Episodios

  • S3•E5 Phil Gilbert

    S3•E5 Phil Gilbert
    Dec 4 2025
    One of the core principles of my leadership courses and coaching engagements is that, as design leaders, we are always agents of change in complex, scaled organizations, always challenging entrenched ways of working and cultural norms, especially in legacy enterprises. But here’s the thing: transforming a company is far easier said than done.

    In his new book Irresistible Change: A Blueprint for Earning Buy-in and Breakout Success, Phil Gilbert provides an actionable playbook for leaders across disciplines to drive durable, sustainable, and scalable change by turning change itself into a product, and by managing it as you would an early stage startup.

    Phil was the General Manager of Design at IBM between 2012-2021, and the book documents the design-driven transformation he architected at that historic global technology company during those years, a transformation that included adding more than 3,000 practicing designers to the company globally, and training more than 200,000 IBMers as design thinkers.

    Last month, I sat down with Phil at the State Theatre in downtown Austin, Texas—the home base for the IBM Design program and its flagship studio—for an evening of stories from our IBM days, and insights from the new book.

    Doug Powell is an award-winning designer and executive design leader with more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of design disciplines. Learn more about Doug's practice as a consultant, educator, and coach at his website dougpowell.design.
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    1 h
  • S3•E4 Ashleigh Axios

    S3•E4 Ashleigh Axios
    Oct 30 2025
    The practice of civic design is increasingly in the spotlight in the U.S. as dramatic cuts to federal agency staffing and funding resulted in the abrupt elimination of thousands of design jobs earlier this year.

    My guest this episode is Ashleigh Axios, one of the top leaders in the global civic design community. Ashleigh is the founder of Public Servants, a consultancy that partners with government and civic organizations across the US to design equitable, effective, and human-centered experiences. Ashleigh served as Creative Director and Digital Strategist in the Obama White House, and has held numerous leadership roles, including as president and board chair of AIGA, the professional association for design in the US.

    Recently Ashleigh authored an excellent essay titled Not Just Another Chess Set: What the U.S. Chief Design Officer Must Deliver, following the launch last August of America by Design, a new National Design Studio that will work out of the executive branch of the US government—and the announcement that AirBnB co-founder Joe Gebbia will lead this initiative as the US Chief Design Officer.

    Here is a list of resources and initiatives that we reference in our discussion:
    • DotGov Design initiative (AIGA DC)
    • DotGov Design Conference
    • Dori Tunstall: “The current regime’s America by Design announcement misses the mark” (Archpaper)
    • Jesse Gardner’s accessibility check of America by Design site (LinkedIn post)
    • Rachael Dietkus: “America by Design, Harm by Default” (LinkedIn article)
    • Fast Company: “Nixon, NASA, And How The Federal Government Got Design” (2017)
    • Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA.gov)
    • “From Airbnb to America’s ‘Chief Design Officer’” — New York Times, Aug 27, 2025 (nytimes.com)
    • e-Estonia


    Doug Powell is an award-winning designer and executive design leader with more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of design disciplines. Learn more about Doug's practice as a consultant, educator, and coach at his website dougpowell.design.
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    57 m
  • S3•E3 Sara Cantor + George Aye

    S3•E3 Sara Cantor + George Aye
    Oct 6 2025
    On this episode, host Doug Powell is joined by Sara Cantor and George Aye, co-founders of Chicago-based Greater Good Studio, a design firm dedicated to the public sector, taking a people-centered approach to their work with non-profits, philanthropic foundations, and municipal and government agencies.

    Earlier this year, Greater Good Studio launched Angry Hour, the "happy hour for pissed off optimists," as a way to bring designers together with community members and activists around local issues and organizations. They’ve held Angry Hours in Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Austin. Now they are building on the momentum of Angry Hour by with the first ever Livid Conference, which will bring together designers who want to make a greater social impact through their work, with social sector professionals who are looking to be more creative. Livid Conference will be a hybrid in-person and online event in Chicago on November 3.

    Registration for Livid Conference is now open at lividconference.com, and listeners of TIAP can get a 40% discount on in-person and online registration by using the discount code DOUG-FRIEND.

    Doug Powell is an award-winning designer and executive design leader with more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of design disciplines. Learn more about Doug's practice as a consultant, educator, and coach at his website dougpowell.design.
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    56 m
  • Special Edition: Building Diverse Design Teams, Part 2

    Special Edition: Building Diverse Design Teams, Part 2
    Sep 25 2025
    On August 28, I hosted a webinar on Building Diverse Design Teams in which I spoke to some of the top leaders in design about the importance of building a more diverse, equitable and representative profession—and what we as individual leaders can do to make that happen. The event was also a fundraiser for an organization called Diversify by Design, and their program DESIGN=, which provides design curriculum kits, teacher training, mentorship, and career guidance to middle- and high-school classrooms in marginalized communities.

    My co-host for the event was design leader, educator, author, and tv presenter, Kevin Bethune. In part two of this two-part episode, Kevin and I are joined by Tysonn Betts, Omari Souza, and Debbie Millman, and we also heard from students who are working with the DESIGN= curriculum kits in the classroom. In part one—which dropped last week—we were joined by Oen Hammonds, Shawn Williams, and Ellen McGirt.

