Catching The Next Wave

If you are not different (and sometimes even disliked) you won’t be noticed.  And it also means that most likely you don’t innovate. With Jessica Mignone, a Principal Product Designer at Intuit (and a former UX Designer at Google), we discuss innovation from the perspective of constant improvement, or, in other words, we say that: going back to the stuff we built and making it better - this is innovation. We note that people innovate their entire lives anyway, and they are not even aware of that. And we also talk about the importance of 20% projects as creative outlets for smart people. LINKSIchiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga, “The Courage To Be Disliked”

Innovation is only true innovation when it is put on the market and validated with customers. With our esteemed guest, Joe Pine, the author of (among many others) “The Experience Economy”, we investigate the innovation space for experience design. We dig into the value of long-term thinking and the importance of considering the employee experience next to staging the experiences for customers. We tap into a concept of regenerative management and into the importance of underpromising to create powerful word-of-mouth.Please note that this episode was recorded before the outbreak of the coronavirus   —  some of the comments refer to the situation before the pandemic. LINKSJoseph Pine II, James Gilmore, “The Experience Economy”James Gilmore, Joseph Pine II, “Authenticity”J. Robert Rossman, Mathew D.Duerden, “Designing Experiences”Roman Egger, Paul Bulencea, “Gamification in Tourism”Benjamin Hunnicutt, “The Age of Experiences”

Is there a universal definition of innovation? It seems there isn’t. But there are quite a few ingredients that seem universal such as purpose, long-term vision, diverse team, rebel spirit, trust, and protection of a boss who is willing to be patient. Once again our guests expand our worldview and make us rethink the concept we thought we had figured out. And what we conclude is this. If you want to be truly innovative you need to set your mind on a purpose that goes beyond your bottom line and stay curious to remain sensitive to the way the world changes around you.LINKSStanislaw Lem, “Tales of Pirx the Pilot”

Innovation — do we know what we talk about? Is it something business-related or perhaps it links to academia? It is about the insight or the outcome? And what does trivial mean in this context? Or maybe innovation is like love — everybody talks about it but nobody has seen it… We are setting out to discover that in Season 6.LINKSBill Buxton’s short article about innovation.

When we started this season about magic, we had no clue where it could take us. Actually, we had little clue of what magic meant in the first place. With our guests of Season 5 we had the great pleasure to look at magic from the perspective of an artist, designer, teacher, leader, and magician. And you might be surprised how much of it can be applied to both our personal and professional lives. We hope you will enjoy it as much as we did.

Is there a place for “magic” today, besides the theatrical dimension and the entertainment industry? Yes, there is! In our conversation, Ferdinando Buscema—a professional "Magic Experience Designer”—takes us on the journey of wonder, kindness and luck. We explore about how magic relates to the world of business, and what modern leaders can learn from the Archetype of the Magician.IMPORTANT LINKSFerdinando's professional websiteDoug HenningDavid CopperfieldArchetypes by Carl JungFerdinando’s book (written together with "Wonder Injector" Mariano Tomatis) in Italian“The Glass Bead Game” by Hermann Hesse“Techgnosis” by Erik Davis“The Hero Within” by Carol PearsonThe Archetype of the Magician, Diploma Thesis (C.G. Jung Institute, Zurich) by John Granrose 

There are always more than two options. In the way we see the world. In the way we collaborate. And in the way in which we hope to impact culture. Malcolm Campbell, an executive director of R&D labs at Canon Medical Systems, talks about how spirituality and science can create magic of desired culture through the narratives that people share.IMPORTANT LINKSMalcolm's "Skirnir" web page with his LARP games, photographs and writing.A discussion about Malcolm's talk on "Living Seidr".Malcolm's talk "Transforming an Organisational Culture" at "Agile By Example 2019" Conference.Recommended book: “Hostage at the table” by George Kohlrieser. 

Artists today  have no other way but learn to become entrepreneurs. In a conversation with Rasmus Stride and Ariel Orah we investigate the challenges artists face in order to do their art. We also dig into the topics of collaboration and praise embracing diversity as a path to become an inspirational leader.IMPORTANT LINKSSoy Division Berlin by ArielEmpathy-based Artist Collective by ArielDay Dream by Rasmus“The book of symbols”Brian Ino “Music for the airports”

Secret societies, immersive experiences - where is the magic in there? Together with Anthony Rocco - an immersive experience designer and one of the faces behind the Latitude Society in San Francisco, we unpack the magic of being together as a group that agree on certain rules and believe in a certain reality that leads to creation of a magic circle where new patterns of behavior can be formed.IMPORTANT LINKSMerry PrankstersCacophony SocietyLatitude SocietyMormonismPsychomagic: The Transformative Power of Shamanic Psychotherapy by Alejandro Jodorowsky 

Magic is a part of us. Pim Schachtschabel, a bespoke experience architect of magic and founder of one of the world's best escape rooms shares his perspective on how magic is the way we see the world. How Magic can be a way of thinking and perceiving what is happening around us. He shares his insights on designing storylines in escape rooms and the experiential workshops he secretly co-creates.IMPORTANT LINKSPim’s website“Creative confidence” by David Kelly“The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World” by Wade Davis 

What propels you to do more? What brings you satisfaction in life? Joana Mao, a strategic designer and the author of the Clear Purpose Framework convinces us that a way to live a fulfilling life is to find your deeper purpose: the purpose that goes beyond your own goals and desires. Once this purpose is surfaced the magic of inner alignment will happen.IMPORTANT LINKSFundacao BradescoCoexiste“Skillful Means: Patterns for Success” by Tarthang Tulku 

Experiences are something we remember for a long time. Much longer than we remember things. How to design for them? With Anna Pohlmeyer, the assistant professor at the Institute for Positive Design at Delft University of Technology, we talk about the challenges behind hedonistic adaptation, designing for values and virtues. And we also consider designing for inefficiency as a way to engage people on a new, deeper level than it usually happens.IMPORTANT LINKSCheck out the Delft Institute of Positive Design for a selection of inspiring projects, tools & methods, as well as scientific publicationsBooks recommended by Anna:“Funology: From Usability to Enjoyment” (Human–Computer Interaction Series)“Designing pleasurable products” by Patrick Jordan“Sketching User Experiences” by Bill Buxton“Design of everyday things” by Don Norman“Design for the real world” by Victor Papanek“Thinking fast and slow” by Daniel Kahneman“How of happiness” by Sonja Lyubomirsky"Speculative everything: design, fiction, and social drea

What is magic? Professor David Bassuk from Purchase College NYC returns to our podcast to discuss whether magic is more of a mindset or rather a toolbox. He digs into the danger of magical thinking as a trap for avoiding the current problems we should be addressing.IMPORTANT LINKS“Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History” by Kurt Andersen“Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals about Our Everyday Deceptions” by Stephen Macknik, Susana Martinez-Conde, Sandra Blakeslee

Can magic have anything to do with business and leadership? What is magic for in the first place? Why would we even discuss it? Aga and Łukasz look at the different perspectives of magic and its applicability in work and life.

So many of us dream about living a creative life. But isn’t it just fantasy? In our first ever live conversation with Rachel Uwa and Katja Wessling we investigate the joy but also the difficulties of choosing to become an independent creative.IMPORTANT LINKSSchool of Machines by RachelKaospilot experience design program by Katja and Andy (our guest from the very first season)“Buddhism for Mothers: A Calm Approach to Caring for Yourself and Your Children” by Sarah Napthali “A Course in Miracles: Combined Volume Mass Market” by Foundation For Inner Peace                                                     

This season showed us the huge difference between the notion of the English phrase: common sense and its Polish version: healthy judgment. This realization made a great twist on all our conversations where we tried to investigate both these expressions. We dived into the world of measures, decision-making, changing minds, agile, design and even music to better understand whether common sense is as common as it should be. Or perhaps common sense shouldn't be as common as you might think after all...IMPORTANT LINKSShu - Ha - Ri model in martial artsEvolutionary Development Method - EVO“Getting Things Done” by David Allen“The bullet journal method” by Ryder Carroll“How to measure anything” by Douglas W. Hubbard

There is plenty of stuff that should be common sense but it isn't. In this episode, Gus Power rants about many of such things: from abusing agile principles, through pretending to be aligned, to the misjudgments that stem from the ladder of inference. We tap into the topics of employee motivation, the innovation trap and also the phenomenon of weak consensus every organization on this planet should be aware of. You are up for a ride with this conversation.IMPORTANT LINKSJeffrey Liker “The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer”   Richard Michael Cyert ,James G. March “A Behavioral Theory of the Firm”    Donald A. Schon “The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think In Action”   Kenichi Ohmae  “The Mind Of The Strategist: The Art of Japanese Business”Larry Keeley, Helen Walters, Ryan Pikkel, Brian Quinn “Ten Types of Innovation: The Discipline of Building Breakthroughs”Chris Argyris “Teaching Smart People How to Learn”Chris Argyris  “Flawed Advice and the Management

So many of us find decision taking really hard. But does it have to be this way? In our conversation with Michelle Florendo, the decision engineer, we discover the three core elements of decision taking. But most of all we both realize that decision taking process is something very different from what is the outcome of that decision.Important linksMichelle's podcast: Ask the Decision Engineer“The paradox of choice” by Barry Schwartz“Smart Choices” by John Hammond, Ralph Keene and Howard RaiffaIf you would like to ask Michelle a question, you can do it here

Many companies these days only vaguely know what they aim for. Their visions are in-concrete and difficult to execute on. In this episode we talk to Tom Gilb, the creator of the Evolutionary Development (EVO) about his impact on the way different companies (and even countries) around the world can improve their performance based on focused and tailored measurements. For those, who are curious: EVO is a software development method that is based on incremental product releases, frequent delivery, and dynamic plans and processes.IMPORTANT LINKSTom's Book "Innovative Creativity" especially for our listeners is here. Please, treat it as a personal copy for you alone.You can get the "Competitive Engineering" e-book for free from Tom here or you can buy a paper version in an Amazon store in your country.Tom has been writing a lot lately, mostly ebooks. You can find them here - some are free, some have free previews.

Singing might seem like magic to so many of you. But is it really the case? In this conversation with the Brazilian musician and the signing teacher, Wagner Barbosa, we talk about the mechanics of the vocal tract, what does rhythm do to our brain and why is positive reinforcement so utterly crucial if you want to learn how to sing. We also hear the story of training 30 kids to sing the national anthem at the Olympic Games - can you imagine that? IMPORTANT LINKSWagner's band: Banda Golonka - Wagner is the guy in a red t-shirt playing a guitar....and this is the original song from their upcoming album: Caixa Preta. Album: Orum by Giana Viscardi - that is the first album Wagner worked on as a vocal producer and it changed his entire life and carrier.Album: Africo by Sergio Santos - an album that changed the Brazilian scene when it came out.