◎ World Environment Day ◎

World Environment Day

Today is the 5th of June, it's my brother's birthday and also, World Environment Day. "World Environment Day, which the UN first established in 1972, urges all of us to protect our natural surroundings."

My contribution to this day is the vision I have: Design for the Triple Bottom Line, which I think is moving towards regenerative design (going beyond the circular economy and towards healing systems).

What will you do today for the planet?

#D2design #DesignWithRespect #IndustrialDesign #Design
#ProductDesign #Triplebottomline #Keynote #Keynotespeaker #MelbourneDesign #AustralianDesign

≫ TEDx Casey, the journey, step 09: video release ≪

#TEDxCasey Video release

I thought I was done with this TEDxCasey journey, and here we are: the video has been released! As I was reviewing it, I thought we had it easy: the team did all the heavy lifting to allow us to speak from the stage and enjoy the benefits. So, a BIG thank you to Joanne Law, Paul Kenna, Chris Hall, Lydia Ropiha and Robert Pattie-Williams who were the close team supporting us, every day, on our journey. A warm thank you too to the other speakers: Danyal Diallo-, Evita March, Dheeren Vélu, Mark Carter, Lana M Johnson -, Bill Holmes, Vicki Macdermid and Henry Wu: I'm so proud that I've shared this event with all of you.

My message is: if we combine our individual talent with our collective power, we can change the world.

What is your message?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naOhYP_8648

#TEDxCasey #D2design #DesignWithRespect #IndustrialDesign #Design #ProductDesign #Triplebottomline #Keynote #Keynotespeaker #MelbourneDesign #AustralianDesign

⬆︎ Design-led companies outperform the S&P 500 by 211% ⬆︎

What is the value of design?

Often, designers will point out the ease of use, the branding aspects, the form and function and so on. I always like, on top of the previous aspects, to look at the financial results of design. "Over a 10 year period, from 2004 to 2014 companies that nurture a design culture outperform the Standard & Poor’s 500 index by 211% more returns", according to the DMI (Design Management Institute).

When Design is part of the business strategy, results show!

What are the results in your industry?

#D2design #DesignWithRespect #IndustrialDesign #Design #ProductDesign #Triplebottomline #Keynote #Keynotespeaker #MelbourneDesign #AustralianDesign

💡 Creativity, don't stop too early! 💡

How to avoid the "that's THE solution" syndrome.

I have been creating for many years. I also have been coaching and mentoring people for many years too. One trend I have observed is that so often, people would stop creating as soon as they have found a decent idea. "That's THE solution", they would say. In my view, it just may be one of the possible solutions. I vividly remember one of the very first exercise we were given when I was studying Industrial Design. The goal was to design a new set of cutlery. We had to present at least 500 sketches of each product: 500 forks, 500 knives, etc.

As you can imagine, this is a lot of work! There is a reason behind this method, I'm happy to explain later in greater details, but one of the outcomes is that there are a least a few "good solutions" to any problems. If we stop exploring too early, we just miss them.

How do you apply this exploration phase in your business?

#D2design #DesignWithRespect #IndustrialDesign #Design #ProductDesign #Triplebottomline #Keynote #Keynotespeaker #MelbourneDesign #AustralianDesign

≫ TEDx Casey, the journey, step 08: feedback ≪

Feedback time!

This is the last post of this series. I had my own perception of the talk on the night, I knew where I did well and where I could/should have done better. But I still did seek additional feedback. I called people who helped me and asked about their comments. Yes, it is always a bit uncomfortable to hear things, but my intention is to improve. I always come back to my "Why am I on stage" when I speak, when I'm coached and when I seek feedback. So, I know what I need to do next in order to improve, which I find very exciting.

There is another feedback I got too. From people in the audience. I had people reaching out to me and sharing what they perceived from my talk. I have to say, it's mostly positive, if not very positive, feedback.

As my intention to become a speaker was to have an impact, this tells me I am probably on the right track.

How do you deal with feedback yourself?

step8.jpeg

≫ TEDx Casey, the journey, step 07: the day! ≪

TEDxCasey day!

Am I ready?

I don't feel 100% ready, but are we 100% anyway? I have the structure of my talk in mind, I have the slides to illustrate my point. I have rehearsed many times. I'm the last speaker of the night, a privilege! I get to see all other speakers on stage before me. I enter the stage now at 10:00 pm and deliver my talk. Overall, it went well, except that I completely blanked on the conclusion. I have spent a lot of time focusing on the introduction and the conclusion, I rehearsed them more and... I have a blank!?! I couldn't understand why. I was quite surprised also because, in the last few years of public speaking, that situation never happened to me.

