bethusile-tibana

[bethusile-tibana]

2.1) Name of researcher:

Hal B. Gregersen is a senior lecturer in leadership and innovation at MIT's Sloan School of Management, a former executive director of the MIT Leadership Center, a fellow at Innosight, and a co-founder of the InnovatorsDNA consulting group. Ranked as one of the world's 20 most influential management thinkers by Thinkers50, and winner of the 2017 Distinguished Achievement Award for leadership, Gregersen regularly delivers inspirational keynote speeches, interactive and dynamic customised workshops, and transformational advisory experiences.

Also known as a storyteller, researcher and questionnaire, Hal challenges organisations and individuals to question the way we think and act to build a better and more creative world. As he says about the importance of questioning things, "We may not be able to turn back the hands of time to childhood. But, if we stop questioning, we never risk losing our own childlike sense of wonder - and power - to disrupt the status quo."

2.2) Discussion:

The podcast discusses Hal Gregersen's book, "Questions Are the Answer: A Breakthrough Approach to Your Most Vexing Problems at Work and in Life".

Furthermore, the discussion expands on the following points:

* How to create the unique conditions for catalytic questioning to cause radical shifts in beliefs and behaviours.

* What behavioural approaches - the manner in which you ask a question - can open an opportunity into things you do now know.

* How asking the right questions can create greater individual and organisational value from uncomfortable, assumption-challenging experiences.

2.3) Key points being addressed:

2.3.a) Hal was asked by Dr. Waseem, the interviewer, as to what made him interested in leadership, and Hal's response was simply his mom and his mom being more in tune with social behaviour.

Indeed, the climate in which Hal grew up in altogether affects his center personality. His childhood, in particular his mother's significant influence in his childhood, shaped his qualities, convictions, ways of behaving, and perspective. It also affected and still affects how he sees himself and connects with his general surroundings.

It is true when they say that 'education begins at home' and most importantly, the kind of environment that you grow up in, that you are immersed in, shapes the kind of person you will become. In Hal's case, it shaped the kind of leader he is today. He became what he saw.

2.3.b) If you ask the right questions, you not only deflect a problem, but you can also help reframe a problem by understanding it from a different perspective. Questions, specifically the right questions, have an underlying superpower that people are not usually aware of.

When Hal was writing his book, he asked one of his interviewees, "How do you ask the right question? What conditions cause you to ask the right questions?" The interviewee's response was, "If you ask a question and you never experience anything new, your mental mode becomes stale."

This goes back to the importance of being immersed in a good environment. An environment that can shape your mindset and overall well-being in a positive manner. An environment that will not confine you to a specific way of thinking, a comfort zone, and will open you up to other possibilities/cultures as well.

2.3.c) According to Director Prep, "A catalytic question is a specific kind of open question, one that invites creativity and exploration, and does not depend largely on data and logic to answer. They are best suited to purposes such as challenging assumptions, generating ideas, or envisioning the future."

It is very important that leaders or supervisors or the management team within a specific company, create a safe space for everyone to put forth catalytic questions, and not be afraid to question things.

#RepresentionMatters #BecomingWhatYouSee #Leadership #GoodQuestions #CatalyticQuestions #Environment

[bethusile-tibana]

1.1 Name of the researcher:

Professor Don Norman. Full name, Donald Arthur Norman, is an American researcher, professor, and author. He is the director of The Design Lab at the University of California, San Diego. He has written a number of books on design like: Design for a Better World, The Design of Everyday Things, Emotional Design, Living with Complexity, The Design of Future Things, etc.

He is also known for the 7 Design Principles by Don Norman

* Visibility - can I see it?

* Feedback - what is it doing now?

* Affordance - how do I use it?

* Mapping - where am I and where can I go?

* Constraint - why can't I do that?

* Consistency - I think I have seen this before?

1.2 Discussion:

The discussion is based on one of Professor Don Norman's books, "Design for a Better World." The podcast further discusses three design themes from the book: meaningful, sustainable, and humanity centered.

1.3 Key points being addressed:

1.3.a) The longevity of a business or a company is much more important than the sustainability of the product that they sell or produce. Companies tend to view this sense of longevity as not only being able to exist for a lengthy period of time but, most importantly, being able to make (record) profits year after year. So the profits that they make this year should be higher than the ones made the previous year.

The example that Professor Don Norman gave in reference to this was cell phone companies. A consumer is made to purchase a new phone every 2-3 years simply because they were never, initially, manufactured too last. They were never created to be sustainable in the first place.

Some may argue that well, the cell phones that you have in 2024 are far better than the ones that you had growing up in the 90s. You're able to send and receive emails. You're able to make payments and check your account balance. You're able to buy flight and concert tickets, etc. But on the flip side of things, others may argue that in the long term, such does more harm than good. There's environmental issues at play, climate change, forced child labour in Congolese mines, etc. Children in such conditions have poor access to health and educational facilities and, sadly, are subjected to sexual assault and rape.

It is also important to link what is happening in Congo to the Middle East. It's like what Cheryl Lynn Eaton once said on Twitter, "Forcing black children into slavery to amass electronics to kill brown children a few counties over is a special kind of hell. Two genocides in one."

1.3.b) What we see around us is artificial. It is made up. It is fabricated. It is usually the outcome or the result of something that occurred. Yes, the subject matter is nuanced. Some would say that it is to better humanity. It is to make things function better, perhaps at a faster rate than before. Easy to do and easy to use. However, some would argue that it is unnatural. Certain cultures shouldn't be forced to obtain a certain way of living or doing things in order to be deemed "civilised".

For example, Professor Don Norman mentions colonisation. Modern-day borders in Asia, Africa, South and North America, the Caribbean, etc., are the outcome of Western colonisation and in some part, slavery. For example, with the Himba tribe, some are located in Angola while others in neighbouring Namibia. The natural continuation of a culture has been displaced. Things such as medicinal practices, architecture, interior design, engineering, food, family growth and structure, music, etc have been disrupted. If there was no colonisation, no form of disruption, onw wonders how far certain cultures would be right now.

1.3.c) On architecture, Professor Don Norman mentions how nowadays, architects tend to ignore weather conditions when constructing a building by simply relying on HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning). Furthermore, he gives an example on how those houses should be constructed in such a way that the interior is cooler during the summer and warmer during the winter.

Unfortunately due to capitalism and in some cases, corruption, when constructing buildings, professionals in the built environment industry, tend not to abide to building bylaws. Building bylaws are a set of construction laws that govern how the built environment industry, in that particular country, is meant to construct its buildings.

Poor building materials, poor construction applications, poor ventilation systems, etc., have become the norm. One spends so much money for a house deposit, takes out a mortgage with a hefty interest rate plus, spends so many years paying off their mortgage. The way the house is constructed, it is not meant to last. One wouldn't be surprised if every two to three years, something needs to be fixed.

#ResearchMethods #Design MeaningfulDesign #SustainableDesign #HumanityCenteredDesign