal professionals solve problems faster and avoid reinventing the wheel The importance of prototyping, failing early, and learning through experimentation instead of chasing perfection Why the future value of legal professionals will come from asking the right questions - not just delivering answers
I am Aleksandra Vancevska, gestalt therapeutic counsellor and UKCP student therapist. I support you to transform overachieving burnout, stress, perfectionism and stuckness into fulfilling self-confidence and authentic success.To start therapy with me schedule a free consultation: https://calendly.com/aleksandra-vanchevska/discovery-call
From Corporate HR To Luxury Home DesignA polished career can still leave you whispering through a closed office door while your kids are on the other side. We sit down with Alissa, founder of Gemhaus Design, to talk about what happens when a global HR path with late-night calls and constant pressure stops fitting real life and you decide to jump anyway.We get into the full pivot: how her love of interiors started early, why the business began with real estate development, and how Whitefish, Montana became the springboard for luxury ski-home investing. Alissa breaks down what she actually looks for in a smart investment property, why seasonality matters for a short-term rental, and how to think about cap rate and operating costs without getting lost in jargon.Then we zoom into the human side of interior design and entrepreneurship. Alissa shares what a premium design process looks like, how she learns the truth of how a family lives, and why “work-life balance” isn't the goal. We talk harmony, trade-offs, failure, celebration, and the kind of mom mornings that include potty-training emergencies and gorilla glue on every door handle.If you're building a business, considering real estate investing, or craving a career that feels more like you, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who's on the edge of a leap, and leave a review with the biggest trade-off you're navigating right now.Resources Mentioned:Shonda Rhimes The DailyRadio Lab - The InterstitiumTelepathy TapesConnect with Alissa:Website: Gemhaus DesignIG: @gemhaus.designContact the Host, Kelly Kirk:Email: info.ryh7@gmail.comGet Connected/Follow:The Hue Drop Newsletter: Subscribe HereIG: @ryh_pod & @thekelly.tanke.kirkFacebook: Reclaiming Your Hue Facebook PageCAKES Affiliate Link: KELLYKIRKCredits:Editor: Joseph KirkMusic: Kristofer Tanke Thanks for listening & cheers to Reclaiming Your Hue!
Wondering if Octalysis fits your challenge? Quick intro chat → professorgame.com/chat Most companies rely on traditional design thinking to build their products. That assumption is exactly why their retention rates flatline. In this episode, Rob Alvarez sits down with Joris Beerda, CEO of The Octalysis Group, to unpack the five-step Octalysis design process that drives engagement for Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft and Porsche. They discuss the critical difference between human-centered and human-focused design, the mechanics of building a high-functioning loyalty loop, and how to prioritize features using the "Biggest Bang for the Buck" model. If you want to move beyond simple points and badges to build experiences users genuinely care about, this conversation lays out the exact blueprint. Joris Beerda is the Co-Founder and CEO of The Octalysis Group. As a world-leading expert in Human-Focused Design and Octalysis Gamification, Joris' global career in creating engagement spans across 20 years, 15 countries and 7 languages. He has designed Human-Focused experiences for dozens of Fortune 500s as well as medium-sized companies. Joris is also a well known Keynote Speaker on Gamification in many renowned conferences throughout Europe, Asia, and Australia. Rob Alvarez is Head of Engagement Strategy, Europe at The Octalysis Group (TOG), a leading gamification and behavioral design consultancy. A globally recognized gamification strategist and TEDx speaker, he founded and hosts Professor Game, the #1 gamification podcast, and has interviewed hundreds of global experts. He designs evidence-based engagement systems that drive motivation, loyalty, and results, and teaches LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® and gamification at top institutions including IE Business School, EFMD, and EBS University across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Guest Links and Info LinkedIn: Joris Beerda The Octalysis Group The Octalysis Group Case Studies Links to episode mentions: Proposed guest: Daniel Kahneman or Richard Thaler Recommended book: Why Everyone Else is a Hypocrite by Robert Kurzban Favorite game: Heroes of the Storm Lets's do stuff together! Let's chat about your gamification project YouTube LinkedIn Instagram Facebook Start Your Community on Skool for Free Ask a question
