My permanent coordinates:

San Francisco, CA

<my first name> @ <my first name> .com

My current coordinates: Back home in SF

Upcoming Speaking & Travel:
May:
• 10-12: Seattle
• 17-20: Gand Rapids, MI

June:
• 2-4: Dallas
• 23-30: Paris

July: 18-20: Seattle

November: 8-10: Seattle

Aspen Design Conference 1981

Inspiration

I just found this poster online and it reminded me that my design journey really started at this conference in the Colorado Rookies in 1981. I hadn’t heard of the conference but I went on the recommendation of our family friend, Karen Laubhan (who had attended a few years earlier). The theme for that Summer was The Italian Idea and my favorite car designers were scheduled to attend so it felt like a must for me. My parents couldn’t take me so they sent me on my own and my entire world opened-up. It was there that I first encountered Missoni, Alessi, Bellini, and so many more. It was also there that I learned about Art Center College of Design and I visited Pasadena later that Summer, as a result (and later applied and earned my bachelor degree in Transportation Design there). It’s funny, now, but at the time I knew about architecture, car design, fashion design, and interior design but it never really occurred to me that people designed furniture or flatware, or so many other things. I certainly didn’t know that there were other professions that I might do... read more

Teaching Sustianability

Resources, Sustainability

Last week, I participated in a webcast for Sustainable Minds on using their tool for teaching and, non general, how we teach sustainability to our students. Creating Knowledge Workers for the Greener Product Marketplace, Part 12: Creative innovation educators championing lifecycle... read more

IKEA Instructions Proposal

Consulting, Print, Project

Way back in 1998, I and a three others at TheUnderstandingBuinsess worked on a quick proposal to IKEA to redesign their assembly instructions (just imagine if they had taken us up on the idea!). To send it to the corporate office in Sweden we designed the entire proposal as a long FAX (this is when FAX machines used rolls of paper instead of separate A2 and letter-sized sheets). I have a full copy of the roll but attached is an image of the start. It was a great, fast project the pushed us to think past the traditional... read more

It’s the Relationship, Stupid!

Article, Blindspot, Book, Print, Strategy

I don’t post on Medium very often (or here, for that matter), but when I have something to say…... read more

Blind Spot the Trailer

Blindspot, Book, Print, Resources, Strategy

JJ Hadley made an excellent trailer to talk about why our new book is so important to business: www.vimeo.com/192042612 read more

Blind Spot finally published

Blindspot, Book, Making Meaning, Print, Resources, Strategy

This book has been five years in the making, rewritten (from scratch) four times, and has finally shipped! My co-authors, Steve Diller and Sean Sauber, have worked tirelessly on it with me and it’s time to share it with the world. Douglas Rushkoff was kind enough to write a fantastic foreword to it, too! The description tells part of the story but, really, this book is about a new way of doing business—starting with valuing relationships in a new way. After all, that’s all you can really count on in business (if you’re building for anything but the extremely short term). No relationships, no value to derive, exchange, or “monetize.” We’ve even put the illustrations online at Flickr for use in your own presentations. There’s more information at the book site but here’s the Table of Contents to peruse: Foreword by Douglas Rushkoff Chapter 1. A World of Hidden Value Chapter 2. Defining a Business Relationship Chapter 3. Visualizing Relationships Chapter 4. Finding Opportunities in Relationships Chapter 5. Becoming by Doing Chapter 6. Distancing and Team Structure Chapter 7. Discovering Chapter 8. Deciding Chapter 9. Declaring Chapter 10. Designing Chapter 11. Delivering Chapter 12. A World of Premium Value... read more

New presentations posted to Slideshare

Blindspot, Presentation, Resources, Speaking, Strategy, Workshop

It was a busy two months in February and March with two different trips to Seattle and workshops and talks both times. In addition, I was in New York City with WebVisions also speaking and leading a brand, new workshop! I’ve posted everything to SlideShare for those looking for the slides: • Speech: Bridging The Innovation Culture Divide • Workshop: Redefining the Value of Experience Strategic Tools For Designers Need • New Workshop: Using the Waveline: Mapping Premium Value To The User... read more