# Leadership that lasts — Amir Ansari — session 2026-08-28T05:15:00.000Z → 2026-08-28T06:00:00.000Z _712 transcript lines · 143 slides_ ## Transcript Ideally, you enter phrases or words per entry, but you can enter multiple times. Alright. We're ready? Okay. It's the same it's the same QR code, so you can be in the same website. You don't need to scan it again. But just throw some words out. Now I'm not moderating this, so please keep the language clean. Actually, don't. I don't really care. Tim Tam's 100%. Leaders need to leave Tim Tams behind. That's a given. Confidence. Okay. So if our confidence is winning, team culture, culture, support, Cynicism, distrust, pity, great, Work life balance. Time bombs. I don't know what that means. Happy teams, inspiration, ego. Hopefully they'll leave the ego at the door. Or or leave it behind, that makes sense. Are we surprised at these results? Confidence has shrunk, culture is increasing, Okay. So I'll keep going. What what was that, Oli? I'm on TV. Hey. I'm on TV. That wasn't me by the way, obviously. Okay. Now we're gonna travel back in time. So hopefully the old the older people in the audience gets the reference for the 2001 movie. But maybe most of you are a bit too young. So there are two people. Person on the left works for a software company. He's shaping product experience, He's doing user experience before it was, mainstream. He's doing agile ways of working. Product strategy, to name a few. He was well ahead of his game. We'll call him Mark. Person on the right an up and coming young designer. This is his second job and he's about a few months into his job. Let's call him Amir. So Mark and Amir are having a conversation. Now, I just need to preface this as well. Mark is from Northern Ireland. With an extremely strong accent. I've done my best to try and probably doesn't do him justice. Hey, Amir. I think you should manage the department and the team. To which Amir responds, who? Me? I'm just a kid. No. You'll be right. I'll be here to support you. But I've never managed or led anything besides my school volleyball team. That is true. There's a first time for everything. Famous last words. To each our reply, fuck it. Why not? Let's do it. In my mind, I had some doubts, but at the same time, I thought, you know what? He's taking a risk. If I screw up, it's gonna be his neck on the line. Now I'll explain what that story is about later on. So first to say, I couldn't see what's, what Mark saw in me, but I gave him full trust. And that conversation was a seed that let me hear twenty five years later. So as leaders, we invest in teams, systems, methods, rituals, crafts, and culture. And the reason we do that as leaders is to accelerate delivery, increase quality, help organizations thrive, thrive, and invest into the future and see ahead. There's a quote by Warren Buffett that says, someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted the tree long time ago. But like trees, not everything that we build lasts or continues to grow. Sometimes things fade, Some are replaced. And some only last the season. So my name is Ameer, and I've been around for twenty five years in the digital and design space. I work for startups, agencies, enterprises, and government. For brands such as ATO, the Australian taxation office, like clients like Virgin Airlines, ANZ, Telstra, some of the big names you can think of. And on paper, I've done what I thought a good leader does. Accelerate delivery, increase quality, and help my organization scale. As a design leader, I've helped organization increase the design maturity I've helped build award worthy design systems. I've built visions and playbooks. I restructured teams for a better operating model. Of growing the actual practice of design, and my teams have won actual awards. This sort of stuff that you're proud of, and you think is what led is all about. Right? But for quite some time, I was under an illusion. The things I thought I was leaving behind. So I'm gonna share three stories with you or three experiences talk about my achievements, which I thought would be my legacy. So we're gonna do some time time travel again. Back in 2005, I joined a very small design consultancy called Stanford Interactive. I was employee number four. I helped them build capability, I helped them build revenue growth. Managed you to get them some big clients. I scaled the practice and frameworks, I created conditions for long term commercial success. And I even managed the Melbourne office for some time. I was quite proud of my achievements on my teams achievements. And the eight years I spent there, I like to think had something to do with them getting acquired by a small consultancy called PWC. You Google Stanford Interactive Now. You'd be lucky to even find that logo. People left. The brand was dissolved. And many of their projects actually were pulled off the shelf. For me, I saw growth as a visible marker my achievements. But a question if it was a durable one. Okay. Move forward in time. It's 2017. I was approached by a consultancy called b two Cloud. They're Australia's probably top mobile design and dev consultancy. And they wanted me to increase the design capability within the organization. One of the first things I did with the help of the leadership team, I rebranded them to transpire. And I got to work. I helped build new services, new ways of working, new offerings, new capability, I helped them win clients such as Soncorp and Virgin, and some of the bigger brands that you can think of. I help increase design maturity across all practice from engineering to product, even to the c level. I created some amazing standards and ways of working, and that again helped us win some more awards. So I was quite proud of the work that I've done. And then just after our left, they got acquired by another company called CINT, a Brazilian consultancy. Don't try and say CINT too quickly. Again, the investment that I had made over those years is not visible. It made me question my worth and the effort that I put in. Now this talk isn't about talk of acquisitions. So Iris does still exist. They're a global b to b to c platform and fintech. If you've ever used CommSec to trade or Navtrade, or you've seen a financial, adviser in Australia, depending on who your superannuation is with you've probably interacted with a white label of an iris product. My team and I had a hand in designing and and building. So in 2021, the chief product officer reached out to me and said, hey, listen. We've got a design capability, but we need to grow it. It's not sufficient. It's not working well. About three months of interviews, quartered everybody within the organization in the product and engineering. CEO, CTO, CPO, head of design, head of head of engineering, head of delivery, and so forth. And after three months, I got made an offer and I took it. A week before, about to start, my boss reaches out to say, yeah. Before you start, just just word of warning. One of the design managers in your team actually applied for your job. We didn't give it to him. He's not very happy Good luck. Sorry. Made it to the deep end. So Fun and games. But during that time, I helped reshape the practice, the operating models, multiple time zones, create a shared language against shared language in engineering, product, change, helped be a sponsor for their award worthy design system in my opinion. And created some huge efficiency gains. Again, very proud of the work that I've done over the two years. Now, would it probably been there for another five if it wasn't for a change of guards? The men CEO is pushed out. New CEO is coming in. The CEO brought in McKinsey. Anybody from McKinsey here? Okay. Hopefully, there's