S3 Ep8: Sara Wachter-Boettcher – Breaking the Gaslighting Cycle of People Pleasing & Overwork

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine. My guest in this episode is Marzia Aricò, an independent consultant for organisations seeking to integrate design strategically, and works as a design leadership coach for individuals aiming to advance in their design careers. We talked about her journey to where she is now, service design and organisational change, the importance of diversity within organisations and how her guests on Design Voices Elevated have navigated their own journeys. And we talk about her new book, The Design Leadership Chronicles. == Show Links == == Marzia == Marzia’s personal site: https://marzia.studio Marzia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marziaarico/ Design Mavericks: https://designmavericks.substack.com Design Voices Elevated podcast: https://designmavericks.substack.com/podcast Design Voices Elevated on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@marziastudio The Design Leadership Chronicles book: https://www.bispublishers.com/design-leadership-chronicles.html == Andy ==  Website: https://www.polaine.com Newsletter: https://pln.me/nws Podcast: https://pln.me/p10 Design Leadership Coaching: https://polaine.com/coaching Courses: https://courses.polaine.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apolaine/ Mastodon: https://pkm.social/@apolaine YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@apolaine

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine. Andy's guest in this episode is Julian Simpson, a London-based writer and director who has worked in film, TV and audio for the past 25 years. He made his directorial debut annoyingly young in his mid-20s with The Criminal and more recently worked on Spooks, New Tricks, Doctor Who and more. He created the Lovecraft Investigations, the Aldrich Kemp audio series and the Pleasant Green Universe. He runs a writer-led company called Storypunk and writes an excellent newsletter about the screenwriting life called, Development Hell.  == SHOW LINKS == == JULIAN ==  - Development Hell: https://developmenthell.substack.com - Julian on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0801065/ - Pleasant Green: https://www.pleasantgreen.co.uk - The Lovecraft Investigations: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06spb8w - Cartoon Gravity https://www.cartoongravity.com - The Virtual Production of The Mandalorian Season One: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUnxzVOs3rk == ANDY == * Website: https://www.polaine.com  * Newsletter: https://pln.me/nws  * Podcast: https://pln.me/p10  * Design Leadership Coaching: https://polaine.com/coaching * Courses: https://courses.polaine.com  * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apolaine/  * Mastodon: https://pkm.social/@apolaine  * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@apolaine

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine.  My guest in this episode comes from a very different field to design. Dr Hansi Singh is a former Professor of physical climate science, University of Victoria.  A US Department of Energy Office of Science fellow and awardee. Specialist in Earth system modeling and high performance computing. Working group co-chair of the Community Earth System Model, funded by NSF.  And she uses all those amazing skills as CEO of Planette, a company specialising in AI-accelerated environmental forecasts to help inform decision making. == LINKS== == HANSI == - Planette: https://www.planette.ai/forecasts  - Hansi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hansi-singh-phd/ == ANDY == Website: https://www.polaine.com  Newsletter: https://pln.me/nws  Podcast: https://pln.me/p10  Design Leadership Coaching: https://polaine.com/coaching Courses: https://courses.polaine.com  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apolaine/  Mastodon: https://pkm.social/@apolaine  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@apolaine

