062. Vicki Tan: Intuition and Bias

In this conversation we talk about:

Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie is an Israeli-born, Jewish educator, writer, and performance artist. He's the creator of Storahtelling, Inc. and the founding spiritual leader of Lab/Shul in NYC, an artist-driven, everybody friendly, God-optional, pop-up experimental community for sacred Jewish gatherings.

Amichai is a member of the Global Justice Fellowship of the American Jewish World Service, a founding member of the Jewish Emergent Network, serves on the Leadership Council of the New York Jewish Agenda, the Advisory Council of the International School for Peace - a Refugee Support Project in Greece, a member of the Advisory Council for the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, and is a faculty member of the Reboot Network.

Through all his endeavors, he brings a creative, inclusive, and vital energy to Jewish practice and Jewish life.  

In this conversation we talk about:

• How the Jewish concept of the set table served both as a happy early memory, and as an organizing principle for his later work.
• How Covid 19 made rituals and online communities more important than ever.
• His orthodox roots as the scion of an ancient and respected rabbinical dynasty, and his journey of self discovery through theater, drag, and art.
• His creation of storytelling, a way to bring to life the ancient ritual of the reading of the Torah, and the Maven Method he developed to spread the practice further.
• The emergence of Lab/Shul and the community around it.
• The power of spiritual design and a well-designed practice in transforming our lives and our communities for the better.

We also discuss:

• How is religion used as a tool in the service of humanity?
• What happens if you bring scripture to the 21st century as a performance?
• Why is the tribal wisdom of small circles within a bigger circle so important?

I've long believed that one of the most promising avenues to apply design skills and creativity to is in designing communities, social rituals, and spiritual practice that suits the modern world. And, as such, there's no one I can think of that exemplifies this better than Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie. I think this conversation, which is full of wisdom and fun, is a great introduction to exactly the type of spiritual design we need to see more of. So let's jump right in with Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie.

Jerry Colonna is the CEO and co-founder of Reboot.io, an executive coaching and leadership development firm whose coaches and facilitators are committed to the notion that better humans make better leaders.

For nearly 20 years, he has used the knowledge gained as an investor, an executive, and a board member for more than 100 organizations to help entrepreneurs and others to lead with humanity, resilience, and equanimity. He’s been called the CEO Whisperer and the Coach with the Spider Tattoo, and has taken refuge in the Buddhist dharma tradition.

Previous to his career as a coach, he was a partner with JPMorgan Partners (JPMP), the private equity arm of JP Morgan Chase. And before that, had launched Flatiron Partners with partner, Fred Wilson. Flatiron became one of the most successful, early-stage investment programs in the New York City area.

Today, he lives in Boulder, Colorado.

• COVID, and how it exposed the interdependence, but also the inequality of American society.
• Leadership in the context of the Ukraine war, and how when leaders don't address their vulnerable and wounded parts, that expresses itself in violence. We discuss that in the context of malignant narcissism with Putin, and also with Trump.
• His childhood, and how he became keenly aware of how people around him are feeling.
• His career in venture, and how he veered from that into coaching.
• My therapy session, where he points his radical inquiry, his coach mind, at me.
• My tendency to hide, to not want to be very active on social media, at least not publicly on Twitter.
• My fear of being judged, and my fears of not being seen or appreciated.
• What it means to bring your whole self to every challenge in your life, at work, and at any other moment.
• How everything is an opportunity for self growth, and to practice that.
• His reboot system and method, and his book.
• How everybody in life is basically looking for love, safety, and belonging.

We had this conversation in mid-March 2022, and that was two years into the worldwide outbreak of COVID, and a couple of weeks into Russia's invasion of Ukraine. I was excited and nervous to talk to Jerry, who's famous for making podcasters cry. We also had a brief chat months before preparing for this interview and I already had a taste of his radical inquiry approach to coaching.

So as expected, this did not end up being a regular interview. While we got to explore his history and his ideas and his childhood a little bit, Jerry turned his radical inquiry on me as expected. And you'll get to hear a pretty detailed coaching/therapy session on this podcast and dive deeper into my fears and insecurities along the way. I have to say, I found it deeply therapeutic, both at the time, and now weeks later when I relisten. This was a very different, very meaningful process for me, and I hope that you'll find it beneficial as well. It definitely affected the way that I approach putting myself out there and allow myself to be more visible on social media.

