Power of Ten with Andy Polaine

My guest in this episode is Martin Dowson, a design and transformation leader who’s passionate about elevating the role of design as a strategic force for business growth.With over two decades of experience across Financial Services, Telcos, Media, and more. He’s built and led design teams, established Centres of Excellence, and guided organisations through complex transformations that align design with commercial outcomes.Martin went from reading our service design book hoping to solve a logistics problem (you couldn’t order lobsters on a Wednesday at Sainsbury’s) to spending six years leading design strategy at Lloyd's Banking Group.We talk about what happens when consultants go in-house, why experienced internal voices often get heard less than external ones saying the same thing, and whether AI has the same fundamental scaling problem as the car.Timestamps00:00 Intro — Martin's background across financial services, telecoms and media01:00 How Martin and Andy first met at RBS in 2015, and reading Service Design to solve a lobster logistics problem at Sainsbury's04:30 Going in-house after consulting — why your voice gets heard less the moment you cross the threshold07:30 The question organisations never ask: why isn't this happening spontaneously already?14:00 What it actually takes to embed design capability in a large organisation versus leaving behind blueprints and concepts28:00 Measuring design's contribution to business outcomes — the gap between outputs and impact45:00 Design leadership in the AI era — what changes and what doesn't55:00 Why organisations mistake motion for progress, and how incentive structures block transformation01:05:50 AI has the same fundamental problem as the car — it doesn't scale cleanly, and success makes the resource problem worse not better01:10:30 The one small thing with outsized impact: our definition of success in educationShow Links Martin- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/designled- Web: https://liminaldesignoffice.com- Podcast https://beingliminal.comAndy- 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/- Bluesky: https://andypolaine.bsky.social- 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.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 LINKSJAIMES• 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 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 LinksLinn 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

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-BoettcherPower 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 LINKSSARA- 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.comANDY• 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

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.My guest in this episode is Kate Tarling, a service leader and specialist who helps large organisations create successful services, by changing their working practices. She does this through consulting, training and writing, and regularly advises boards, executives and teams. She’s managing director of a services consultancy she founded in 2012 and previously held senior leadership roles in government and the private sector. She is the author of best-selling book The Service Organization. Here we speak about her must-read book, ways to enable change and service design within large organisations, how to understand and help people get aligned, and the relationship of service design to product design. I really enjoyed our conversation and could have gone on much longer. I hope you enjoy it too!Show LinksThis show's web pageKate Kate’s website Kate on LinkedIn Kate on Twitter The Service Organization book site Andy Subscribe to Power of Ten Subscribe to Andy’s newsletter Doctor’s Note Andy's online courses Andy on Mastodon Andy on LinkedIn Polaine.com Suggestions? Feedback? Get in touch!

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.My guest in this episode is Sheryl Cababa, author of Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers. Sheryl is a design researcher and strategist, and is the chief strategy officer at Substantial, a research insights and development studio based in Seattle. Her practice is focused on systems thinking and equity center design, and she’s worked with a diverse base of clients, including the Gates Foundation, Microsoft, Ikea, and Khan Academy.Show LinksThis show's web pageSheryl Sheryl on LinkedIn Sheryl at Substantial Sheryl on Twitter Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers Andy Subscribe to Power of Ten Subscribe to Andy’s newsletter Doctor’s Note Andy's online courses Andy on Mastodon Andy on LinkedIn Polaine.com Suggestions? Feedback? Get in touch!

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.My guest in this episode is the wonderful Abby Covert, an author, teacher and community leader in the field of information architecture who aims to make information architecture and sensemaking skills accessible to everyone.Abby’s first book, How to Make Sense of Any Mess, demystified information architecture into a practical skillset that anyone can apply to any context where sense might need to be made. She recently published her second book, Stuck? Diagrams Help a field guide for the trek from diagram novice to diagram nerd.Show LinksThis show's web pageAbby Abby’s website Stuck? Diagrams Help How to Make Sense of Any Mess Abby’s Etsy shop Abby on LinkedIn Abby on Twitter Andy Subscribe to Power of Ten Subscribe to Andy’s newsletter Doctor’s Note Andy's online courses Andy on Twitter Andy on LinkedIn Polaine.com Suggestions? Feedback? Get in touch!