Become a Design Thinker

Do you have an experience where you are not moving forward? We may have worked very hard, but gained no reward. You tried to create a breakthrough, but you don't know which direction to go. You don't have a map. You don't have a compass. And the worst is that the direction of the next step is so uncertain, like being covered by a thick layer of fog. 

In this episode, we will explore how we can design a personalized growth journey by our curiosities rather than relying solely on relationship ladders, formal curricula, or external credentials. This is about a mindset shift from a rigid “destination-based” model to a “discovery-based” one. 

Download the AI Prompts:

https://become-a-design-thinker.kit.com/design-your-second-act

We are deeply grateful if you could take a moment to share your thoughts, ideas, or feedback with us. You can email us directly at:

 [email protected]

Become a Design Thinker podcast serves individuals who believe in their ability to create positive change and refuse to be put in passive or vulnerable positions when it comes to shaping their future.

Design thinking empowers you to approach problems from a fresh perspective. By adopting this designer’s mindset, you can develop innovative solutions that drive meaningful impact. Our goal is to integrate design thinking with various management concepts, making it applicable to your daily work and life.

Become the designer of your work, your family, and your life. You have the power to design a future that is better than today!!

Join the journey to become a design thinker to receive regular updates of insights by email:
https://join.bdesignthinker.com/join

Visit my website to learn more:
https://bdesignthinker.com

Have you ever experienced a period of time when you were being isolated and your works were idled? You felt like you could not move forward. You might be very busy at work, but nothing valuable was created. You were struggling with different relationships without any progress. You were just wandering in the same spot. What made it worse was that you were pushed backward and could not show any improvement. 

We call this period the "Wilderness"

What should we do in the time of the "Wilderness"? 

In this episode, we’ll explore how to become an Unseen Tinkerer—someone who prototypes ideas, builds lateral capabilities, and prepares for what’s next, even when things do not go smoothly and you are stuck in the wilderness. 

Download the AI Prompts:

https://become-a-design-thinker.kit.com/design-your-second-act

We are deeply grateful if you could take a moment to share your thoughts, ideas, or feedback with us. You can email us directly at:

 [email protected]

Become a Design Thinker podcast serves individuals who believe in their ability to create positive change and refuse to be put in passive or vulnerable positions when it comes to shaping their future.

Design thinking empowers you to approach problems from a fresh perspective. By adopting this designer’s mindset, you can develop innovative solutions that drive meaningful impact. Our goal is to integrate design thinking with various management concepts, making it applicable to your daily work and life.

Become the designer of your work, your family, and your life. You have the power to design a future that is better than today!!

Join the journey to become a design thinker to receive regular updates of insights by email:
https://join.bdesignthinker.com/join

Visit my website to learn more:
https://bdesignthinker.com

Our identity in our career life may have been once destroyed. It can be due to external forces - your role was being rejected as what we discussed in the last episode. Or you are being fired from current position. Maybe your new supervision changed all your job duties overnight and get rid of all you have done for years. 

When your old identity have been destroyed, you have to rebuild it. Rebuilding does not mean building something the same as before. Rebuilding is creating something new. It is a reborn of your identity, from something destroyed. The hard thing is, you want to build a new identity from a destroyed one. But if you simply rebuild the same old identity, you are not rebuilding, you are just replicating. And your replicated old identity does not mean anything in the new context.

This episode will highlight the challenges of this rebuilding process and how the core principles of Design Thinking can help you in the process. 

Download the AI Prompts:

https://become-a-design-thinker.kit.com/design-your-second-act

We are deeply grateful if you could take a moment to share your thoughts, ideas, or feedback with us. You can email us directly at:

 [email protected]

Become a Design Thinker podcast serves individuals who believe in their ability to create positive change and refuse to be put in passive or vulnerable positions when it comes to shaping their future.

Design thinking empowers you to approach problems from a fresh perspective. By adopting this designer’s mindset, you can develop innovative solutions that drive meaningful impact. Our goal is to integrate design thinking with various management concepts, making it applicable to your daily work and life.

Become the designer of your work, your family, and your life. You have the power to design a future that is better than today!!

Join the journey to become a design thinker to receive regular updates of insights by email:
https://join.bdesignthinker.com/join

Visit my website to learn more:
https://bdesignthinker.com

At some point in your life, you may be rejected. We are not talking about your proposal being rejected by your boss or your pitch is rejected by your client. We are talking about your role being rejected. Being rejected means you are being ignored or put aside. No one cares what you are doing.

Today, we will discuss how to rebuild your identity, and your work when opportunity comes, when you have a chance to get out of your rejected zone. 

Download the AI Prompts:

https://become-a-design-thinker.kit.com/design-your-second-act

We are deeply grateful if you could take a moment to share your thoughts, ideas, or feedback with us. You can email us directly at:

 [email protected]

Become a Design Thinker podcast serves individuals who believe in their ability to create positive change and refuse to be put in passive or vulnerable positions when it comes to shaping their future.