Shortly after this interview was recorded, I definitely did start being more vocal and an amazing thing happened. As I started being more vocal on Twitter and other platforms, we got more and more downloads for this podcast and the podcast started growing very, very rapidly. And so I owe a big thank you to Jerry for challenging my assumptions and helping me pinpoint these insecurities. Jerry assured me that this is helpful to other people to hear. So I really hope that will prove true, and that you'll find this episode really helpful to you in your journey as well.

This conversation with Jerry is one of a dozen or so weekly conversations we already have lined up for you with thinkers, designers, makers, authors, philosophers, entrepreneurs, and investors who are working to change our world for the better. So follow this podcast on your favorite podcast app, or head over to remakepod.org to subscribe.

And now let's jump right in with Jerry Colonna.

In this conversation we talk about:

• How Vicki got into design by forging notes for school.
• Studying Behavioral Psychology, and using that lens in design.
• Her early work in psychological research.
• How she found her way into Google.
• The importance of cognitive ability in hiring practices.
• The unique culture at Headspace.
• The challenges of designing a meditation app.
• The role of intuition in design and our overreliance on data.
• What finding umami means to her.
• Her book in the works on cognitive bias.
• Self-coherence as a way to help our own cognitive bias.
• And dreams as a blueprint for reality.

One of my favorite things about being a product designer is meeting other product designers. There is something about the open-mindedness, mindfulness, optimism, and interdisciplinary interests that seem to be a recurring pattern and which make the best product designers a real delight to talk to. And Vicki is no different.

This conversation is one of a dozen or so weekly conversations we already have lined up for you with top designers, thinkers, makers, authors, and activists who are working to change our world for the better. So please follow this podcast on your favorite podcast app, or head over to RemakePod.org to subscribe.

And now, let's jump right in with Vicki Tan.

In this conversation we talk about:

• The value and importance of speaking your truth, and how she learned that in childhood.
• Her journey from Kenya to the United States, and then to South Africa.
• Her experiments with architecture, physics, and computer science.
• Why urban planning was more appealing to her than architecture.
• The issues that architecture doesn't address.
• Her approach to foresight and future thinking.
• Smart cities, and what constitutes bad urban design.
• Her work with Dr. Bayo Akomolafe.
• And decolonizing our knowledge and ways of knowing.

I loved hearing about Geci's use of different foresight practices to imagine different futures and different possibilities for the future. But what really stayed with me is how dire the situation is — with urbanization outpacing our predictions and our ability to plan, and giving rise to shortages and unplanned solutions that may be less than ideal. We need every tool in our creative toolbox to make sure our cities grow to be a place of diversity, creativity, and opportunity, rather than their opposite.

This episode is especially rich with resources and references, so I wanna encourage everyone listening to check the show notes. We are fairly meticulous at listing and providing links to every article, book, person, or resource mentioned in the episode.

We have close to a dozen weekly episodes already lined up for you with thinkers, designers, makers, authors, and entrepreneurs who are working to change our world for the better. So follow this podcast on your favorite podcast app, or head over to RemakePod.org to subscribe.

And now, let's jump right in with Dr. Geci Karuri-Sebina.

In this conversation we talk about:

• Growing up in the 1950's in the US, and seeing segregation and the opposite of inclusion.
• The superficial design of the television era — designing to increase perceived value, and to increase purchases based on looks.
• His experience designing on a computer in the 70's.
• Designing kitchen gadgets.
• The need for multidisciplinary thinking, ergonomics, psychology, and other fields of knowledge.
• What makes a good designer?
• The importance of asking questions and being uncomfortable.
• The connection of design and religious studies, with meditation and mindfulness as tools for a designer.
• Design and inclusion.
• The 4B Collective — gender and design.
• The model of collective versus agency, and the difference between a process-based approach versus a knowledge-based approach in design.
• Qualitative versus quantitative metrics.
• And the death of the brand.

We talked in the middle of April 2022, and I was looking forward to chatting with Dan when I watched his hilarious and informative product review videos he's done with Epicurious, where he takes a kitchen gadget and critiques every aspect of its design, ergonomics, and function. We also had a short prep call before the interview, where it became clear to me what a serious design thinker he is, and how much we can all learn from him. It was really a joy to talk to Dan and explore his way of seeing the world and his unique approach to design.