nobody online. You know what happens when McKinsey comes to town? Okay. If you don't know, read the book, McKinsey comes to town. Let's just say a lot of mess. And the work that I had done over the two years disappeared overnight. Literally. Product, design, engineering. And the list goes on. You get the hinge. Right? When I look at back at every employer, not much has enjoyed except one thing. And I'll talk about that in just a second. Important doesn't mean permanent. Back to that illusion. The work that I've done is really important. And I'm proud of that work. However, they were not my legacy. Which I thought there would be. Why is that? Companies restructure. People made redundant. There's mergers and acquisitions. There's a change of guards from a leadership perspective. Strategy reset. Budget cuts, and so forth. In fact, put your hand up if you've gone through a company restructure. Keep your hand up if you've been made redundant. No. Keep your hand up. Keep your hand up if you've gone through a merger and acquisition. Executive changes, budget cuts, Alright. Pretty much most of people in this room. Actually, put your hand down. Put your hand up if you didn't put your hand up when I asked all those questions. One, go and work for Steve. You're gonna be a lucky man. There you go. That's probably the answer. Right? Organizations are mere temporary temporary containers of our work. So if that is the case, if that is true, what should leaders leave behind? If our efforts and investments are not permanent, what things endure after and become the legacy of our workers' leaders? Not things that disappear, but ones that endure and compound. You're probably guessing where I'm going with this. It's the humans. It's the people People sitting next to you. The people online. They're the things that endure and compound after a leader leaves. So I'm gonna share with you three practices that will help with this endurance. Our goal as leaders is to help people be better thinkers, better humans, and better leaders. I'm gonna spend the next little while unpacking these three and give you some principles. Let's start with the first one, building better thinkers. So job of a leader is not to make every decision. It's to help their teams build judgment to make better decisions without them. The Chinese philosopher one said, when his work is done, his aim is fulfilled, they will say, we did it ourselves. So I'm about to share three principles. Now this is not a definitive list. These are the three go to's that I go to when I'm trying to practice this leadership practice. The first one, we need to navigate trade offs. We need to help our teams navigate trade offs. Right? Questions such as, what are you choosing not to optimize for? Which of your choices or decisions is the least worst? Unpack ambiguity through curiosity. As designers, we are naturally curious. Right? So get your teams to ask, what do they know? What do they assume or need to learn? What might you be missing? What don't you know? And finally, practice judgment. What is your most responsible choice from here especially in the current climate? So I thought I'd pick one of these and share a personal story. Navigating trade offs. As a young leader, I hope remember spending majority of my cognitive energy trying to make the decision between two very poor choices. I had to pick one. So for about fifteen years ago, probably been longer, I was asked to step up for being a principal consultant to run the operations of the Melbourne studio. So I was already client facing. I was on projects. I was billable. But now I was responsible for the operational and financial health of their practice. As well as the 15 consultants. Now there are a few consultants in this room. You know what a good consultant does. Prioritizes clients every single time. Because we know referrals come from good clients that happy. And conversely, if we do a poor job and and do a poor job of servicing our clients, not only will that one come back, we'll have a commercial, financial, and reputational risk. So every single day, I used to wake up. With these two choices of, okay. Do I give some love to the clients, or do I give some love to the Melbourne studio and the consultants? Every single time, I chose the client. And I didn't feel good about it. And fast forward ten years, met another organization, and we wanna amazingly lucrative client. That would feed us for about six months. And within the first couple of months, we realized this is an extremely toxic client. Poor behaviors, gaslighting, just to name a few. So bad, the ad team is actually having mental breakdowns and using our EAP service. Now I had to make a choice. Do I keep the teams of that client, and help feed them for the next six months? Or tell the client no thanks, pull the team out, but because of the revenue impact, potentially have to make a few of them redundant. I'm not sure what choice you would make. I made the choice get the team to be pulled out. Because I felt I had a due duty of care as their leaders for their mental health. But unfortunately, that led to some redundancies. A big amount, but a few. What I did learn during that process was while navigating trade offs, we need to make the trade offs visible, Choose deliberately Communicate clearly, and revisit the decision when the context changes. So And it's a hard task. Okay. Practice number two, building better humans. Leaders, we need to foster the conditions for people to be brave, kind, honest, useful, and to lead from where they are. Good old Simon Sinek. He says leadership is not about people being in charge, Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge. So again, three practices or three principles that I tend to follow to be a very human. First one, protect the space. High trust cannot survive constant panic. I'll just repeat that. High trust cannot survive constant panic. So as leaders, we need to let our team's ideas and concerns and mistakes surface. Mistake environment. As leaders, we need to be generous. We need to be generous with our eyes, ears, time, energy, shoulders, wallet. Let them know that we're there for them. And show up. And the third one, demonstrate that humility and vulnerability are key traits of a good leader. So I thought again, I'd take one of these practice, principles. Protecting the space, creating a warm environment for people to be themselves. Now I mentioned to you at one of the gigs that I was told that, the design manager in my team went for my job. And didn't get it. So I knew when I started that job that I would have to spend the first two months really building trust. And showing why I deserve to be in that role. Three months in, we're having a one on one, which we do on a weekly basis. And this person opened up and said, Amir, look, I have to be honest with you. I went for your job and I didn't get it. I've been pissed off ever since. And I've been watching you like an eagle waiting for you to trip up. Oh, wow. Good to have a friend around. But he went on. He said, but in this three months, you've shown me why I wasn't cut out for the job. I couldn't do what you're doing right now. And I thank you for it. And I've got goosebumps. It's fully unsolicited. But he didn't stop there. He said, I trust you. I feel like this is a safe space. I don't want to be a leader. I never have. I'm only in this position because of my tenure and in my age. I would love to be an individual con contributor. Wanna work with you to see if we can make this work. Now that takes a lot of courage and, a lot of bravery, right? To come and tell your manager that you don't wanna lead people and in effect, what they were saying is, I wanna dump my people onto you to sort out. And