Erike De Veyra, Assoc. AIA, SEED, is a designer, seasoned project manager, and the founder of Design Gym. Her career spans architecture, public programming, and design education; bringing together creative practice with a strong focus on community impact. She recently earned a Master of Science in Design Thinking and Entrepreneurship, further shaping her interdisciplinary approach to design and leadership.Design Gym is a platform that provides design education, workshops, educational programming, and design project leadership for clients and teams. Erike believes design is part of everyday life, that it should feel accessible, and that it should not be limited by cost or background.Through her work, Erike empowers people to better understand the world around them and recognize their own ability to design. The individuals she works with leave more confident, more curious, and better equipped to be thoughtful stewards of design in their own communities.We talk about: - Erike's non-linear path in architecture which started with graduating during the Recession. We talk about the challenges of the job market at that time and how she leveraged her volunteer leadership and extracurricular work to build skills, visibility, and career momentum.- She speaks candidly about licensure, identity, and self-worth, unpacking the emotional realities of exams, motherhood, and redefining success beyond traditional firm roles.- We highlight some of Erike's most exciting roles, the impact she has had on the Philadelphia community, and how these opportunities led to the founding of Design Gym which blends architecture, design thinking, entrepreneurship, and education to help people of all ages build creativity and problem-solving confidence.>>>Connect with Erike: Design Gym WebsiteDesign Gym LinkedInDesign Gym Instagram>>>Thank you to our Sponsor:Arcol is a collaborative building design tool built for modern teams. Arcol streamlines your design process by keeping your model, data, and presentations in sync- enabling your team to work together seamlessly. Learn more about Arcol on their Website, Instagram, YouTube, X, and LinkedIn.>>>Connect with Architectette:- Website: www.architectette.com (Learn more)- Instagram: @architectette (See more)- Newsletter: www.architectette.com/newsletter (Behind the Scenes Content)- LinkedIn: The Architectette Podcast Page and/or Caitlin Brady>>> Support Architectette:- Leave us a rating and review!>>>Music by AlexGrohl from Pixabay.
Can design thinking and partnerships accelerate climate solutions at the pace the world now demands? The scale and urgency of the transformation required to fight climate change has never been more clear. Building hardware and software products, acquiring the funding and creating a diverse community to enhance talent capacity and to drive innovation, is essential to tackling this global environmental crisis. In this podcast, host Silicon Valley Bank (a division of First Citizens Bank) Climate Tech & Sustainability SVP Maggie Wong will be interviewing PolyGone Systems CEO & Co-Founder Nathaniel Banks to discuss the use of design thinking and partnerships to remove and recover microplastics across bodies of water, the balance of product iteration and customer testing, and and importance of education of a problem and relevant solutions to facilitate adoption
If you've been following this podcast, you already know that college admissions isn't about being the most impressive student.But what does a truly strong essay actually look like?In this episode, Steve shares a clip from a live essay workshop with a current Yale student who also works in admissions. Together, they break down a real supplemental essay from a student admitted to Yale, Harvard, Caltech, and other top schools.More importantly, they unpack the level of curiosity, depth, and engagement behind the essay, so you can understand what students need to develop before they ever start writing.In this episode, you'll learn:Why strong essays reflect how a student thinks, not just what they've doneThe difference between average essays and those that stand out at top schoolsA simple framework for evaluating essay quality (Tier 1, 2, and 3)What level of engagement students need to reach in their activities-----To register for the Ivy League Challenge, visit our websiteTo follow on Instagram: @TheIvyLeagueChallengeTo join us on our Facebook group for parents