This conversation with Dan is one of a dozen or so weekly conversations we already have lined up for you with thinkers, designers, makers, authors, entrepreneurs, and investors who are working to change our world for the better in some meaningful way. So follow this podcast on your favorite podcast app, or head over to remakepod.org to subscribe.

And now, let's jump right in with Dan Formosa.

In this conversation we talk about:

• How he developed his love of art and design sensibility.
• Growing up in branding inside of Nike, until eventually becoming Chief Marketing Officer.
• The importance of emotion and storytelling.
• On authenticity, and why chasing cool is a bad idea.
• On creativity as a team sport.
• And on the importance of courage.

We talked in mid-June 2022 and I was looking forward to talking to Greg because Nike clearly is doing some amazing work around branding and brand values, and is able again and again to create authentic connections at scale. 

I'm a latecomer to the world of branding. For much of my life, I was an avid product person and saw the brand as an afterthought. It's only in recent years that I understood the extent to which our lives, our thinking, and our decisions are driven by the stories we tell, and the emotional associations we make. 

The art of doing that well is branding. And it can be used for good or evil, and is just as important in non-profits and political organizations as it is in business. 

I really enjoyed the stories of some of Nike's iconic campaigns. Digging in to find compelling ways to tell stories that illustrate and support your values in a real way, feels like a very human way of crafting a brand that people can believe in. 

I've counted the episodes that we already have recorded and edited for you, and it's currently eight episodes. There are famous designers like Vicki Tan and John Maeda, authors like Susie Wise and Ashish Goel, and the most connected man in the world, Chris Dancy, among them. We release conversations weekly with thinkers, designers, makers, authors, entrepreneurs, and activists who are working to change our world for the better. So follow this podcast on your favorite podcast app, or head over to RemakePod.org to subscribe.

And now, let's jump right in with Greg Hoffman.

In this conversation we talk about:

• How growing up in a strict fundamentalist Christian upbringing, and decoupling from that, shaped his outlook.
• His complex relationship with atheism and religion today.
• How he discovered love and solidarity in activism.
• Technologies of organizing.
• Forming decentralized decision-making processes.
• Nihilism in the face of dysfunction as a form of cowardice.
• Loomio, and collective decision-making software.
• Status and hierarchy.
• Shifting culture through fermentation.
• And the concept of stewardship.

We spoke in mid-June 2022, and I was excited to talk to Rich since he's been introduced to me by Daniel Thorson, whom I interviewed here in episode 10. I've been following his writing on Twitter and find the idea of decentralized work and collaboration fascinating, exciting, and challenging.

It's perhaps the greatest question of our time: now that we're all connected and have incredible tools of self-organization, how can we make better decisions together? How can we outcompete centralized organizations? And how can we benefit from the wonderful richness of so many brains without descending into chaos, nihilism and mob rule?

This conversation is one of a dozen or so weekly conversations that we already have lined up for you with thinkers, designers, makers, authors, entrepreneurs, and activists who are working to change our world for the better. So follow this podcast on your favorite podcast app, or head over to RemakePod.org to subscribe.

And now let's jump right in with Richard D. Bartlett.

In this conversation we talk about:

• Developing listening skills as an introspective child, and how feeling like an outsider helped her develop those skills.
• Her electrical engineering studies, and her transition into looking at how technology influences society and people and how we live. 
• Her time at Netscape, and tying together the products for a consistent look and feel across a suite of products that came out at the time called Netscape Communicator. 
• Her move from Netscape to Yahoo!, and what went wrong for Yahoo! as a company trying to find its way.
• Her time at Google as we look at it from all angles. What was the state of design at Google before she joined and what were the changes she tried to implement as she brought human-centered design and practices to Google?
• Hiring strategies, staff training, and how design workshops ultimately became the Design Sprint at Google.
• What is design and what is a designer?
• And the role of the designer in venture capital.

I think my greatest takeaway from this interview is this sense of hope that someone like Irene is able to walk into these very "techy" cultures and produce real change. And all it takes is really showing the value of the work and being willing to engage and promote better practices. I think Irene will be an inspiration to many non-engineers who find themselves in heavy engineering cultures and want to make a contribution. 

This conversation with Irene is one of many weekly conversations we already have lined up for you with thinkers, best-selling authors, designers, makers, scientists, impact entrepreneurs, and others who are working to change our world for the better. So please follow this podcast on your favorite podcast app, or head over to remakepod.org to subscribe.

And now, let's jump right in with Irene Au.