obviously, I'm not gonna say no, So I supported him. We created a new role to go over his team in a short period until I backed field. But I was really proud to go, wow. Okay. I've managed to create such a safe space. That this person is willing to be fully open and honest. About where he's at. A lovely friend of mine, Vida, who used to be the head of design at Medibank, wrote a beautiful book. I highly recommend it. The Soft Power Manual. And in it, there's a quote that I've pulled out here. Create the space where your teams can cry, laugh, breathe, swear, collapse, recover, and celebrate. So I'm gonna ask you to do one thing for me now. I'll say, when I count to three, I'll talk about the people online in a second. Turn to the person next to you. And give them a hug. Don't make it awkward. If they say no, informed consent Right? And if you're by hang on. I haven't counted to three yet. And if you're by yourself or if you're online, just give yourself a hug. Are we ready? One, two, three. Just keep They say twenty seconds is what a good hug should blast. Online, I can't see you. I can't hear you, but I'm hoping you're giving yourself a hug. Thank you. And final practice, build better leaders. Don't create followers. Create people who multiply judgment, care, and craft. American political activist and lawyer says, the function of leadership is to produce more leaders. Not more followers. So the three principles that I tend to follow. Again, it's not a definitive list. First one, delegate judgment to your people. Right? Give them real decisions not just tasks. Create multipliers and let leadership travel. You Teach people to influence rooms you are not in. Help them coach people internally or externally. And the last one, build calmness on the chaos. Show and teach people how to manage their pressures and craziness and lead with calm clarity. So I'll now pick the pick this last principle and unpack it. Now you might recognize this person. You might see this person as as a TV celebrity who jumps into freezing Arctic waters butt naked. Or eats scorpions for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Or you might see him as an X ASS member s a s a s member. Part of the British elite. Force named Bear Grylls. So Bear Grylls go goes on to share a story about what it was like as part of the induction process into the SAS. He said, they got him to do these things called sickeners. The word probably explains it. Right? So Two minutes of hardcore boxing, unlimited push ups and sit ups, heal clients carrying another recruit, until they're vomited. And then they got him to do it again and again and again. Now initially, he thought this is the this is the recruitment process. They're choosing the best from the worst. And that was partly true. But later, he had an uh-huh moment. He said, you realize that the purpose was something entirely different. They were building calmness into their bodies. It says, when you've been pushed to the point of vomiting a 100 times in training, the real crisis does not feel like the end of the world. Your hand functions. Your brain functions. Your lungs are still functioning. Not because your feel is, but because you've been there before. And it says that, you know, calmness on the pressure is not a personality trait. It is a discipline and it is built. So And a quote that I pulled out, when you see someone step up in a moment of chaos, and lead with clarity, you are not seeing a spontaneous act of heroism. You are seeing the result of thousands of unquiet unseen repetition. Way too slow. And that reminds me of another personal story. I remember Tina Tina and I were in a client kickoff And within the five minutes, the client changed the scope delivery timelines, budget. After about sixty minutes, the client leaves, and then my team and I are having a debrief. And I remember one of my designers comes to me and goes, Emeir, what the fuck? Were you not there? Were you with the fairies? Were you not listening to this? This is gonna be an absolute shit show. And I remember telling this person, it's okay. I've got it. We've got it. We've been here before. We'll make it work. And I think about six or nine months later at the end of the project, we're having a showcase and a bit of a debrief. And I remember as this person was standing up, actually presenting to the client, he looked at me and gave me a nice smile and a wink. And I knew exactly what he was doing. They managed to build some calmness on the chaos. So the people that carry leadership forward. Alright? Your influence moves into organizations, teams, products, and services that you never you may never see. So by focusing on the people, teaching people to be better thinkers, better humans, and better leaders, You're setting up for a much more effective long term investment. That compounds after you leave. So A body of mind, David Bacon, who's currently at Bupa. Got me across this term called the leadership shadow. So the idea is as leaders, we cast a shadow like we do as humans. Right? We cast them through what we say, what we do, what we prioritize, and what we measure. And that shadow produces some signals. People notice those signals often more than the the documentation, the ways of working, the frameworks, and those signals are things like mood, body language, facial expressions, and behaviors. And like a shadow, it's hard to turn off. It's always there, so we need to be mindful of it. So over the years, I've been constantly reflecting on what I've done, what I could've done better, and what should I continue doing. Whenever I think about what leadership means, I think leadership is like being a parent. It's not easy. And as much as you are proud looking at yourself going, how good am I? You're bound to screw up more often than you think. And that's okay. I've made many mistakes mistakes over the years. I didn't give didn't didn't give someone the space to think in their own speed. I made assumptions about certain individuals values that end up being so toxic that had a huge impact to the rest of the organization. I assume people didn't need my help because they didn't ask for it. I live too much from in front and not from behind. And then, I've had to make those tough calls. Redundancy, performance improve, and performance improvement plans. Warnings. Just to name a few. They never go smoothly. And the list goes on. And I'm sure I haven't been perfect throughout that journey. So then whenever I talk to my team and trying to sort of bolster them and give them confidence to be a leader, I go, I don't wanna be a leader. Based on everything that you're telling me, why should I? What are the benefits? And then I pull out my phone I'll pull out a text message from a staff member that I hadn't worked for worked with for five or ten years. I say this is the reason that I do it. It's when you get some amazing people that you've worked with, send you a text message out of the blue thanking you for being a great leader helping supporting them, investing in them, investing in their growth, And they don't come often. But they come often enough to remind me why I keep doing what I'm doing. They give me a great sense of purpose being a leader. Last time I checked, my design system didn't send me a text message saying, hey. Thanks, Sameer. You're awesome. Or your capability framework doesn't send you a Slack message. Hey, thanks for inventing me. Right? It's the humans that send those messages. And it's them who carry the investment that you've made in them forward years afterwards. So Maya Angelou says, people will forget what you said. People will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel. I think now more than ever, it's so important for us to focus on