I'm now really looking forward to the video so that I can see for myself what was the impact of the whole talk and the miss at the end.

Have you ever had that situation before?

step7.jpeg

≫ TEDx Casey, the journey, step 06: rehearsing up to 150 times ≪

Rehearsing and rehearsing and rehearsing again.

After 15 scripts, I thought the talk had a good flow, structure and now I needed to "own" it. The way I was advised was to rehearse over and over again, being aware that I would go through a dip: a phase when doing the talk would feel very "mechanical". On the other side of this dip is the promise of owning the talk, which means that I would be able to engage with the audience, and don't think too much about what my next line would be. I rehearsed over 150 times. Most of those where in my living room with the camera facing me and the lights in full power so that I would be less distracted by the stage on the day. This doesn't take into account the rehearsals while walking, driving and doing the dishes. And my conclusion today is: I didn't reach the other side of the dip, I think I needed more time and more rehearsals.

⟲

Next will the "day", anything specific you would like to know about the day I delivered the talk?

Step6.jpeg

≫ TEDx Casey, the journey, step 05: rehearsing ≪

Scripting and rehearsing and scripting and... After I've used the storyboard and played with it until I found a "flow", I started scripting the talk. As you'll see in the photo below, there are 15 scripts that I wrote. Of course, they are not completely new, most of the latest are improvements in sentences, vocabulary and flow. But still, 15! The key learning for me was: mixing scripting updates and rehearsing. When I was rehearsing, I could see that some transitions didn't flow, that some sentences needed to be reorganised, and sometimes this will happen while I was practising the talk. I would then jump on my pen and write down the new version. Then, I would iterate again and again. ⟲ In many ways, this is very similar to the design process!

What do you think comes next?

≫ TEDx Casey, the journey, step 04: the script ≪

Writing the script As I have mentioned in my previous post, we were given tools in order to write and organise our content and draft our first script. As I am a visual being, I struggled with the tools. I find the tools were really good for auditory beings. So, I played with my strength and started with a form of a storyboard: a visual journey of my talk. I am sharing the very first draft with you in the photo below! Next, I would use this tool in order to write my first script. How many scripts did you think I wrote?

Step4.jpeg

💡Should I patent my idea?

Last night, I was invited to speak at AcademyXI on Design Leadership.

I shared the stage with Melis Senova, Remya Ramesh, Michael Leigh and Nilma Perera. I learned a fair bit from all of them. When questions were opened to the public, I had this one coming to me: “should I patent my idea?” I would like to share some thoughts about this topic, as this is a question I get very often. First, there is no straight answer, “It depends” is what I would say all the time. A few factors you may want to consider: The level of innovation and inventiveness The financial risks and rewards The competition The life span on your product on the shelves The possible use of your patent as a marketing tool The valuation of your company There are products that have a very short life on the shelves, and sometimes being first to market is the most important. Last but not least, patents contribute to the valuation of your company, so this is an angle that is often forgotten by start-ups and other entrepreneurs. It can make a big difference after a few years in business. And my last word would be: talk to your patent attorney!

Who is the specialist you refer your clients to?

Philippe Guichard presenting

❣ Innovation is right before your eyes ❣

I was invited to speak last Wednesday at the Inventor Association of Australia.

During my presentation, I have shared one of my favorite tools for innovation: the C.O.T.: the Customer Observation Technique. The idea is to apply bare observation to your customers and/or users in their own environment to detect their pain points. In my experience, it is one of the best tools for innovation and I am always surprised that so little companies practice it. The second aspect of this tool is to be able to recognize behavioral patterns. This combination has been the source of innovative products for over twenty-five years now.

What is your favorite tool in your industry?

#D2design #DesignWithRespect #IndustrialDesign #Design #ProductDesign #Triplebottomline #Keynote #Keynotespeaker #MelbourneDesign #AustralianDesign

✴︎ Innovation : it takes everyone ✴︎

How can the government support innovation?

How can we shift the innovation culture in large companies?

How can we support start-ups in a more effective way?

In the last week, I was asked all those questions, via different channels. For me, innovation takes everyone. No one is solely responsible for innovation, and I tend to think that all of us can do our bit. We can't all be designers, innovators, futurists but at least, we can all be positive supporters. In my mind, the combination of letting people take more risks and actions toward innovation, combined with a positive peer group support (within the company, embedded in the culture and in all levels of government) will shift Australia from being twenty third in the Global Innovation Index to possibly the top five in the next decade or two. It will take everyone. So, start today: it takes everyone at this very moment.

Where can you contribute?

#D2design #DesignWithRespect #IndustrialDesign #Design #ProductDesign #Triplebottomline #Keynote #Keynotespeaker #MelbourneDesign #AustralianDesign