Episodes

  • 015 Building Trust with Austin Govella

    015 Building Trust with Austin Govella
    Apr 28 2023

    Trust is a critical component of any successful relationship, whether personal or professional. In this episode, we talk with Austin Govella, a cofounder of The Synozur Alliance and an experienced designer, about the skill of building trust.

    Comments, questions, and your own tips for building trust are welcome on Twitter (https://twitter.com/skilledby) or at our website (https://skilledbydesign.com).

    Tips from this episode:

    • Be honest and transparent in your communications.
    • Seek to understand the needs and perspectives of others.
    • Focus on delivering value and follow through on your commitments.
    • Practice active listening and empathy.

    About Austin:

    Austin Govella is a cofounder of The Synozur Alliance, a consulting firm that helps clients improve the employee experience. With 25 years of experience in design, Austin has worked with a wide range of clients to create better user experiences. He is the author of Collaborative Product Design and Work the Room, a book about workshop facilitation.

    Connect with Austin:

    • Austin's blog: https://www.agux.co/
    • Austin's LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/austingovella
    • Work the Room: https://www.agux.co/book/work-the-room

    Resources mentioned in the interview:

    • Workshop checklist: https://www.agux.co/workshops/checklist
    • The trust equation: https://trustedadvisor.com/why-trust-matters/understanding-trust/understanding-the-trust-equation
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    30 mins
  • 014 Research with Dan and Nick

    014 Research with Dan and Nick
    Mar 14 2023

    What are the skills you need to be a better researcher or to make research a more deliberate part of your workflow or toolkit?

    The two co-founders of research-insight focused and London-based Dualo join us to share their insights about research skills.

    Please rate and review the podcast!

    Also, comments and questions are welcome on twitter: [https://twitter.com/skilledby](https://twitter.com/skilledby)

    Tips from this episode:

    • Develop your proactive muscles. Don't wait for permission to do research.
    • Learn to deliver informed decisions, not just data sets.
    • Constantly improve and refine your ability to ask good questions
    • Get organized and make research a habit.

    About Nick, Dan, and Dualo:

    Nick Russell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nsrussell/
    Dan Robins: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielpaulrobins/

    Dualo is a stakeholder-friendly research repository that helps product teams to organise, connect, and showcase their key research findings across the wider organisation.

    Website: www.dualo.io

    LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/dualohq

    ------------- 

    Thanks for listening! 

    Find a glossary of over 100 soft skills on our website: https://skilledbydesign.com/skills

    Intro/outro music credit: Weero & Mitte
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    45 mins
  • 013 Learning with Jethro Jones

    013 Learning with Jethro Jones
    Oct 31 2022

    Is learning a skill? How about enabling learning for others? Yup, they're for sure skills; important ones. Jethro Jones, host of the Transformative Principal podcast, joins us to talk about learning and education. He shares some great insights for thinking longer-term as we educate the rising generation of citizens, workers, and leaders.

    Please rate and review the podcast!

    Also, comments and questions are welcome on twitter: [https://twitter.com/skilledby](https://twitter.com/skilledby)

    Tips for improving your learning skills:

    - If you want to learn a skill, ask people questions about it to show that you're interested and that it's important to you.
    - Think beyond the short-term to the long-term benefits of learning that skill
    - Never stop learning


    You can find my friend Jethro, his podcast, and his books here:

    - https://jethrojones.com
    - https://twitter.com/jethrojones
    - https://transformativeprincipal.com/
    - https://www.amazon.com/SchoolX-principals-transformative-experience-themselves/dp/1913622118
    - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09X5TGRR6/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

    Jethro's bio:

    Jethro Jones, 2017 Digital Principal of the Year, is a former principal and host of Transformative Principal Podcast. He is also the founder of The Center for Cyberethics, independent, non-partisan educational institute dedicated to the study and promotion of cyberethics, and author of the book, SchoolX: How principals can design a transformative school experience for students, teachers, parents – and themselves! He also recently released a second book, How to Be a Transformative Principal. Jethro has worked as a principal at all K-12 levels, including a prison school, a district coach, distance learning team lead, and English teacher. He lives with his wife and four children in Washington state.