the people. In my opinion, we are more fragile and delicate. In our generation. I personally had some really, really hard roller coaster years over the last few years. Multiple visits to the emergency hospital and emergency visits, and transfusions, and operations, I'm currently going through my wife's cancer journey with her, which is not very easy. I've had death of friends, colleagues, and people that I've worked with. Plus all the crap that's going around the world. Right? And, I've seen survive them. Because I've had great leaders in my life. And those leaders are not just people like Mark or people that I've reported to. But my daughter, my wife, my neighbor, my colleagues, my friends. Some of those who are in this room. I'm sure each and every one of you have experienced some of these and probably a lot more. This list is not very long. But I'm sure it can be much longer. So the only investment that I've made that has enjoyed is the people that I work with. Everything else mattered. It was important. But hasn't necessarily endured. Now let's go back to the market and EMEA conversation. Now I don't talk in third person, so I'm just gonna say me. So I asked Mark probably a few years afterwards. I said, what did I do? What did I say what did I demonstrate that made you think, hey, I'm gonna invest in me and become a leader. And he said, it was the first day of your interview. Oh, jeez. I must have nailed that one. So And he went to say, we're sitting there having an interview. Thank you. And I could see from your face that you can understand a word that I said. And that's okay. You're not alone. My accent is very strong. I said, I'm gonna go and get the design manager that you report to and she can continue the conversation. Great. He leaves, goes to find this person, He walks in and apparently, and I don't remember this. He sees my shoes on the floor. Sees me standing on top of a filing cabinet, with a wall clock in wall clock in my hand as if I'm about to steal it. And apparently, he said, Amir, what the heck are you doing? Apparently, to which I replied, I daylight saving was about two and a half months ago. No one took the time or the effort just to jump on and set the clock back. So I thought I'd do it. And apparently, there and then he saw that I had courage, the initiative, and it felt instead of just investing in the frameworks products, and experiences, he was gonna spend his time investing in me. And that was back in 2001. His impact was on May not just the product, the organization he worked for. That company no longer exists ironically. So he and many leaders after him helped me be a better thinker, better human, and better leader. And you'll be surprised how long your friendships can endure. Twenty five years later. As I continue to help people that I'm trying to coach and lead, compound my investments, Right now, I am compounding his investment So as I conclude this talk, I invite you to consider that maybe the real measure of leadership is not what you build while you are there, Maybe it's what people continue to build after you have left. Thank you. Thank you. Come over. This way and we'll get Nathan set up. I have a question and this you can treat this as a rhetorical question if you like. I've been through and I'm sure many of you have sat through and and enjoyed any number of job interviews over the year, but how the hell do you forget climbing the furniture to change the clock? It's a good question. I can't remember. I think I was probably so nervous I've been so nervous or so lizard fare or maybe it's something that I do on a regular basis, which I do. I do go to people's homes and I see their clots that are waxed by two to three minutes. I do change the clock. So maybe it was just a bit Anyone wanna ask Amir a question? Before we let him off the stage? All right. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. Been a lot of questions over the last few days around where we are as an industry, where we should be headed, where we might go as a practice but also as individuals. And I think it's fitting to close the conference out with a talk about with a talk about an important direction that all of us can take, that it's an important direction that design can and should explore. And I think we're all in a in a good position to move up stream in our decision making, and take some of the empathy that we used build and design things into deciding what things can and should be built. So to close this out for 2026, please join me in welcoming all the way from California, Professor Nathan Chedrov. Come on. Okay. Thank you. First of all, I have to say, you cannot trust a word Amir says. Because he assured me last night that he was gonna tank his presentation to make mine look better. And he did the opposite. So very well done, Amir. John, Steve, thank you for having me here. I'm honored to be here. I'm honored to be in your presence and to be able share my ideas. I'm grateful to the people who have been here from the beginning, and the people who are here now. And I honor the people who are gonna be around here when we are all gone because that's really what we need to be thinking about when we build forward. You probably don't know a thing about me, so just let me really quickly cover some basics because it's gonna become, material to what I'm trying to share with you. I was a I've been a designer my entire career. A classically trained car designer, industrial designer. And then through my career, I've added lots and lots of new skills. And through that process, it's been forever frustrating are didn't exist back then at the beginning of my career. I grew up in interaction design when interaction design was a like becoming a thing. And it caused us to rethink everything we knew about design. And so a lot of the reason why I'm here and then I've, you know, I've consulted for large and small organizations in a variety of industries. I've started companies. I've sold some of them we just had to put to bed. And along the way, I've been an educator for most of the last thirty years. I write a lot of books, etcetera. But the thing that drives me to do that is because I don't want you to have to, like, squander your time trying to build tools and learn skills, etcetera, that we have known about for twenty years. I want you to be able to build new tools and discover new territory, And so I teach and I write books because I wanna get those the the experiences that I've had and the tools that I found and the skills that I've understood to be important out as quickly as possible. So that really informs why I'm here today because Oh, by the way, anyone here have an MBA? Okay. I will be somewhat I have an MBA too along the way. That was one of the things I did to get skills. I will be somewhat if not, greatly disparaging of the business world and MBAs. I'm not talking about you. I'm not even so much talking about me, but sometimes. The reason for that is what I learned in business school and it was not even the traditional business program, were a lot of misconceptions about what business should be. How it should be practiced, and especially how it viewed design and what we do. Everyone in this room, if you're a designer, a design researcher, maybe you're design adjacent, you are probably able to become a much better strategist than anyone that went and got an MBA, anyone that went to business school. And I'll be talking about why, but I know that sounds maybe incredulous to a lot of you because business school is sort of like a black box Even when I created my own MBA program at California College of the Arts, I would sometimes hear my students say to each other like, well, they're at Stanford. They're in a real business. Program. And I'm like, what do you think you're learning or they're learning that you're not? Right? So there's this sort of magical black box that business school represents I'm here to tell you, there's not a lot in that black box that is magic there's nothing magical and And the skills that you already have as a designer and especially as a design researcher, are probably way more important to strategy than any of the skills that are taught in an MBA program, specifically sort of a traditional MBA. Program. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say these are the skills for a post AI world. I call them the four s's, the four c's. These are the things that AI is not good at and may never be good at, but who knows? Maybe maybe some of it gets good at. And this isn't just a rethinking of design education because it turns out a lot of this is already part of a good design education, and that might be art. It might be architecture, etcetera. This is where we need to go with education writ large. And new forms of learning. Because STEM was always the long direction. It was ## Slides ### 00:00:16 ### If Other, what would they be? - Work life balance - Time bombs 😈 - Tim tams - Other strong leaders Join at [slido.com](https://www.slido.com) #1588 570 [QR code linking to slido.com] ### 00:00:31 # If Other, what would they be? Join at slido.com #1588 570 - **Confidence** - **Support** - **Team culture** ### 00:00:37 ## If Other, what would they be? Join at [slido.com/1588570](https://sli.do/1588570 ### 00:01:01 ### If Other, what would they be? Join at [slido.com/1588570](https://sli.do/1588570) - **Support** - **Confidence** - **Empathy** - **Culture** - Team culture - Feeling supported - Psychological safety - Inspiration ### 00:01:26 ### If Other, what would they be? Join at [slido.com](https://sli.do/1588570) #1588 5 ### 00:01:28 ## If Other, what would they be? Join at [slido.com](https://www.slido.com) #1588 570 - ### 00:01:52 # It's the year 2001 ... [Abstract illustration of a glowing orange point with branching lines and small particles extending from it on a black background] ### 00:02:13 # It's the year 2001 ... [Line art illustration of two people icons, with glowing lines emanating from the head of the left person, branching out towards the right person] ### 00:02:25 # It's the year 2001 ... [Illustration of two stylized human figures, one on the left with lines emanating from its head, and another on the right.] ### 00:02:46 # It's the year 2001 ... [Illustration of two outline figures of people, one yellow and one teal, with a branching, glowing line extending from the yellow figure's head towards the teal figure] ### 00:03:07 # It's the year 2001 ... - Hey Amir...I think you should manage the department and the team... - Nah, you'll be right! I'll be here to support you. - Who, me? I'm just a kid? - But I've never managed or led anything...besides my high school volleyball team! [Two line-art illustrations of people, one on the left with orange highlights, one on the right with green highlights, engaged in a dialogue via speech bubbles.] ### 00:03:26 # It's the year 2001 ... - Hey Amir...I think you should manage the department and the team... - Who, me? I'm just a kid? - Nah, you'll be right! I'll be here to support you. - But I've never managed or led anything...besides my high school volleyball team! - There's a first time for everything. - F$#@k it! Why not. Let's do it! (If I screw up, it's his neck on the line!) [Two simple line-art figures, one orange and one teal, conversing through speech bubbles] ### 00:03:27 # It's the year 2001 ... - Hey Amir...I think you should manage the department and the team... - Who, me? I'm just a kid? - Nah, you'll be right! I'll be here to support you. - But I've never managed or led anything...besides my high school volleyball team! - There's a first time for everything. - F$#@k it! Why not. Let's do it! (If I screw up, it's his neck on the line!) [Two simple line-art figures, one orange and one teal, conversing through speech bubbles] ### 00:03:50 # It's the year 2001 ... **Person 1 (Orange outline):** - Hey Amir...I think you should manage the department and the team... - Nah, you'll be right! I'll be here to support you. - There's a first time for everything. **Person 2 (Green outline):** - Who, me? I'm just a kid? - But I've never managed or led anything...besides my high school volleyball team! - F$##@k it! Why not. Let's do it! (If I screw up, it's his neck on the line!) [Illustration of two stylized figures, one orange and one green, having a conversation through speech bubbles] ### 00:04:14 # We invest in ... - Teams, systems, methods, rituals, craft, culture. > “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” > – Warren Buffett [Abstract diagram showing a central glowing point branching out into a network of lines connecting circular nodes with icons representing concepts like time, money, people, processes, and growth.] ### 00:04:26 # We invest in ... Teams, systems, methods, rituals, craft, culture. > “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” > - Warren Buffett [Abstract diagram with a central glowing node branching out to several circular icons representing concepts like time, money, groups of people, processes, individuals, and interconnected networks] ### 00:04:47 # 25+ years building design capability Startups, agencies, enterprises and government [Portrait photo of a smiling man] ### 00:05:07 # 25+ years building design capability Startups, agencies, enterprises and government [Photograph of a smiling man with short, spiky hair, wearing a blue sweater, sitting at a wooden table with his arms crossed] ### 00:05:27 # 25+ years building design capability Startups, agencies, enterprises and government - Org. Design maturity - Design systems - Vision and Playbooks - Operating models & structures - Practice growth and scale - Award-winning products [Photograph of a man smiling, wearing a blue sweater, with his arms crossed on a wooden table] ### 00:05:28 # 25+ years building design capability Startups, agencies, enterprises and government - Org. Design maturity - Design systems - Vision and Playbooks - Operating models & structures - Practice growth and scale - Award-winning products [Portrait photo of a smiling man] ### 00:05:49 # The leadership illusion The things we **think** we leave behind [Illustration of multiple layered platforms, with an organizational chart on the top layer, abstract shapes on middle layers, and concentric circles on the bottom, all dissolving into particles on the right side.] ### 00:06:11 ### CASE STUDY 1 # Scaling through growth From small practice to substantial business growth. stamford © Amir Ansari | UX Australia 2026 ### 00:06:27 ### CASE STUDY 1 # Scaling through growth From small practice to substantial business growth. stamford ### 00:06:48 ### CASE STUDY 1 # Scaling through growth From small practice to substantial business growth. **1020% growth** **4 → 44 staff** stamford ### 00:07:09 ### CASE STUDY 1 ## Scaling through growth From small practice to substantial business growth. **1020% growth** **4 -> 44 staff** stamford ### 00:07:28 ### CASE STUDY 2 ## Maturing design capability New offerings, craft, confidence, commercial impact. ### 00:07:30 ### CASE STUDY 2 ## Maturing design capability New offerings, craft, confidence, commercial impact. ### 00:07:51 ### CASE STUDY 2 # Maturing design capability New offerings, craft, confidence, commercial impact. [Transpire logo] ### 00:08:12 ## CASE STUDY 2 # Maturing design capability New offerings, craft, confidence, commercial impact. [Logo for "transpire" with an abstract geometric icon] ### 00:08:28 ### CASE STUDY 2 ## Maturing design capability New