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine.  Indi Young is a solution strategist who uses purpose-focused qualitative data science. She created her method over a 30-year span, and teaches that method in courses, coaching, workshops, books, talks, and through working with teams on research studies. Indi discusses how people are complex and nuanced and their mental models and thinking styles are not fixed personas or personalities. They changed based on context and it is essential that organisations listen to and consider different ways of thinking and addressing user needs. Indi was a joy to speak with and this is a long episode, but she articulates her thinking and insights so well I could not bear to edit out more. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Introduction 01:25 Indi's background 04:12 Origin's of design and strategic research - before UX research existed! 08:50 Persuading stakeholders to trust research 18:25 On Netflix, bias and unintentional harm 26:42 On Mental Models and interior cognition 33:20 The gobstopper/jawbreaker model 40:01 Thinking Styles 47:35 Why do companies still get this wrong all the time? 55:07 One small thing 56:52 Where to find Indi online 57:45 Outro SHOW LINKS INDI Website: https://indiyoung.com/ Indi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/indiyoung/ Indi on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/indiyoung.bsky.social Indi's Newsletter: https://indiyoung.substack.com Indi on Medium: https://indiyoung.medium.com Time to Listen - https://indiyoung.com/books-time-to-listen/ Practical Empathy - https://indiyoung.com/books-practical-empathy/ Mental Models: https://indiyoung.com/books-mental-models/ ANDY Website: https://www.polaine.com  Newsletter: https://pln.me/nws  Podcast: https://pln.me/p10  Design Leadership Coaching: https://polaine.com/coaching Courses: https://courses.polaine.com  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apolaine/  Mastodon: https://pkm.social/@apolaine  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@apolaine MENTIONS Lisa Dance's Today is the Perfect Day to Improve Customer Experiences: https://serviceease.net/book

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine. While every app rushes to add an AI assistant, iA Writer's Oliver Reichenstein asks, "Why should I bother reading what you haven't written?"  Here he talks tells about the deep thinking behind the latest version 7 of IA Writer and the new feature that dims the text you paste from AI tools, keeping track of what is yours and what isn’t. SHOW LINKS OLIVER iA - https://ia.net iA Writer - https://ia.net/writer iA Presenter - https://ia.net/presenter Writing with AI - https://ia.net/topics/writing-with-ai Oliver on Mastodon - @[email protected] iA on Mastodon - @[email protected] ANDY Website: https://www.polaine.com Newsletter: https://pln.me/nws Podcast: https://pln.me/p10 Courses: https://courses.polaine.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apolaine/ Mastodon: https://pkm.social/@apolaine YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@apolaine

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine. Has the product and design obsession with frameworks and process led to everyone working on autopilot, churning out a bland monoculture of design? When are they useful and when do they simply become a crutch? Have we hit "peak framework"? My guest is Jaimes Nel, founder of Path, a consultancy that helps organisations play the long game through design-led strategy. Jaimes was Head of Insight for pioneering service design agency Livework in the early years of service design practice. He’s worked on service transformation for brands such as the NHS, BBC, Aviva, Johnson&Johnson, Ebay, GOV.UK / HMRC and led a transformation design team at Westpac in Australia, delivering their digital mortgage service. SHOW LINKS JAIMES • Path Ventures - https://pathventures.io • Jaimes on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaimesnel/ ANDY • Andy's website - https://www.polaine.com • Andy's coaching practice: https://www.polaine.com/coaching • Subscribe to Power of Ten - https://pln.me/p10 • Subscribe to Andy’s newsletter Doctor’s Note - https://pln.me/nws • Andy's YouTube channel -   https://www.youtube.com/@apolaine • Andy's online courses - https://courses.polaine.com • Andy on Mastodon - https://pkm.social/@apolaine • Andy on LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/apolaine/ • Suggestions? Feedback? Get in touch! - https://www.polaine.com/contact

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine. My guest in this episode is Peter Merholz. We talked about the state of the design nation, the burst bubble of the Cambrian explosion of design from the last 10-15 years, product, business and the issue of mediocrity. Peter has worked at the intersection of design, technology, and humans for over 25 years. Currently, he’s an independent consultant focused on improving the effectiveness of design organisations. He was a co-founder of Adaptive Path, acquired by Capital One in 2014 and he co-wrote Org Design for Design Orgs, still the premier book on building in-house design teams. He co-hosts the Finding Our Way podcast exploring design leadership along with another Adaptive Path co-founder, Jesse James Garrett. He also coined the word “blog.” Show Links Peter Peter’s website: https://www.petermerholz.com Org Design for Design Orgs: https://www.petermerholz.com/writing/#orgdesign Finding Our Way podcast: https://findingourway.design/ Peter on Mastodon: https://sfba.social/@peterme Peter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petermerholz/ Andy Website: https://www.polaine.com Newsletter: https://pln.me/nws Podcast: https://pln.me/p10 Courses: https://courses.polaine.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apolaine/ Mastodon: https://pkm.social/@apolaine YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@apolaine

