Designing Schools

Now that many of us are set up in our remote work environments… what comes next? As the world transitions to a new way of working Ross Chapman, head of Etch Sprints, a design consultancy within Etch Group, is curious about how might we use this crisis to work better together. In this week’s episode Ross shares why the world of work is ripe for disruption and why the opportunity is now for you to make a difference. Ross has been preparing leaders and organizations in how to work remotely in a global and connected world pre pandemic. You can connect with Ross on LinkedIn here. You can connect with me, Sabba on LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter @AskMsQ or visit my website askmsq.com.  

Now more than ever people are looking for ideas, solutions, guidance and examples. If you have an idea to share, a best practice that may not seem special to you because it’s just how you do things, know that for others it may be the greatest gift you can share. We always talk about how finding the gaps can lead to opportunities for design. As Jay found himself facilitating workshops for a number of organizations he found a major gap in being able to truly innovate - a lack of trust amongst teams. In today’s episode Jay and I discuss: The current situation unfolding with COVID-19 and strategies for moving towards remote workshops and collaboration. How to establish trust amongst a team to foster a culture of collaboration where innovation thrives. How to design a culture that provides everyone with a voice and platform to share their thoughts and ideas. How to utilize the ICBD framework to help teams begin a project. To learn more from Jay you can connect with him on LinkedIn, or visit his website at New Haircut. You can connect with me, Sabba on LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter or visit my website askmsq.com.

"The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.” Steven Pressfield This week I want to share stories and strategies for overcoming the fear of failure and how we can embrace change in our lives and in the workplace. A few months back I had the pleasure of being interviewed by my good friend Michael Hernandez. His podcast, Change the Narrative, is one of my absolute favorites! His unique and captivating style of telling stories is unlike any other.  In this episode I discuss: Why empathy is key to designing a culture of innovation What a collaborative sounding board is and why you need one Why and how you need to develop your sense of self efficacy Strategies for how to overcome a fear of failure You can connect with me, Sabba on LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter @AskMsQ or visit my website askmsq.com.  

Our lives are defined by the conversations we can or cannot have. Pause. Read that again - our lives are defined by the conversations we can or cannot have.  From the bedroom to the boardroom and in all the hallways in between we design conversations with others daily. Not only do we have conversations with others, there is an ongoing conversation happening all the time, perhaps the most important one of all, the conversation we have with ourselves. When I came across today’s guest, Daniel Stillman it occurred to me that despite not only having but leading conversations day in and day out no one had ever really taught me the art of how to design one.  If you are a leader, a significant other or anyone who has conversations then this episode is for you!  In this episode Daniel shares: How the conversations we have with ourselves and the voices inside our head determine the life we live The Conversation OS framework and how it can help you design better conversations Why products, teams and organizations are also conversations and why it is essential they be designed to help drive business outcomes The art of how we invite others into the conversations we have to create cultures of innovation A preview into his new book, “Good Talk: How to Design Conversations that Matter.” Daniel designs conversations for a living, and insists that you actually do that too. As an independent design facilitator, he works with clients and organizations of all shapes and sizes (From Google to Visa, to name a few) to help them frame and sustain productive and collaborative conversations, deepen their facilitation skills, and coach them through the innovation process. His first book, The Paper Airplane Experiment and the 30 Second Elephant is about origami and teams and yes, it’s as strange as it sounds. Daniel hosts, “The Conversation Factory” podcast where he interviews leaders, changemakers and innovators on how they design the conversations in their work and lives. He’s here today to share how we can better design conversations and give us a preview inside his new book, “Good Talk: How to Design Conversations that Matter,” releasing April 2 with free chapters available for download here. I hope you all enjoy my conversation with Daniel Stillman, and as always we’d love if you tag us online and share your thoughts and takeaways.  You can visit Daniel’s website here to learn more and connect with him across his social channels. You can connect with me, Sabba on LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter @AskMsQ or visit my website askmsq.com.

His mantra is don’t make a living, design a life. This isn’t coming from an individual who is reflecting back upon their life and sharing advice, this is coming from 22 year old Jordan Paris who is designing a life that most would envy and he is here today to share his story and strategies for how you can do so as well.  Jordan is an author, entrepreneur and podcaster who has been featured in Forbes, Men’s Health, NASDAQ and many others. We talk about the importance of cultivating a growth mindset and Jordan lives this practice as a host of Growth Mindset University - ranking in the top ten in a number of competitive categories not just in the United States but worldwide. Some of his guests include James Altucher, Grant Cardone, Mark Manson, Naveen Jain and Dan Lok and later this year he is giving his first Ted Talk. Jordan also just released another book, “The Winning Game Plan to Build an Audience and Make Money as a Podcaster.” This is an episode you will want to share far and wide because Jordan’s story could be the motivation and advice someone needs to begin step one in designing their life. In this episode Jordan shares: His journey as an entrepreneur and why he believes college could be a waste of your time The opportunities young people have today and why he wrote, “The Podcast Playbook.” How he created a top ranking podcast with some of the most coveted guests as a college student? Why he wrote, “The Podcast Playbook: The Winning Game Plan to Build an Audience and Make Money as a Podcaster,” and why it can help you. The topic of his upcoming Ted Talk and why he hopes it is the start of a movement I hope you all enjoy my conversation with Jordan Paris, and as always we’d love if you tag us online and share your thoughts and takeaways.  You can connect visit Jordan’s website here, or connect with Jordan on LinkedIn and Instagram. You can purchase The Podcast Playbook: here and definitely subscribe to Growth Mindset University.  You can connect with me, Sabba on LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter @AskMsQ or visit my website askmsq.com. 