offerings, craft, confidence, commercial impact. **Design maturity** **Award-winning projects** [Logo for "transpire" with a geometric icon] ### 00:08:32 ### CASE STUDY 2 ## Maturing design capability New offerings, craft, confidence, commercial impact. **Design maturity** **Award-winning projects** [Logo for "transpire" with a geometric icon] ### 00:08:53 ### CASE STUDY 3 ## Operationalising design DesignOps, ways of working, platform thinking. [The "iress" logo, which is white text inside a white outlined irregular hexagon shape] [Abstract background graphic with light streaks and particles] ### 00:09:14 ### CASE STUDY 3 # Operationalising design DesignOps, ways of working, platform thinking. [Iress logo] ### 00:09:29 ### CASE STUDY 3 # Operationalising design DesignOps, ways of working, platform thinking. [Logo for iress] ### 00:09:34 ### CASE STUDY 3 # Operationalising design DesignOps, ways of working, platform thinking. [Logo for iress] ### 00:09:57 ### CASE STUDY 3 ## Operationalising design DesignOps, ways of working, platform thinking. [Logo for iress] ### 00:10:18 ### CASE STUDY 3 # Operationalising design DesignOps, ways of working, platform thinking. [Iress logo] ### 00:10:30 ### CASE STUDY 3 # Operationalising design DesignOps, ways of working, platform thinking. [Logo for iress] ### 00:10:52 ### CASE STUDY 3 ## Operationalising design DesignOps, ways of working, platform thinking. - **73% efficiency gain** - **$1.6M cost saving equivalent** [Logo for iress] ### 00:11:13 ### CASE STUDY 3 # Operationalising design DesignOps, ways of working, platform thinking. **73% efficiency gain** **$1.6M cost saving equivalent** [Logo for iress] ### 00:11:25 ### CASE STUDY 3 # Operationalising design DesignOps, ways of working, platform thinking. **73% efficiency gain** **$1.6M cost saving equivalent** © Amir Ansari | UX Australia 2026 [Logo for iress] ### 00:11:48 ### THE HARD TRUTH # Important does not mean permanent [Abstract illustration of layered, semi-transparent rectangles with faint icons (people, circles, arrows) dissolving into particles on the right side] ### 00:12:09 # THE HARD TRUTH ## Important does not mean permanent [Abstract illustration of layered platforms with faint icons and a scattering of particles] ### 00:12:27 # THE HARD TRUTH ## Important does not mean permanent [Abstract diagram showing multiple layered planes with faint icons (people, circles, arrows) on them, dissolving into particles moving to the right] ### 00:12:29 ### THE HARD TRUTH ## Important does not mean permanent [Abstract diagram showing several layered, translucent planes with faint icons (people, circles, arrows) on them, dissolving into a cloud of particles moving to the right, illustrating impermanence.] ### 00:12:51 ### THE HARD TRUTH ## Important does not mean permanent [Abstract diagram showing layers of interconnected elements dissolving into particles] ### 00:13:12 # So, what should leaders leave behind? ### 00:13:27 ## So, what should leaders leave behind? Not things that disappear but ones that **endure** and **compound** ### 00:13:47 # So, what should leaders leave behind? - Not things that disappear but ones that **endure** and **compound** ### 00:14:09 # The three practices that endure Build better thinkers. Build better humans. Build better leaders. [Icon of a brain, icon of a person with a heart and lightbulb, icon of a group of people] ### 00:14:27 ### PRACTICE 1 # 01 Build better thinkers Job of a leader is not to make every decision. It's to teach their team how to think. [Line art illustration of a human brain with a lightbulb filament at its base] ### 00:14:28 ### PRACTICE 1 ## 01 Build better thinkers Job of a leader is not to make every decision. It's to teach their team how to think. [Line art illustration of a brain with a lightbulb filament at its base] ### 00:14:49 ## PRACTICE 1 # How to build better thinkers ### 00:15:10 ### PRACTICE 1 # How to build better thinkers - Navigate trade-offs ### 00:15:31 ### PRACTICE 1 # How to build better thinkers - Navigate trade-offs - Unpack ambiguity through curiosity ### 00:15:53 PRACTICE 1 # Navigating trade-offs © Amir Ansari | UX Australia 2026 Photo by Antonio Feregrino on Unsplash [A wooden ### 00:16:17 PRACTICE 1 # Navigating trade-offs [Wooden signpost with two arrows, each depicting a person walking and a bell, set against a backdrop of the sea with a cruise ### 00:16:30 ### PRACTICE 1 # Navigating trade-offs [Wooden signpost with two directional arrows, each showing a person and a bell icon, overlooking the ocean with a cruise ship] ### 00:16:40 ### PRACTICE 1 # Navigating trade-offs [Wooden signpost with two directional arrows, each showing a person and a bell icon, overlooking the ocean with a cruise ship] ### 00:17:02 ### PRACTICE 1 ## Navigating trade-offs © Amir Ansari | UX Australia 2026 Photo by Antonio Feregrino on Unsplash [Wooden signpost with ### 00:17:27 ### PRACTICE 1 # Navigating trade-offs © Amir Ansari | UX Australia 2026 Photo by Antonio Feregrino on Unsplash [Wooden signpost with two arrows pointing left and right, each with a human figure icon, set in a grassy landscape with the sea and a cruise ship in the background.] ### 00:17:28 ### PRACTICE 1 # Navigating trade-offs © Amir Ansari | UX Australia 2026 Photo by Antonio Feregrino on Unsplash [Wooden signpost with two arrows pointing left and right, each with a human figure icon, set in a grassy landscape with the sea and a cruise ship in the background.] ### 00:17:51 ### PRACTICE 1 # Navigating trade-offs [Wooden signpost with two arrows, each showing a person and a bell icon, pointing in opposite directions, with a cruise ship on the ocean in the background] ### 00:18:14 ### PRACTICE 1 ## Navigating trade-offs [Wooden signpost with two arrows pointing left and right, each with a person icon and a bell icon, overlooking the sea with a cruise ship in the distance] ### 00:18:25 ### PRACTICE 1 # Navigating trade-offs © Amir Ansari | UX Australia 2026 Photo by Antonio Feregrino on Unsplash [Wooden signpost with two arrows pointing left and right, each with a walking person and bell symbol, set against an ocean background with a cruise ship.] ### 00:18:47 ## PRACTICE 1 # Navigating trade-offs > “Better thinkers make the trade-off visible, choose deliberately, communicate clearly, and revisit the decision when the context changes.” ### 00:19:12 ### PRACTICE 2 ## 02 Build better humans Foster the conditions for people to be brave, kind, honest, useful, and to lead from where they are. > “Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge.” > > \- Simon Sinek [Stylized icon of a person with radiating lines above their head and a heart in their chest] ### 00:19:26 ## PRACTICE 2 # How to build better humans ### 00:19:47 ## PRACTICE 2 # How to build better humans - Protect the space ### 00:20:09 ### PRACTICE 2 # How to build better humans - Protect the space - Embody generosity - Demonstrate humility and vulnerability ### 00:20:28 ### PRACTICE 2 # Protecting the space [Image of a campfire burning at night by a lake with trees and a starry sky in the background] ### 00:20:49 ## PRACTICE 2 ### Protecting the space [A campfire burning brightly at night by a lake, with trees silhouetted against a starry sky] ### 00:21:13 ### PRACTICE 2 ## Protecting the space [Image of a campfire burning brightly at night by a lake, with trees and stars visible in the background] ### 00:21:27 ### PRACTICE 2 ## Protecting the space [Campfire burning at night by a lake with trees and stars] ### 00:21:48 ### PRACTICE 2 # Protecting the space © Amir Ansari | UX Australia 2026 [Image of a campfire burning at night by a lake, with trees silhouetted against a starry sky] ### 00:22:10 ### PRACTICE 2 ## Protecting the space [Image of a campfire burning at night