    Doug Powell is an award-winning designer and executive design leader with more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of design disciplines. Learn more about Doug's practice as a consultant, educator, and coach at his website dougpowell.design.
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    43 m
  • Special Edition: Building Diverse Design Teams, Part 1

    Special Edition: Building Diverse Design Teams, Part 1
    Sep 18 2025
    On August 28, I hosted a webinar on Building Diverse Design Teams in which I spoke to some of the top leaders in design about the importance of building a more diverse, equitable and representative profession—and what we as individual leaders can do to make that happen. The event was also a fundraiser for an organization called Diversify by Design, and their program DESIGN=, which provides design curriculum kits, teacher training, mentorship, and career guidance to middle- and high-school classrooms in marginalized communities.

    My co-host for the event was design leader, educator, author, and tv presenter, Kevin Bethune. In part one of this two-part episode, Kevin and I are joined by Oen Hammonds, Shawn Williams, and Ellen McGirt, and we also heard from teachers who are working with the DESIGN= curriculum kits in their classroom. In part two—dropping next week—we are joined by Tysonn Betts, Omari Souza, and Debbie Millman.

    Doug Powell is an award-winning designer and executive design leader with more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of design disciplines. Learn more about Doug's practice as a consultant, educator, and coach at his website dougpowell.design.
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    45 m
  • 2025 State of Black Design Conference

    2025 State of Black Design Conference
    May 20 2025
    The State of Black Design conference was launched as a virtual event in 2020 during the wake of the murder of George Floyd at a time when our country, and the design industry were confronting the sobering reality of racial inequity. Since 2020, the State of Black Design has grown into a vibrant and thriving community of design leaders, practitioners, educators, and students. On Juneteenth that community will come together in Minneapolis for State of Black Design conference, We On Point: A Celebration of Black Design Excellence.

    In this special episode, I speak with the founder of State of Black Design, professor Omari Souza, and with one of the moderators of the upcoming conference, Chanda Smith Baker.

    Omari Souza is a designer, educator, and community activist. With industry experience at organizations such as VIBE magazine, Capitol One, and CBS Radio, Omari is now Assistant Professor of Communication Design at University of North Texas. His forthcoming book, Design Against Racism: Creating Work That Transforms Communities, explores the role of design in perpetuating and repairing racial harm.

    Chanda Smith Baker has spent her career of more than 25 years at the intersection of philanthropy, business, government and community. Founder and CEO of the Minneapolis-based consultancy Smith Baker, Chanda is an experienced executive leader, board member, and public speaker who focuses on nurturing diverse talent, and activating audiences toward racial equity and social impact. Her podcast, Conversations with Chanda can be found wherever you get your pods.

    Doug Powell is an award-winning designer and executive design leader with more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of design disciplines. Learn more about Doug's practice as a consultant, educator, and coach at his website dougpowell.design.
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    37 m
  • S2•E10 Kevin Bethune

    S2•E10 Kevin Bethune
    Oct 8 2024
    In this episode—the finale of Season 2 of the series—I speak with renowned design leader and author Kevin Bethune.

    Kevin’s remarkably divergent career spans engineering, business and design over more than 25 years. He’s worked as a nuclear engineer at Westinghouse Nuclear, designed sneakers at Nike, and consulted with global enterprises at BCG. Kevin currently leads Dreams • Design + Life, a think tank that delivers design & innovation services using a human-centered approach.

    A Board Trustee for ArtCenter College of Design and a Board Director for the Design Management Institute, Kevin is the author of one of my favorite design books, Reimagining Design: Unlocking Strategic Innovation, which was published by MIT Press in 2022. Kevin’s next book, Nonlinear: Navigating Design with Curiosity and Conviction will be published in February of 2025.

    Doug Powell is an award-winning designer and executive design leader with more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of design disciplines. Learn more about Doug's practice as a consultant, educator, and coach at his website dougpowell.design.
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    44 m
  • S2•E9 Jenna Date

    S2•E9 Jenna Date
    Sep 10 2024
    “We keep thinking that things are supposed to be static, but it’s always changing. It’s about reinvention and seeing the beauty in that.”

    As we’ve discussed throughout Season 2 of this series, we’re in the midst of a challenging time for the global design industry that is causing many established design leaders to face unexpected change and uncertainty — many for the first time in their career.

    My guest for this episode, Jenna Date, is a pioneering design practitioner, entrepreneur, educator, consultant and executive design leader. With deep experience leading design and innovation programs in the healthcare industry, Jenna also spent a decade teaching at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. More recently she has relocated to Burlington, Vermont where I met her on a recent visit to that city.

    Jenna has navigated changing circumstances many times in her long career, and she brings a refreshing candor to our discussion, openly sharing the challenges and joys of professional and personal reinvention. Together we discuss the emotional strain we’re seeing in many of our design leadership peers, the increased need for supportive community connections, and specific tactics for approaching mid-career job searches.

    Doug Powell is an award-winning designer and executive design leader with more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of design disciplines. Learn more about Doug's practice as a consultant, educator, and coach at his website dougpowell.design.
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    45 m