Learn from Julia McCoy, a guest expert in developing a design thinking mindset. She shares how she escaped a cult to build a multi-million dollar content agency and how she leveraged design thinking mindsets. Other topics include embracing trauma, unlearning, the power of empathy, content creation strategies, and her captivating book on Amazon.

How will you navigate the GPS of your career? Whether you are about to enter the world of work or if you are already in it, you know it’s a road filled with digital disruptions acting as blind spots along the way. As Jim Marous shares in this episode, change is happening faster than ever before yet it will never happen this slowly again. It can be challenging in times like this to stay relevant and informed about what change means for your industry and for you as an individual. In this episode Jim shares why a personal brand is critical to your self education and why you should use it to show and tell the marketplace that you are the master of your domain.  In this episode Jim Marous, an internationally recognized financial industry strategist named one of the most influential people in banking and top 5 finch influencers to follow, reframes the purpose of why you should have a personal brand calling it the most important self education tool that is going to be critical to helping you thrive and stay relevant in the age of disruption. He’s the co-publisher of The Financial Brand, owner of the Digital Banking Report and host of the Banking Transformed podcast. As a sought after keynote speaker, author and recognized authority on disruption in the financial services industry, Marous has been a contributor to Forbes, CNN, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal and many other news outlets. He’s with us here today to share his journey of disruption and why he believes building your personal brand is the key to life long learning and staying relevant in a rapidly changing world.   In this episode Jim shares: How you can take control of the GPS of your career Why building a personal brand is the best form of self education  How you can show and tell the marketplace that you are the master of your domain Why building a personal brand is not always about building a business Advice on how to navigate your brand for those who want to get started and for those who are already established Why there is room for everyone to take a share of the opportunity pie I hope you all enjoy my conversation with Jim Marous, and as always we’d love if you tag us online and share your thoughts and takeaways.  You can connect visit Jim’s website here, or connect with Jim on Twitter @JimMarous, and on LinkedIn. You can also listen to his podcast Banking Transformed.  You can connect with me, Sabba on Instagram and Twitter @AskMsQ or visit my website askmsq.com.

What is happening?  Where is it happening? Why is it happening?    These are the three questions Dr. Tomi Kauppinen believes everyone should be asking when making sense of the world around them. Today I’m talking with Tomi about how we can all become better storytellers through what he calls information visualization.   Tomi is a professor of information visualization and cognitive systems at Aalto University in Finland and holds a Phd in media technology. Tomi teachers at the intersection of design, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship at Aalto. He is the coordinator for Aalto Online Learning, a strategic development project at Aalto university. He’s the cohost of a podcast called Cloud Reachers and he’s regularly invited to deliver keynotes across the world   In this episode Tomi shares: Why Aalto University in Finland wanted to merge their universities into a multidisciplinary environment How we can move from competitive to collaborative cultures Solving the information literacy challenge Using stories to reframe challenges into opportunities   There’s a quote by Michael Margolis where he says, “The stories we tell literally make the world. If you want to change the world, you need to change your story. This truth applies both to individuals and institutions.” In a world where we are overwhelmed and often controlled by the data and information around us, Tomi shares the strategies and skills to be critical consumers and storytellers. I hope you all enjoy my conversation with Dr. Tomi Kauppinen, and as always we’d love if you tag us online and share your thoughts and takeaways.    You can connect with Tomi on Twitter @LinkedScience, or on LinkedIn. Listen to his podcast Cloud Reachers. You can learn more about Aalto Online Learning here.  You can connect with me, Sabba on Instagram and Twitter @AskMsQ or visit my website askmsq.com.

It is with great enthusiasm that I introduce you to Matthew Manos. He doesn’t just practice at the intersection of design, technology, entrepreneurship and innovation, he teaches you how as well.    He is an award winning design strategist, founder and managing director of VeryNice, a design strategy firm that designs and facilitates workshops for creative problem solving.    He’s also the assistant dean and professor at Iovine and Young Academy, a school at the University of Southern California, that brings together design, business, and technology in order to create the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators.    Forbes calls him a crazy genius and HOW magazine recognized him as one of the top 100 most influential creatives working today and he’s also the author of, “Toward a Preemptive Social Enterprise.”   In this episode Matthew shares: How he launched a business at 16 years old The role of design strategy How you enhance and nurture a creative mindset The value of being a professor and practitioner The future of social entrepreneurship His plans for the future   There’s a quote by George Bernard Shaw where he says, “You see things; and you say, ‘Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, ‘Why not?” Matthew isn’t afraid to dream and he’s created the tools and resources to help make your dreams come true as well. I hope you all enjoy my conversation with Matthew Manos, and as always tag us online and share your thoughts and takeaways.    You can connect with Matthew on Instagram @veryniceinstagram and you can find the resources he mentions at verynice.co and modelsofimpact.co You can connect with me, Sabba on Instagram and Twitter @AskMsQ or visit my website askmsq.com.

Are the skills we need to thrive in a rapidly changing world ones that we have had all along? Is it that we need to learn new skills or do we need to unlearn old ones? In this episode with Duncan Wardle, former VP of Creativity and Innovation at Disney and international speaker on design thinking, shares the four skills he believes you already have that a machine cannot replace - creativity, intuition, curiosity and imagination. We discuss what design thinking is and how it can help you enhance and strengthen these four key skills that you’ll need to thrive in this upcoming decade and beyond. We’d love to hear your thoughts and questions about the episode, reach out to us or take a screenshot and tag us in a post online. To connect with Duncan Website: https://duncanwardle.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/duncanwardle/ To connect with Me, Sabba Website: https://www.askmsq.com  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/askmsq  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabba-quidwai  To listen on Sabba's website: https://askmsq.com/blog-home/duncan-wardle-we-were-all-born-design-thinkers