Designing a Thriving Future: Embracing Imperfection and Innovation with Stanford Professor | Carissa Carter

Do Good To Lead Well with Craig Dowden

What if you could harness the power of design thinking to not only shape products but also the future of leadership and innovation? Join us on the Do Good to Lead Well podcast as we sit down with Carissa Carter, the brilliant designer and academic director at Stanford's D School. Carissa shares her groundbreaking insights from her latest book, "Assembling Tomorrow: A Guide to Designing a Thriving Future," diving into concepts like "runaway design" and the vital role individual agency plays in crafting a promising future. Together, we explore how everyday objects and systems are meticulously designed to integrate seamlessly, highlighting the profound influence design holds in our lives.

Carissa shares why our emotions serve as a powerful navigational tool, even in places as unexpected as strip malls. Through captivating discussions, we delve into how personal feelings, especially those stirred by social media, can influence experiences and societal dynamics. The conversation becomes even more intriguing as we explore embracing awkwardness and ambiguity, learning how these experiences can lead to personal and professional growth.

We close the episode by examining the dual nature of innovation—its triumphs and setbacks—and the importance of designing high-quality metrics within organizations. As we highlight the significance of balancing quantitative data with qualitative insights, we challenge listeners to rethink how organizations measure success and embrace failure as a stepping stone for growth. This episode encourages us to embrace the complexities of our evolving world with curiosity and creativity so we can design a better future together.

What You’ll Learn:

• Embracing imperfection

• Pioneering innovative leadership

• The art of visualization and storytelling

• The powerful role of emotions in technology

• Strategies to navigate ambiguity

• Fostering resilience to design a future that thrives beyond imagination

Podcast Timestamps:

(00:00) - Design Thinking and Positive Leadership

(11:55) - Digital Feelings and Visualization

(25:15) – Name your Monsters

(30:55) - Embracing Ambiguity and Imperfection

(38:57) – Learning from Failure

(44:36) - Designing High Quality Metrics for Organizational Success

More of Carissa:

Carissa Carter is the Director of Teaching and Learning at Stanford’s d.school, where she leads pedagogy development, oversees instructors, and shapes course offerings. As a designer and geoscientist, Carissa teaches courses on emerging technologies, climate change, and data visualization, and has authored The Secret Language of Maps (2022) and Assembling Tomorrow (2024). Her work on machine learning and blockchain has garnered design awards from Fast Company Innovation and Core 77. Carissa’s career spans geosciences, design, and leadership, and her passion for maps, innovation, and visual storytelling threads through her work.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carissalcarter/

Key Topics Discussed:

Positive Leadership, Design Thinking, Personal Agency, Technology, Positive Relationships, Managing Emotions, Social Media, Polarization, Visualization, Storytelling, Crafting Our Future, Navigating Ambiguity, Personal Growth, Embracing Imperfection, Team Dynamics, Resilience, Adaptability, Innovation, Leveraging Failure, Using Metrics, Data-based Storytelling, Evidence-Informed Decision-Making, Inclusivity, CEO Success

Mentions:

Navigating Ambiguity: Creating Opportunity in a World of Unknowns by Andrea Small and Kelly Schmutte

More of Do Good to Lead Well:

Website: https://craigdowden.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigdowden/