How to Win In-House: Don't Take Your True Superpowers For Granted / Inside Service Design / Ep. #06
Service Design Show
Team Placement and Organizational Context
Hayden and Ben explain where their teams sit—Hayden under COO/Chief Technologist and Ben within operations—and how that shapes influence.
Have you ever thought about...
What a therapist, a grandma, and an organ donor teach you about service design?
I know, this might sound like the start of a strange joke, but it gets to the heart of a big truth about our work.
We invest a lot of time perfecting our journey maps, blueprints, and personas.
But as we know, the challenges we work on won't be solved by a deliverable.
They're solved through invisible "tools" like subtle influence, creating space for others, and building strategic relationships.
So, where do you find these tools? Well, this episode is a great start.
This episode is part of our "Inside Service Design" series, where we explore the real, unpolished practice of driving change from within organizations.
And just like in the previous episodes you get to hear two brilliant in-house professionals, share some of their most powerful, non-traditional strategies. This time we're joined by Irina Damascan and Gina Mendolia.
Gina walks us through her concept of "Setting the Trap" for engagement, and how she draws inspiration from the roles of therapists, coaches, and even grandmas to master the art of creating space and enabling teams to connect the dots themselves.
Irina introduces a powerful model for influence she calls the "Organ Donor Chain," a strategic way to build networks of reciprocity by doing "favors" that enable change across the organization, often in unexpected ways.
I have to say, it was refreshing to hear about effective mental models that go beyond design-as-usual, which aren't just theories but truly help to design better services.
Want to add some (unconventional) tools that help you drive change to your toolkit? Grab your notebook and join us for this conversation.
What's the most unconventional place you've found inspiration for your work? Maybe a different profession, a hobby, a movie? Share your inspiration in the comments on YouTube and let's continue the conversation there.
Keep making a positive impact!
~ Marc
--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---
00:00 Welcome
04:30 Who is Ben
06:00 How Heydn got his role
07:15 What Heydn is currently doing
08:15 Ben working at a financial services firm
10:15 who Ben is reporting to
11:30 where Autodesk sits
13:15 what a good looks like for Heydn
16:30 indicators of success
17:30 what success looks like for Ben
23:30 Why Context Determines Your SD Strategy
27:00 Ben's topic: the first 90 days
30:45 Heydn's key takeaway
35:00 Making Your Map Complicated on Purpose
37:00 Ben's takeaway
43:00 the last time he has done the first 90 days
46:45 Heydn reacting
48:45 Learning things the hard way
51:00 Ben's hard lessons
55:00 what keeps him motivated
57:30 what will Heydn get back there
1:00:00 Ben to summarize
1:00:30 Heydn's final words of wisdom
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--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---
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