Creating the space to work on more meaningful challenges / Tom Foster / Episode #153

There's no doubt about it... Over the last few years, design has gained a lot of momentum in the business space. It's encouraging to see that design is slowly but surely getting a seat at the table. But at which price has this raise come? And are we willing to pay this price? When you zoom out a bit, you'll quickly notice that it's often the "easy to digest" form of design that is praised, the form where the focus primarily lies on gaining short-term benefits and incremental improvements. While that's a space where design can add value, it's not the space where it shines, according to Tom Foster. In this episode with Tom, I talk about how you can regain the space and time again to work on bigger, dare I say, more meaningful challenges. Now, if you think that's going hard in your organization, mind that Tom has worked in many traditional sectors and is now back in finance. If it's possible there, it might also be for you :) Although I'm excited that design is making huge strides these days, it's sad to see that some of the depth and craft eroded from our practice. This conversation with Tom gave me hope that we'll be able to bring it back. --- [ GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to episode 153 03:15 Who is Tom 04:15 Lightning round 10:00 The problem with design 13:45 How did we get here 17:45 The place of design 25:00 Where does change start 30:15 The organizational middle layer 33:45 What's driving Tom 37:30 Step in the right direction 40:45 Sharing your vision 48:00 Escaping status quo 53:30 Signs of success 55:00 Lessons learned 58:00 What is the sum 59:30 Final thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasfoster/ http://sarah-drummond.com/full-stack-service-design/ --- [ HOW TO EXPLAIN SERVICE DESIGN ] --- Learn what it takes to get your clients, colleagues, managers, CEOs and even grandmas as excited about service design as you are. https://servicedesignshow.com/free-course