Are you building your social enterprise in a "basement" of isolation, or are you developing it alongside the community you actually serve?Social entrepreneurship attracts people with a deep desire to solve community problems, but many of these founders fall into the trap of building their vision in total isolation. Adam Morris explores why the "perfect" plan often fails while the "messy" test succeeds. Using the cautionary tale of two underwater vehicle companies, the discussion highlights how early failure is actually a competitive advantage. One company spent ten years engineering the perfect vessel only to go bankrupt, while the other "crashed" early, learned quickly, and eventually dominated the market.We dive into the journey of Jerry from Renter Mentor, who bypassed high-tech coding to first sit down with landlords and discover their true pain points through focus groups and "speed dating" sessions. This approach to Applied Design Thinking isn't about colorful sticky notes; it's a disciplined way to identify your riskiest assumptions. Whether they involve your customer, your revenue model, or your actual social impact. By shifting the focus from building a "car" to building a "skateboard," founders can stop guessing and start creating solutions that people are actually ready to support.Episode in a glance00:00 Defining social entrepreneurship and the two types of founders02:46 Learning by doing: The tale of two submarine companies05:33 Success story: How Renter Mentor used focus groups to pivot07:31 Understanding Design Thinking09:33 The MVP explained11:38 Six core assumptions every social entrepreneur makes16:13 Avoiding bias: The Mom Test by Robert Fitzpatrick17:25 Five practical tests to validate your idea19:03 Why revenue and pre-order tests are the ultimate signalAbout Adam MorrisAdam Morris is the founder and host of People Helping People. He launched the podcast in 2017 with the vision to learn and share what is possible through social entrepreneurship, as well as to give individuals the tools to successfully start their own impact ventures. He is passionate about connecting people and creating a world that will thrive for generations.Connect with Adam and his work→ People Helping People→ Linkedin→ Instagram→ Youtube
“Our industry needs brave people who are willing to understand problems deeply, understand the people who are attached to those problems deeply, and find ways to innovate through those shared gains that this industry is experiencing.”Register for the 2026 AECiSummit HERE! (April 8-10). Join Devon as he chats with previous co-host Nathan Wood and Nick Caravella about the upcoming AECiSummit 2026! Use the promo code "AOC" to be entered in a ski trip lottery! Nick Caravella is an architect-turned-technologist focused on helping industrial teams deliver safer, more predictable projects. He works at the intersection of the built environment and digital transformation. At Cumulus, he helps owners and contractors adopt digital QA/QC and Connected Worker solutions that reduce rework, improve quality, and provide real-time visibility into schedule - and cost-driving work. He partners closely with customers, industry leaders, and internal teams to modernize inspection workflows and advance data-driven quality programs across capital projects.Nathan C. Wood is the Executive Director of Construction Progress Coalition (CPC), a grassroots non-profit initiative to educate AEC professionals about the need for open interoperability standards between project delivery stakeholders. Nathan's experience with Virtual Design and Construction (VDC), Lean process improvement, and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) has led him to realize how even proven technology solutions can result in lost ROI when the needs of people and process are not addressed. Nathan balances his passion for data insights and stakeholder empathy through pragmatic adoption strategy, driving digital standards adoption in design and construction. When not fighting for open standards, Nathan also supports construction transformation as Chief Enabling Officer of SpectrumAEC, delivering speaking engagements, research publications and Design Thinking workshops.For more information on the AECISummit, checkout the Construction Progress Collation's Website!Take a listen to episode 338 (The ConTech Crew featuring Devon Tilly) and 337 (Data driven construction) as mentioned in this episode!Keep up with the Art of Construction (AOC) podcast on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn! Subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!