by a lake, with trees silhouetted against a starry sky] ### 00:22:27 ### PRACTICE 2 ## Protecting the space [A campfire burning brightly at night by a lake, with trees silhouetted against a starry sky] ### 00:22:30 ### PRACTICE 2 ## Protecting the space [A campfire burning brightly at night by a lake, with trees silhouetted against a starry sky] ### 00:22:51 ### PRACTICE 2 ## Protecting the space > "Create space where your team can cry, laugh, breathe, swear, collapse, recover and celebrate" > - Vida Asrina Dhulst [Image of a campfire burning brightly at night by a lake, with trees and stars in the background] ### 00:23:14 PRACTICE 2 ## Protecting the space > “Create space where your team can cry, laugh, breathe, swear, collapse, recover and celebrate” > > - Vida Asrina Dhulst [Image of a campfire burning brightly at night by a lake, with trees and a starry sky in the background] ### 00:23:28 © Amir Anvari | UK Australia 2020 ### 00:23:49 # Protecting the space - Support you can give to people who experience violence, abuse, or harassment [Illustration of a tree with glowing roots against a dark background] ### 00:24:10 ### PRACTICE 3 # 03 Build better leaders Do not create followers. Create people who multiply judgement, craft and care. > “The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” > - Ralph Nader [Icon of a central figure with a lightbulb above their head, surrounded by four other figures, representing a leader and a team] ### 00:24:26 ## PRACTICE 3 # How to build better leaders ### 00:24:46 ### PRACTICE 3 ## How to build better leaders - Delegate judgement - Create multipliers & let leadership travel ### 00:25:07 ### PRACTICE 3 # How to build better leaders - Delegate judgement - Create multipliers & let leadership travel - Build calmness under chaos ### 00:25:29 ### PRACTICE 3 ## Calmness under chaos [Image of a man buried up to his neck in sand, with a shovel next to his head] ### 00:25:50 ### Practice 3 ## Calmness under chaos [Image of a man buried up to his neck in sand, with a shovel next to his neck] ### 00:26:12 ## PRACTICE 3 # Calmness under chaos © Amir Ansari | UX Australia 2026 [Close-up of a man buried up to his neck in sand, with a shovel next to his head] ### 00:26:27 ### PRACTICE 3 # Calmness under chaos [Image of a person buried up to their neck in sand, with a shovel next to their neck] ### 00:26:48 ## PRACTICE 3 # Calmness under chaos [Image of a person buried up to their neck in sand, with a shovel next to their head, looking calm] ### 00:27:11 ### Practice 3 ## Calmness under chaos [Image of a man buried in sand up to his neck, with a shovel next to his head] ### 00:27:27 ### PRACTICE 3 # Calmness under chaos > When you see someone step up in a moment of chaos and lead with clarity, you are not seeing a spontaneous act of heroism. You are seeing the result of thousands of quiet, unseen repetitions. > > \- Bear Grylls [Image of a man buried in sand up to his neck, with a shovel next to him] ### 00:27:48 ### PRACTICE 3 ## Calmness under chaos > When you see someone step up in a moment of chaos and lead with clarity, you are not seeing a spontaneous act of heroism. You are seeing the result of thousands of quiet, unseen repetitions. > - Bear Grylls [Image of a man buried up to his neck in sand, with a shovel next to him] ### 00:28:11 ### PRACTICE 3 ## Calmness under chaos > When you see someone step up in a moment of chaos and lead with clarity, you are not seeing a spontaneous act of heroism. You are seeing the result of thousands of quiet, unseen repetitions. > - Bear Grylls [Image of Bear Grylls buried up to his neck in sand, with a shovel next to his head] ### 00:28:27 ### PRACTICE 3 ## Calmness under chaos > When you see someone step up in a moment of chaos and lead with clarity, you are not seeing a spontaneous act of heroism. You are seeing the result of thousands of quiet, unseen repetitions. > - Bear Grylls [Image of a man (Bear Grylls) buried up to his neck in sand, with a shovel next to his head] ### 00:28:48 ### PRACTICE 3 ## Calmness under chaos > When you see someone step up in a moment of chaos and lead with clarity, you are not seeing a spontaneous act of heroism. You are seeing the result of thousands of quiet, unseen repetitions. > > \- Bear Grylls [Image of Bear Grylls buried in sand up to his neck, with a shovel next to his head] ### 00:29:10 ### THE COMPOUNDING EFFECT # People carry leadership forward Your influence moves into organisations, teams and products you may never see. [Illustration of several human silhouettes connected by glowing lines, with one central figure appearing to radiate more connections] ### 00:29:26 ### THE COMPOUNDING EFFECT # People carry leadership forward Your influence moves into organisations, teams and products you may never see. [Illustration of a central figure radiating light and connections to other silhouettes of people, set against a dark background with a network of glowing lines and dots, symbolizing influence.] ### 00:29:31 ### THE COMPOUNDING EFFECT # People carry leadership forward Your influence moves into organisations, teams and products you may never see. [Illustration of a central figure radiating light and connections to other silhouettes of people, set against a dark background with a network of glowing lines and dots, symbolizing influence.] ### 00:29:53 ### THE COMPOUNDING EFFECT ## People carry leadership forward Your influence moves into organisations, teams and products you may never see. [Illustration of several human silhouettes on a dark background, connected by glowing lines forming a network, with one figure more prominently lit and elevated] ### 00:30:15 ### THE COMPOUNDING EFFECT # People carry leadership forward Your influence moves into organisations, teams and products you may never see. © Amir Ansari | UX Australia 2026 [Illustration of silhouetted figures on a dark, networked background, with one central figure radiating light and connections to others.] ### 00:30:27 # Looking back [Abstract image of multiple transparent panels receding into the distance, with glowing light trails and particles reflecting on a dark surface] ### 00:30:48 # It's not easy Leading **people** is like being a parent... [A man and a woman swinging a baby by its arms on a beach] ### 00:31:09 ## It's not easy Leading people is like bein... > "...You're bound to f... up more times than you hope!" > - me! [Image of a man and a woman on a beach, each holding a baby upside down by one limb, looking stressed] ### 00:31:28 ### REFLECTION # It's not easy ## Leading people is like bein... > “...You’re bound to f... up more times than you hope!” > - me! © Amir Ansari | UX Australia 2026 [Photo of a man and woman on a beach, each holding a baby by one arm, with the babies flailing in the air] ### 00:31:31 ### REFLECTION # It's not easy ## Leading people is like bein... > “...You’re bound to f... up more times than you hope!” > - me! © Amir Ansari | UX Australia 2026 [Photo of a man and woman on a beach, each holding a baby by one arm, with the babies flailing in the air] ### 00:31:53 ### REFLECTION # What remains? - The impact on the humans... ### 00:32:15 ### REFLECTION # What remains? ## The impact on the humans... > ...leader looks like, you lead with kindness and you actually care about the people around you, and you show it through your actions and not just with your words. The world would be a better place if there were more Amir's. And I feel so fortunate you took a chance on me all those years, and I got to witness first hand what it means to be a good leader. thank you for being you 💛 [Screenshot of a mobile phone text message conversation] ### 00:32:28 ## REFLECTION > What a great leader looks like, you lead with kindness and you actually care