Power of Ten with Andy Polaine Power of Ten with Andy Polaine

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in the workplace should be driven by data and transparency. But, says Aparna Rae, it is not enough. The real work is deep structural change to the organisation if we are to make our systems more equitable, more fair, more just, and not take dignity and humanity away from people.

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine. 

My guest in this episode is Aparna Rae, an educator by training, innovator by chance and disrupter by choice who loves to solve problems, connect people and build power. 

She is an award-winning multi-startup founder and founder of Moving Beyond, leveraging data to create workplaces that work for everyone, building products that solve complex DEI and people challenges using real-time Employee Voice & Impact data, grounded in human-centered design.

In 2021, she joined a cadre of female founders - just 2% of all women-owned businesses whose companies reach $1M in revenue. 

SHOW LINKS:

APARNA
Aparna's website: https://www.aparnarae.com
Aparna's newsletter: https://aparnarae.substack.com

ANDY
Website: https://www.polaine.com
Newsletter: https://pln.me/nws
Podcast: https://pln.me/p10
Courses: https://courses.polaine.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apolaine/
Mastodon: https://pkm.social/@apolaine
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@apolaine

If you're a designer who has been told to “Prove your value.” “Justify your presence.” “Demonstrate impact.” only to find yourself throwing yourself against the wall of immutable organisational structure and culture, what do you do?" asks Sara Wachter-Boettcher

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine.

My guest is author, strategist, facilitator, speaker and coach Sara Wacther-Boettcher recently wrote on Medium an insightful essay called "Hey designers, they’re gaslighting you". She explains why these phrases have convinced designers that they’re the problem — that if they just worked harder, they’d be taken seriously. But if just doing more we're going to fix the problem… it’d be fixed by now.

SHOW LINKS

SARA
- Sara's website - https://www.sarawb.com
- Sara on Medium - https://medium.com/@sara_ann_marie
- Sara on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/saraboettcher/
- Hey designers, they’re gaslighting you. - https://medium.com/nice-work-from-active-voice/hey-designers-theyre-gaslighting-you-e02e5a4d9cff
- Design for Real Life - https://abookapart.com/products/design-for-real-life
- Content Everywhere - https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/content-everywhere/
- Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech - https://bookshop.org/p/books/technically-wrong-sexist-apps-biased-algorithms-and-other-threats-of-toxic-tech-sara-wachter-boettcher/11186625
- Per My Last E-Mail podcast - https://pmleshow.com

ANDY
• Andy's website - https://www.polaine.com
• Subscribe to Power of Ten - https://pln.me/p10
• Subscribe to Andy’s newsletter Doctor’s Note - https://pln.me/nws
• Andy's YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@apolaine
• Andy's online courses - https://courses.polaine.com
• Andy on Mastodon - https://pkm.social/@apolaine
• Andy on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/apolaine/
• Suggestions? Feedback? Get in touch! - https://www.polaine.com/contact

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

This episode's guest is Alison Coward, a strategist, workshop facilitator, coach, and an author with 20 years' experience in leading creative teams. Alison speaks about her professional journey, her perspective on collaboration in the creative industries, and the importance of workshops in a business environment. We discuss her book, "Workshop Culture: A Guide to Building Teams that Thrive", and the five pillar system it presents - alignment, cohesion, communication, design, and change. 





Show Links
This show's web page
Alison

Workshop Culture book site
Bracket Creative
Alison on LinkedIn

Andy

Subscribe to Power of Ten
Subscribe to Andy’s newsletter Doctor’s Note
Andy's online courses
Andy's YouTube channel
Andy on Mastodon
Andy on LinkedIn
Polaine.com
Suggestions? Feedback? Get in touch!

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

My guest in this episode is Kate Tarling, a service leader and specialist who helps large organisations create successful services, by changing their working practices. She does this through consulting, training and writing, and regularly advises boards, executives and teams. She’s managing director of a services consultancy she founded in 2012 and previously held senior leadership roles in government and the private sector. She is the author of best-selling book The Service Organization. 

Here we speak about her must-read book, ways to enable change and service design within large organisations, how to understand and help people get aligned, and the relationship of service design to product design. I really enjoyed our conversation and could have gone on much longer. I hope you enjoy it too!





Show Links
This show's web page
Kate

Kate’s website
Kate on LinkedIn
Kate on Twitter
The Service Organization book site

Andy

Subscribe to Power of Ten
Subscribe to Andy’s newsletter Doctor’s Note
Andy's online courses
Andy on Mastodon
Andy on LinkedIn
Polaine.com
Suggestions? Feedback? Get in touch!

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

My guest in this episode is Dr Pierce Otlhogile-Gordon, known as Doctor OG, an innovation catalyst, researcher, facilitator, and evaluator, based in Botswana. Pierce is impassioned by the space between transformation and liberation, and researches the complexity, evaluation, and emergence of design and innovation across the world.

Here we explore what that space between transformation and liberation actually is, the issues of power dynamics of politics in design, and why Human-Centred Design (HCD) can often exacerbate problems as opposed to being their solution.




Show Links
This show's web page
Pierce

Moving Beyond
Equity Intuition Lab
Pierce on LinkedIn

Andy

Subscribe to Power of Ten
Subscribe to Andy’s newsletter Doctor’s Note
Andy's online courses
Andy on Mastodon
Andy on LinkedIn
Polaine.com
Suggestions? Feedback? Get in touch!

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

My guest in this episode is Sheryl Cababa, author of Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers. Sheryl is a design researcher and strategist, and is the chief strategy officer at Substantial, a research insights and development studio based in Seattle. Her practice is focused on systems thinking and equity center design, and she’s worked with a diverse base of clients, including the Gates Foundation, Microsoft, Ikea, and Khan Academy.




Show Links
This show's web page
Sheryl

Sheryl on LinkedIn
Sheryl at Substantial
Sheryl on Twitter
Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers

Andy

Subscribe to Power of Ten
Subscribe to Andy’s newsletter Doctor’s Note
Andy's online courses
Andy on Mastodon
Andy on LinkedIn
Polaine.com
Suggestions? Feedback? Get in touch!