What Does Radical Acceptance Look Like in Real Life? In this Good Faith Podcast episode, Curtis Chang sits down with Dave Evans (co-founder of the Stanford Life Design Lab) to tear up the "find your purpose" script and explore how design thinking, faith, and radical acceptance can lead to real meaning—especially through grief and uncertainty. Expect sharp insights, honest stories, and practical tools to build a life with more presence, flow, and authenticity starting now. Dave and Curtis dig into faith and the tension of the "already and not yet" as they look at the ideas in Dave's latest book, How to Live a Meaningful Life. Sign up for The Good List Get tickets: Illuminate Arts + Faith Conference and our recording with Matt Maher 03:05 - Dave Evans' Journey & the Origins of Life Design 09:54 - Are there Pitfalls When Pursuing Impact and Transactional Mindset? 18:08 - Design Moves for Greater Meaning 22:05 - Radical Acceptance Illustrated by Personal Loss 28:06 - Why Is the Concept of Flow Important? 39:37 - Compatibility of Design Thinking and Christian Worldview 41:06 - Four Areas of Human Experience for Meaning 45:34 - Meaning in the Second Half of Life 48:59 - Getting Started: Practical First Steps Scriptures: Deuteronomy 30:11–14 (ESV) Deuteronomy 30:19–20 (ESV) John 10:10 (ESV) Philippians 2:5-11 (ESV) Romans 12:2 (ESV) Ecclesiastes 2:11 (ESV) Luke 17:20–21 (ESV) Mark 8:18 (ESV) Mentioned in This Episode: Dave Evans + Bill Burnett's How to Live a Meaningful Life: Using Design Thinking to Unlock Purpose, Joy, and Flow Every Day What is Radical Acceptance? Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience Lisa Miller's lecture The Awakened Brain Jill Bolte Taylor's TED Talk: My Stroke of Insight More about Jean Vanier and L'Arche Richard Rohr's Falling Upward Veritas Forum: Dallas Willard Stanford's Life Design Lab What is Design thinking? (pdf) Don Norman's The Design of Everyday Things More from Dave Evans: Dave Evans + Bill Burnett's Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life Dave Evans + Bill Burnett's Designing Your New Work Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness--and a New Freedom--at Work Dave Evans Praxis Mentor page Check out: Designing Your Life website Connected Good Faith Episodes: Good Faith ep. 68: The Impact Fetish (with Andy Crouch) Follow Us: Good Faith on Instagram Good Faith on X (formerly Twitter) Good Faith on Facebook The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.
Why your best life isn't about having the right answers, but about asking the right questions.Finding meaning and purpose in life isn't about having all the answers. For Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, it's about having the courage and curiosity to constantly engage with the questions.As designers, Burnett and Evans have careers spanning everything from academia to companies like Apple, Electronic Arts, and Hasbro. But beyond fashioning better products and user experiences, they've also put their expertise toward the transcendent, writing several books about designing and living lives filled with meaning and purpose.“Compasses say North, not Seattle,” says Evans, highlighting how many mistakenly think of purpose as a single destination. “We're all a dynamic, flowing, constantly changing thing. So how could a changing thing have one static right answer?” Instead, he and Burnett maintain that meaning is more about “going the right direction, not [finding] the right destination.”In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Burnett and Evans join host Matt Abrahams to explore their strategies for leading a purposeful life. Rather than “rehearsing [an] answer,” their method involves “living [a] question” — embracing curiosity and designing a life through dialogue with ourselves and with others.To listen to the extended Deep Thinks version of this episode, please visit FasterSmarter.io/premium.Episode Reference Links:Bill BurnettDave EvansBill and Dave's Book: How to Live a Meaningful LifeEp.181 Why Happiness is a Direction, Not a Destination: Communication, Happiness & WellbeingEp.138 Speak Your Truth: Why Authenticity Leads to Better Communication Connect:Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart PremiumEmail Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.ioEpisode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedInChapters:(00:00) - Introduction (01:02) - Meaning & Purpose as a Direction (01:42) - Coherence & Living in Alignment (02:23) - Design Thinking for Life Decisions (03:56) - Prototyping Conversations (05:29) - Odyssey Plans: Three Possible Futures (07:33) - The Four Elements of Meaning (09:22) - Wonder Glasses: Shifting Perspective (10:48) - Transactional vs. Flow World (12:36) - How to Build a Formative Community (13:59) - The Practice-to-Production Trap (15:07) - The Final Three Questions (18:35) - Conclusion
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