The Company Road Podcast E73 Tiny ideas, huge leaps: leading your organisation through uncertainty
“It’s not that you are not creative, you just haven’t worked a little more on developing your capacity. We can all be creative.” Dr. Maria Camacho
Dr. Maria Camacho is a global leader in design thinking and innovation. With over 30 years of experience across academia, consulting, and industry, she has helped shape the way organisations think about creativity and collaboration.
In this episode, Maria talks about how design thinking can help people and companies navigate uncertainty.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
- Why Design Thinking matters now more than ever
- How creative resilience is built through practice
- The emotional highs and lows of the innovation process
- Why organisations still struggle to value design
- Tips to support introverts and quieter voices in ideation
- How to run a “dark horse” prototype that uncovers unexpected solutions
- The role of play and experimentation at work
- Helping teams fall in love with the process, not just the idea
- When to introduce creativity in education and leadership
- What it means to make creativity part of everyone’s role
Key links
- Dr. Maria Camacho LinkedIn
- Recommended Book: The Design Thinking Toolbox: A Guide to Mastering the Most Popular and Valuable Innovation Methods (Design Thinking Series)
- Stanford University
- Frog
- Swinburne University of Technology
About our guest
Dr. Maria Camacho is a globally recognised expert in design thinking and strategic innovation with over 30 years of experience across academia, industry, and consulting. With a PhD in Design Thinking and a decade-long partnership with Stanford University's flagship programs, Maria has helped shape innovation practices at global companies and institutions, including Frog, the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care, Westpac, Swinburne University, and global European group Sonae.
Maria’s career spans founding and directing award-winning academic programs, mentoring teams to embrace human-centred approaches, and delivering impactful workshops and keynote speeches around the world. Known for her evidence-based methods, she empowers leaders and teams to tackle complexity with creativity, empathy, and humanity.
Today, Maria runs her independent practice as a speaker, corporate trainer, and advisor, inspiring organisations to foster cultures of innovation and collaborative problem-solving.
About our host
Our host, Chris Hudson, is an Intrapreneuship Coach, Teacher, Experience Designer and Founder of business transformation coaching and consultancy Company Road.
Company Road was founded by Chris Hudson, who saw over-niching and specialisation within corporates as a significant barrier to change.
Chris considers himself incredibly fortunate to have worked with some of the world’s most ambitious and successful companies, including Google, Mercedes-Benz, Accenture (Fjord) and Dulux, to name a small few. He continues to teach with University of Melbourne in Innovation, and Academy Xi in CX, Product Management, Design Thinking
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