We Tested a Gen Z Advisory Model. Here's What We Learned.

There's a pattern emerging, and it's not just happening in the design industry.In a field where women represent 87.5% of students and 85% of the workforce, only 40% reach leadership at top firms. So what's happening between entry and advancement?Live from Mannington's Chicago showroom, Amanda brings together a panel of leaders to connect the dots, pairing insights from the design industry with data from other sectors to better understand what's driving the gap.Because when the pipeline is strong but leadership still doesn't reflect it, it's time to ask bigger questions about what's getting in the way and what we can do differently.This episode is made possible by Mannington Commercial.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

AI is rapidly changing how work gets done, but the workplace hasn’t necessarily kept pace.Amanda is joined by Isadora Godley of Haworth and Eric Gannon of Gensler, bringing together two sides of this shift. Isadora works across Haworth to turn AI into real business value—from product development and innovation to governance, adoption, training, and internal processes. Eric brings the workplace and design perspective, exploring through research how AI is changing work—and what those changes mean for the environments designed to support it.From employees “hacking” their environments to compensate for performance gaps, to AI power users reporting stronger relationships and new patterns of connection, emerging research suggests this shift goes far beyond technology. As AI changes how we focus, collaborate, create, and connect, it may also change what we need from the workplace itself.This episode is made possible by Haworth.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Recorded live from the Mannington Commercial New York Showroom, this conversation explores an unexpected model for the future of work: guide dog training.Amanda Schneider is joined by Deborah Golden, author of the foreword of Work for What’s Next, and John Miller, CEO of Guide Dog Foundation and America's VetDogs, to examine what the process of raising and training guide dogs reveals about judgment, trust, confidence, and independence—capabilities becoming increasingly essential as organizations navigate artificial intelligence, accelerating change, and greater uncertainty.Rather than teaching obedience, guide dog training prepares dogs (and the people who depend on them) for situations that cannot be anticipated one by one. That same shift is reshaping leadership today. The conversation explores what it means to develop good judgment, design environments where people can succeed, and prepare organizations for a future without a complete playbook.This episode is made possible by Mannington Commercial.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Recorded live at the Mannington Atlanta showroom, this episode explores a question facing every industry: as Gen Z enters the workforce, are we collectively setting them up to succeed?Gen Z is entering a workplace with changing context to the one we entered. AI is changing how work gets done. Communication norms are shifting. Career paths are less linear. And the definition of “work ready” is changing right along with them. So, what does Gen Z need to learn? What does the workplace need to unlearn? And how do students, educators, and employers prepare for what comes next?Amanda brings together leaders from business, education, and the next generation itself: Janet Simpson, CEO of TVS, one of the nation’s top design firms; Tony Purvis, who leads interior design at SCAD Atlanta; and Amy Breidenthal, who teaches business at Agnes Scott College and Georgia Tech. They’re joined by students from all three institutions, putting the people preparing the next generation, hiring them, and becoming them in the same conversation.This episode is presented by Mannington Commercial.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Recorded live with Office Revolution in Chicago in the Haworth showroom, this episode explores what may be the next great workplace challenge: how organizations can deliver individualized experiences while maintaining alignment, efficiency, and culture.Inspired by ideas from I Can Fit That In and Work for What's Next, Amanda is joined by leadership coach and author Erin Coupe alongside Tyler Blackwell, a corporate leader who is navigating these tensions in real time. Together, they examine why flexibility looks different for everyone, why most people have never stopped to define what "better" actually means for themselves, and what organizations can do when individual preferences collide with business realities.Because employees increasingly expect work to fit their lives, yet businesses still need systems that are fair, scalable, and effective. Here's what we're learning—and what it could mean for how your organization works next.This episode is presented by Office Revolution.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Recorded live at the Momentum showroom, this episode explores a tension at the heart of Work for What's Next: people can experience the same workplace very differently—and those differences have something important to teach us.Inspired by recent conversations across the industry, Amanda is joined by Cheryl Durst (IIDA), Libby Gillen (Women of Color in Design), and Lisa Chung (Gensler) to discuss how identity, background, and lived experience shape our experience of work, what those perspectives reveal about the systems we operate in today, and what organizations can learn when more voices are part of the conversation.This episode is presented by Momentum.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After appearing together on Oprah’s podcast, Amanda knew one thing immediately: we needed more time with Jean Twenge.Jean is one of the world’s most cited and influential generational researchers, known for shaping how leaders understand Millennials, Gen Z, technology, mental health, and cultural change. Her newest book draws from more than 42,000,000 data points, making it one of the most comprehensive studies of generational differences to date. In this conversation, Amanda and Jean go deeper into the workplace tensions leaders everywhere are trying to navigate right now: burnout and resilience, loyalty and turnover, communication and professionalism, feedback and coaching, and whether Gen Z is truly prepared for a rapidly changing, AI-powered workplace. Because if work feels different right now, this conversation helps explain why, and what leaders may need to rethink next. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Cindy Kaufman turns the mic around, live, at the Mannington showroom in Denver for a more personal conversation with Amanda Schneider. Together, they go beyond the ideas in Work for What’s Next to explore the moments, questions, and experiences that shaped the book. This is the story behind the story—what it took, what surprised her, and what didn’t make it onto the page.This episode is presented by Mannington Commercial. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this milestone 100th episode of Design Nerds Anonymous, recorded live at our industry's largest trade show, Amanda is joined by Candon Murphy (HOK), Joseph Oliveri (Corgan), and Caroline Murphy (FutureGen) for a live conversation testing a Gen Z advisory model. Building on years of ThinkLab research and an ongoing Gen Z cohort, the discussion brings the next generation into real business conversations, revealing fresh insights into leadership, collaboration, and the future of work.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We're hitting the road... and we'd love for you to come along.Over the next few months, Design Nerds Anonymous is leaving the studio for a series of live podcast recordings, keynotes, and conversations across North America as part of the Work for What's Next Road Show.In this special episode, Amanda shares what to expect, why every stop is intentionally different, and how you can join the conversation—whether that's in person or right here on the podcast. Here's where we're headed, what we're exploring, and how you can be part of it.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.