    Find a glossary of over 100 soft skills on our website: https://skilledbydesign.com/skills

    Intro/outro music credit: Weero & Mitte
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    29 mins
  • 012 Storytelling with Jamie Dixon

    012 Storytelling with Jamie Dixon
    Aug 30 2022

    We've all heard that storytelling is an important skill to have as a designer (or member of society), but what does that entail? What does it all mean?! That very question led Jamie Dixon to some answers that he put in a book called The Story Habit - and he joins us this episode to tell us about it.

     

    Please rate and review the podcast!

    Also, comments, questions (and stories) are welcome on twitter: https://twitter.com/skilledby

     

    Tips for improving your storytelling skills:

    - Watch for nodding heads. When people are agreeing with you, that's when you can challenge them.
    - Build a habit of noticing change. Change is where the stories are.

     

    Big thanks to Jamie for sharing his time and expertise! You can find him and his book here:

    - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrjamiedixon/
    - https://www.shapingpaths.com/jamie-dixon/
    - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6BG7J92

    Jamie's bio:

    Jamie Dixon is a coach, trainer and author. He has worked with ambitious leaders in over 160 multinational companies over the last decade. He coaches and trains in both English and Mandarin, and is also conversational in Japanese. 

    He's the author of three books: The Story Habit, Overcome and Get it Done, and Shaping Paths: How to Design and Deliver PRACTICAL Training.

    Jamie is an IAC accredited coach, a certified Tiny Habits coach, a Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centred Coach, and is also certified in DISC.

    In his spare time, Jamie enjoys spending time with his wife and kids, reading, meditation, calisthenics, and Yoga.

     

    Find a glossary of over 100 soft skills on our website: https://skilledbydesign.com/skills

     

    Intro/outro music credit: Weero & Mitte
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    34 mins
  • 011 Checking In with Tommy

    011 Checking In with Tommy
    Aug 23 2022

    Hey, there! In this episode, I'm checking in. No interview this week, just a quick update on life and the podcast.

    We're looking for guest/topic suggestions. Send them our way at https://skilledbydesign.com/guests.

    Also, we'd love to discuss your questions and comments about what you're hearing on the show. Let's discuss together on Twitter @skilledby: https://twitter.com/skilledby

     
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    5 mins
  • 010 Strategic Thinking with Sarah Doody

    010 Strategic Thinking with Sarah Doody
    Jul 5 2022

    About this interview
    Sarah Doody is a UX Researcher,  Experience Designer, and she's the Founder and CEO of Career Strategy Lab. She helps companies and teams understand the people and purpose behind the products they are creating.

    Since 2004 Sarah has been leveraging the power of storytelling and research to help teams reduce the risk of re-work and instead, build the right products and features the first time around. 

    Career Strategy Lab™ is a UX career accelerator that helps UX professionals get hired without applying to hundreds of roles. This is done through group and individualized UX career coaching.


    List of skills discussed
    - Critical thinking
    - Thinking strategically


    Tips for improving strategic thinking
    - Slow down
    - Make space to think about future outcomes
    - Do career research and create a career roadmap


    References and links
    - https://careerstrategylab.com
    - https://sarahdoody.com
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    40 mins
  • 009 Navigating Ambiguity with Andrea Small

    009 Navigating Ambiguity with Andrea Small
    Jun 21 2022

    ### About this interview
    Andrea Small is a design strategist, educator, and writer. She studied architecture and metalsmithing and has a Masters degree in Human Centered Product Design. Andrea is currently Creative Lead at Samsung Research America on their R&D Innovation Team in Mountain View, CA.

     

    ### List of skills discussed
    - Being creative in the face of challenges
    - Implementing design thinking
    - Maintaining an open mind
    - Navigating Ambiguity
    - Problem solving
    - Taking risks
    - Thinking laterally

     

    ### Tips for improving ambiguity-navigation skills
    - Do things to build curiosity in low-risk ways like going down an unfamiliar isle at the grocery store
    - Crumple a piece of paper or draw squiggles on a page and ask yourself what you can make from it
    - Draw a hundred circles and make them into a hundred different things
    - Pause daily and practice exploring the five balances
     1. Perspective: look in / look out
     2. Pace: speed up / slow down
     3. Focus / unfocus
     4. Follow the course / create your own path
     5. Scale: Zoom in / zoom out

     

    ### Links
    1. http://www.andreasmall.com/
    2. Twitter: @dresmall
    3. Navigating Ambiguity: Creating Opportunity in a World of Unknowns (https://www.porchlightbooks.com/product/navigating-ambiguity-creating-opportunity-in-a-world-of-unknowns--andrea-small?variationCode=9781984857965)
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    30 mins
  • 008 Mindset with Lindsey Hamilton