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine.  My guest in this episode is Linn Vizard, one of Canada’s leading advocates of service design who co-founded Service Design Toronto in 2013. She’s the founder of, Made Manifest, a service design consultancy on a mission to make services better for Canadians, whether that’s getting a blood test done, visiting City Hall to pay your property tax bill or buying the perfect luxury jewellery gift. Linn and Andy discussed the state of Service Design in a Product world. She argues the case that service design needs to focus on services for real world outcomes — services that actually get made and out there for people to use. Show Links Linn Linn Vizard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linnvizard/ Made Manifest: https://www.made-manifest.com Andy Website: https://www.polaine.com Newsletter: https://pln.me/nws Podcast: https://pln.me/p10 Courses: https://courses.polaine.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apolaine/ Mastodon: https://pkm.social/@apolaine YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@apolaine

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in the workplace should be driven by data and transparency. But, says Aparna Rae, it is not enough. The real work is deep structural change to the organisation if we are to make our systems more equitable, more fair, more just, and not take dignity and humanity away from people. Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine.  My guest in this episode is Aparna Rae, an educator by training, innovator by chance and disrupter by choice who loves to solve problems, connect people and build power.  She is an award-winning multi-startup founder and founder of Moving Beyond, leveraging data to create workplaces that work for everyone, building products that solve complex DEI and people challenges using real-time Employee Voice & Impact data, grounded in human-centered design. In 2021, she joined a cadre of female founders - just 2% of all women-owned businesses whose companies reach $1M in revenue.  SHOW LINKS: APARNA Aparna's website: https://www.aparnarae.com Aparna's newsletter: https://aparnarae.substack.com ANDY Website: https://www.polaine.com Newsletter: https://pln.me/nws Podcast: https://pln.me/p10 Courses: https://courses.polaine.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apolaine/ Mastodon: https://pkm.social/@apolaine YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@apolaine

If you're a designer who has been told to “Prove your value.” “Justify your presence.” “Demonstrate impact.” only to find yourself throwing yourself against the wall of immutable organisational structure and culture, what do you do?" asks Sara Wachter-Boettcher Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine. My guest is author, strategist, facilitator, speaker and coach Sara Wacther-Boettcher recently wrote on Medium an insightful essay called "Hey designers, they’re gaslighting you". She explains why these phrases have convinced designers that they’re the problem — that if they just worked harder, they’d be taken seriously. But if just doing more we're going to fix the problem… it’d be fixed by now. SHOW LINKS SARA - Sara's website - https://www.sarawb.com - Sara on Medium - https://medium.com/@sara_ann_marie - Sara on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/saraboettcher/ - Hey designers, they’re gaslighting you. - https://medium.com/nice-work-from-active-voice/hey-designers-theyre-gaslighting-you-e02e5a4d9cff - Design for Real Life - https://abookapart.com/products/design-for-real-life - Content Everywhere - https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/content-everywhere/ - Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech - https://bookshop.org/p/books/technically-wrong-sexist-apps-biased-algorithms-and-other-threats-of-toxic-tech-sara-wachter-boettcher/11186625 - Per My Last E-Mail podcast - https://pmleshow.com ANDY • Andy's website - https://www.polaine.com • Subscribe to Power of Ten - https://pln.me/p10 • Subscribe to Andy’s newsletter Doctor’s Note - https://pln.me/nws • Andy's YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@apolaine • Andy's online courses - https://courses.polaine.com • Andy on Mastodon - https://pkm.social/@apolaine • Andy on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/apolaine/ • Suggestions? Feedback? Get in touch! - https://www.polaine.com/contact