Summer is in full swing, and with summer for academics comes the typical question, “Do you have summers off?” I can’t speak for all academics, but summers don’t mean the lack of work, but the shifting of work. We go from our primary focus being on teaching and into other pursuits that we don’t have time for during the school year. Typically that means research and writing. For me, it is no different. I’ve been doing a lot of writing, working on the Experience by Design book and making some progress. Of course, I think that everything I am writing is terrible. At some point soon you can be judge at how bad or good it is. But rather than thinking of “bad’ or “good”, I’m thinking more in terms of “done” or “not done.” And “done” is better.

Another part of my summer is doing this podcast. When this was started over 6 years ago, the biggest challenge was getting people who wanted to chat about their work. Then gradually PR firms would contact me about their clients who could appear on the show. Now, getting guests is no longer the hardest part. Rather, it is getting the episodes out to keep up with the number of conversations that I’m having.

This means that I’m going to try to go to launching an episode a week. This is no small feat given that this is a one-person operation. Communicating with guests, having an introductory conversation, recording the conversation, recording intros and outros, audio engineering, loading it up, updating the website, creating promotional materials. All of it is me. That’s a lot of work.

The biggest payoff is the conversations that I get to have with the people who appear. I think about how I would have never have learned as much as I have and made the connection that I have if it wasn’t for the podcast. And that’s pretty cool. And makes the work worth it.

My guest today has been part of many different design projects, including the Most Important Conversation Initiative. Chad Lefevre and I were once neighbors, me living in Detroit and he being born in Windsor. Has since traveled the world doing design work. From the United Way in Calgary (we also have in common that we worked for United Way) to working with thought leaders at Design Shop to tackle society’s most complex problems (like peace in the Korean peninsula), he’s covered a lot of ground.

We do likewise in our conversation. Along with those topics, we look at the impact of AI on society and the workforce, and how we need to design a new way of being. We talk about how we are entering the Creative Economy, and how creativity is the new currency. We talk about even though people are resistant to change, change is the only constant in life and this moment requires it. And finally we talk about through our conversations maybe we can make a shared reality that allows us to change things together.

The Most Important Conversation - https://tmicglobal.com

Chad Lefevre - https://chadlefevre.com

Chad Lefevre Substack - https://chadlefevre.substack.com