about the people around you, and you show it through your actions and not just with your words. ### 00:32:52 ### REFLECTION # What a good leader looks like, you lead with kindness and you actually care about the people around you, and you show it through your actions and not just with your ### 00:33:17 # REFLECTION [Screenshot of a personal message of appreciation] [Screenshot of text describing leadership qualities: "leader looks like, you lead with kindness and you actually care about the people around you, ### 00:33:25 > “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” > > \- Attributed to Maya Angelou [ ### 00:33:49 # Now more than ever People are carrying more than the work. [Illustration of a person's silhouette with glowing lines radiating outwards, connecting to a network of points] ### 00:34:10 # Now more than ever People are carrying more than the work. [Illustration of a person's silhouette standing on a platform with radiating lines forming a network] ### 00:34:24 # Now more than ever People are carrying more than the work. [Silhouette of a person standing on a glowing network of lines and dots] ### 00:34:45 # Now more than ever People are carrying more than the work. - Job insecurity - Cost-of-living pressure - Geopolitical anxiety - Organisational change - Burnout - Fear of emerging tech - Etc. ### 00:35:07 # It's the year 2001 ... - Hey Amir... I think you should manage the department and the team... - Who, me? I'm just a kid? ### 00:35:25 # It's the year 2001 ... **Person 1:** - Hey Amir... I think you should manage the department and the team... - Nah, you'll be right! I'll be here to support you. - There's a first time for everything. **Person 2:** - Who, me? I'm just a kid? - But I've never managed or led anything...besides my high school volleyball team! - F$#@k it! Why not. Let's do it! (If I screw up, the company will blame him for taking the risk) [Illustration of two stylized people having a conversation via speech bubbles] ### 00:35:31 # It's the year 2001 ... **Person 1 (proposing):** - Hey Amir... I think you should manage the department and the team... - Nah, you'll be right! I'll be here to support you. - There's a first time for everything. **Person 2 (Amir, responding):** - Who, me? I'm just a kid? - But I've never managed or led anything...besides my high school volleyball team! - F$#@k it! Why not. Let's do it! (If I screw up, the company will blame him for taking the risk) [Illustration of two stylized people, one on the left (orange outline) and one on the right (teal outline), engaged in a conversation with speech bubbles.] ### 00:35:56 # It's the year 2001 ... > Hey Amir... I think you should manage the department and the team... > Who, me? I'm just a kid? > Nah, you'll be right! I'll be here to support you. > But I've never managed or led anything...besides my high school volleyball team! > There's a first time for everything. > F$#@k it! Why not. Let's do it! (If I screw up, the company will blame him for taking the risk) [Illustration of two outlined figures, one orange and one green, engaged in a conversation via speech bubbles] ### 00:36:19 # It's the year 2001 ... - **Speaker 1 (suggesting):** Hey Amir... I think you should manage the department and the team... - **Speaker 2 (Amir, hesitant):** Who, me? I'm just a kid? - **Speaker 1:** Nah, you'll be right! I'll be here to support you. - **Speaker 2 (Amir):** But I've never managed or led anything...besides my high school volleyball team! - **Speaker 1:** There's a first time for everything. - **Speaker 2 (Amir, deciding):** F$#@k it! Why not. Let's do it! (If I screw up, the company will blame him for taking the risk) [Illustration of two simple line-art figures, one orange and one teal, engaged in a dialogue via speech bubbles] ### 00:36:24 # It's the year 2001 ... - **Speaker 1:** Hey Amir... I think you should manage the department and the team... - **Speaker 2:** Who, me? I'm just a kid? - **Speaker 1:** Nah, you'll be right! I'll be here to support you. - **Speaker 2:** But I've never managed or led anything...besides my high school volleyball team! - **Speaker 1:** There's a first time for everything. - **Speaker 2:** F$#@k it! Why not. Let's do it! (If I screw up, the company will blame him for taking the risk) [Dialogue between two simple line-art figures, one proposing a management role to the other, who expresses hesitation before accepting.] ### 00:36:48 # It's the year 2001 ... - "Hey Amir... I think you should manage the department and the team..." - "Who, me? I'm just a kid?" - "Nah, you'll be right! I'll be here to support you." - "But I've never managed or led anything...besides my high school volleyball team!" - "There's a first time for everything." - "F$#@k it! Why not. Let's do it! (If I screw up, the company will blame him for taking the risk)" [Illustration of two stylized figures, one orange and one teal, with speech bubbles showing a conversation] ### 00:37:12 [Photograph of two men smiling and wearing sunglasses on a boat on a river.] ### 00:38:00 Maybe the real measure of leadership is not what you build while you are there. Maybe it is what **people** continue to build after you have left. [Dark landscape with mountains and a glowing horizon, with sparkling particles in the sky] ### 00:39:28 [Abstract background with faint yellow, blue, and green circular shapes] ### 00:39:53 # Unreadable Slide Content [Abstract background design with faint, overlapping circular shapes] ### 00:40:18 # YOUR STRATEGIC FUTURE - LinkedIn: nathanshedroff - www.nathan.com - www.experiencedesignbooks.com - YouTube: toolsforthefutureX - X (Twitter): nathanshedroff [Abstract illustration of an eye or eyes formed by overlapping curved shapes in various skin tones, with a blue iris] ### 00:40:43 # YOUR STRATEGIC FUTURE - LinkedIn: nathanshedroff - www.nathan.com - www.experiencedesignbooks.com - YouTube: toolsforthefutureX - X (Twitter): nathanshedroff [Abstract illustration of stylized eyes and overlapping curved shapes in various shades of brown, orange, and white] ### 00:41:04 # Career Path Timeline - **1990** - BS Transportation Design - Information Designer - Founder/Entrepreneur - Interaction Designer - Experience Designer - ### 00:41:28 # Career Progression Timeline - **1990:** BS Transportation Design - Information Designer - Founder/Entrepreneur - Interaction Designer - Experience Designer - Sustainability Designer - ### 00:41:55 # Evolution of Design Disciplines and Institutions **Design Disciplines (top row, vertical text):** - Interaction Design - Industrial Design - Experience Design - Sustainable Design - ### 00:42:19 # Design Journey Timeline ## Design Fields & Milestones - **1995:** Interaction Design - Industrial Design - Experience Design - Sustainable Design - DMBA - ### 00:42:23 # Design Journey Timeline ## Design Fields & Milestones - **1995:** Interaction Design - Industrial Design - Experience Design - Sustainable Design - DMBA - ### 00:42:50 # YOU MAY BE A STRATEGIST ### 00:43:11 # YOU MAY BE A STRATEGIST ### 00:43:25 # YOU MAY BE A STRATEGIST ### 00:43:46 # YOU MAY BE A STRATEGIST ### 00:44:07 ## YOU MAY BE A STRATEGIST ### 00:44:26 ## SKILLS FOR A POST-AI WORLD - CRITICAL THINKING - CREATIVE THINKING - COMMUNICATION SKILLS - COLLABORATION SKILLS - SYSTEMS THINKING - STRATEGIC THINKING - SUSTAINABILITY & SOCIAL IMPACTS ### 00:44:27 ## SKILLS FOR A POST-AI WORLD - CRITICAL THINKING - CREATIVE THINKING - COMMUNICATION SKILLS - COLLABORATION SKILLS - SYSTEMS THINKING - STRATEGIC THINKING - SUSTAINABILITY & SOCIAL IMPACTS ### 00:44:48 ## SKILLS FOR A POST-AI WORLD - CRITICAL THINKING - CREATIVE THINKING - COMMUNICATION SKILLS - COLLABORATION SKILLS - SYSTEMS THINKING - STRATEGIC THINKING - SUSTAINABILITY & SOCIAL IMPACTS