    008 Mindset with Lindsey Hamilton
    Jun 7 2022
    About this interview Lindsey Hamilton is the Head of Mindset Conditioning at IMG Academy where she leads, develops, and facilitates a team of 12 mindset coaches that oversee the mental skills development of over 1,200 middle school and high school aged student-athletes. She also leads the IMG Institute through developing and delivering high performance mindset coaching to executive level business professionals and corporate teams interested in optimizing leadership and enhancing organizational excellence. Lindsey holds two bachelor’s degrees from Chapman University in psychology and sociology, a master’s degree from the University of Utah in Exercise and Sport Science with an emphasis in psychosocial aspects of sport, and is currently pursuing her doctorate in kinesiology at UNC Greensboro. List of skills discussed - Being coachable - Coaching others - Delivering clear and useful criticism - Learning eagerly from criticism - Leveraging Resources - Reframing - Staying motivated to take on new challenges - Taking risks - Team building Tips for improving mindfulness skills 1. Ask yourself what you would do if you were being your most confident self 2. Put that intention into a word or phrase and put it somewhere you'll see/interact with it everyday (like your password) Interview breakdown Tommy: 1:30 What is a mental conditioning coach? Lindsey: 1:38 * Mental conditioning is training mental skills so you can perform at your best, regardless of the circumstances * It's helping your mind work for you and not against you Tommy: 2:26 Mental skills... what kind of skills are we talking about? Lindsey: 2:37 - Acting with confidence - Managing pressure situations - Controlling self doubt / Using effective self talk - Visualizing positive outcomes - Managing anxiety - Effectively taking feedback - And many more... Tommy: 4:46 Those skills seem relevant for everyone, but especially designers... Lindsey: 5:06 - We are each the designer of our own life - We can approach ourselves like a design problem: what is the problem to solve and how can I redesign myself to accomplish my goals? - We often don't see that we can step outside of our anxieties or fears and design our way into more of what we want to be Tommy: 6:03 Viewing ourselves as a design problem is a fascinating concept! Lindsey: 6:42 - Self awareness is a skill, too:   1. being able to take a step back  2. having the courage to do so  3. troubleshooting the challenges you find - Mental performance improvement really starts there Tommy: 7:16 With what age group are you typically working? Lindsey: 7:24 - Middle - high school-aged kids, so 13-18 mostly - Also work with corporate executives Tommy: 7:48 How do you help the kids develop that self awareness? Lindsey: 8:01 - Self awareness is where you start everything Tommy: 9:40 You manage a team of 12 coaches? Lindsey:  - Actually 13, but just hired 5 more! Tommy: 10:02 It must be interesting to teach mindfulness and awareness to coaches who teach the same thing to others. Lindsey: 10:17 - You will get better by default - just by engaging in the work, having conversations, etc. - But how do we get better by design? - Planning to create a development program for the coaches so they can continue to get better and accomplish what they want to Tommy: 12:12 So, you help the kids learn to be coachable? Lindsey: 12:27 - Coachability is the foundation of building mental flexibility (or mental toughness) - Sometimes coaching comes from ourselves, sometimes others, sometimes from our mistakes - It can be hard to take criticism Tommy: 12:43 Where do you start to become more coachable? How do we develop mental flexibility so we can better deal with critique and criticism? Lindsey: 14:26 - Sometimes we feel like the work we put forward is final, but it never really is. - Designers typically understand that product design is iterative and collaborative. - We can take that iterative, collaborative mindset and apply it to ourselves. Lindsey: 16:30 - UX design is what you do, not who you are. - When you have an idea that fails, you're not a failure. - We need to make space to separate those things because until we do, we're going to have a hard time taking feedback because it's going to feel personal. - Remember to also GIVE feedback mindfully. We can critique outputs or behaviors without tearing down the person. Tommy: 17:41 I saw a cartoon once where in the first frame two people were facing each other arguing over something. In the second frame, they were standing together facing the problem together. Lindsey: 18:17 - We do an exercise with our athletes where they face off across a stretched out rope. They try to convince their partner to come to their side of the rope. - Sometimes someone will give in and go to the other side. Sometimes nobody will move. - The way you win is to BOTH move - to switch sides. It rarely occurs to people because they've been facing off "against" another person, even though they were ...
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    36 mins