Design thinking empowers you to approach problems from a fresh perspective. By adopting this designer’s mindset, you can develop innovative solutions that drive meaningful impact. Our goal is to integrate design thinking with various management concepts, making it applicable to your daily work and life.

Become the designer of your work, your family, and your life. You have the power to design a future that is better than today!!

Join the journey to become a design thinker to receive regular updates of insights by email:
https://join.bdesignthinker.com/join

Visit my website to learn more:
https://bdesignthinker.com

 You think you are building something solid.
 But somewhere along the way, something else has quietly crumbled. 

So, what have been broken down and left behind? 

• Your passion - which you have traded for security when you were young. 
• Your identity – which is shaped more by people’s expectations rather than yourself. 
• Your vision - which is nearly forgotten in the rush to climb. 
• 
  

We have a general term to describe this situation. It’s called, a ruin. 

You’ve built credibility.
You’ve earned your place. 

But now something deeper is stirring.
 The ruins are calling for —your passion, your identity, your vision. 

Will you keep playing it safe in the palace? 

Or will you become a Restoring Architect and rebuild what matters most? 

Download the AI Prompts:

https://become-a-design-thinker.kit.com/design-your-second-act

We are deeply grateful if you could take a moment to share your thoughts, ideas, or feedback with us. You can email us directly at:

 [email protected]

Become a Design Thinker podcast serves individuals who believe in their ability to create positive change and refuse to be put in passive or vulnerable positions when it comes to shaping their future.

Design thinking empowers you to approach problems from a fresh perspective. By adopting this designer’s mindset, you can develop innovative solutions that drive meaningful impact. Our goal is to integrate design thinking with various management concepts, making it applicable to your daily work and life.

Become the designer of your work, your family, and your life. You have the power to design a future that is better than today!!

Join the journey to become a design thinker to receive regular updates of insights by email:
https://join.bdesignthinker.com/join

Visit my website to learn more:
https://bdesignthinker.com

Our success is often built on what we’ve done in the past. The things we repeat—our habits, strategies, and ways of thinking. These will help us succeed by offering us proven formulas. They create a sense of certainty in an uncertain world. 

But here's the hard truth:
What brought you here may not get you there. 

It means that your previous successful formula, thinking, and methods may not be able to create new success in future. This is because the context and nature of the problems keep changing. 

In this episode, we will use the metaphor of a successful biblical military commander, Naaman, to discuss how he removed his armor, something that protects him and keeps him winning on the battlefield, to solve a problem with a new context and nature.  

Download the AI Prompts:

https://become-a-design-thinker.kit.com/design-your-second-act

We are deeply grateful if you could take a moment to share your thoughts, ideas, or feedback with us. You can email us directly at:

 [email protected]

Become a Design Thinker podcast serves individuals who believe in their ability to create positive change and refuse to be put in passive or vulnerable positions when it comes to shaping their future.

Design thinking empowers you to approach problems from a fresh perspective. By adopting this designer’s mindset, you can develop innovative solutions that drive meaningful impact. Our goal is to integrate design thinking with various management concepts, making it applicable to your daily work and life.

Become the designer of your work, your family, and your life. You have the power to design a future that is better than today!!

Join the journey to become a design thinker to receive regular updates of insights by email:
https://join.bdesignthinker.com/join

Visit my website to learn more:
https://bdesignthinker.com

In a rapidly changing world shaped by longer lifespans and the rise of AI, defining your future solely by connecting the dots of your past limits your potential. True adaptability and innovation come from embracing the "white space" — the unmarked areas of your experience that hold unrealized possibilities. 

In this episode, we will get inspiration from Chinese Calligrapher in handling the "white space".

Download the AI Prompts:

https://become-a-design-thinker.kit.com/design-your-second-act

We are deeply grateful if you could take a moment to share your thoughts, ideas, or feedback with us. You can email us directly at:

 [email protected]

Become a Design Thinker podcast serves individuals who believe in their ability to create positive change and refuse to be put in passive or vulnerable positions when it comes to shaping their future.

Design thinking empowers you to approach problems from a fresh perspective. By adopting this designer’s mindset, you can develop innovative solutions that drive meaningful impact. Our goal is to integrate design thinking with various management concepts, making it applicable to your daily work and life.

Become the designer of your work, your family, and your life. You have the power to design a future that is better than today!!

Join the journey to become a design thinker to receive regular updates of insights by email:
https://join.bdesignthinker.com/join

Visit my website to learn more:
https://bdesignthinker.com

How rocket scientists faced failure? 

While every small failure may cause fatal consequences. Rocket scientists living in a world of uncertainty, using the limited knowledge about the universe, keep testing the limits to send humans to space.

We love certainty. But our world has become more uncertain than before. We have to find a way to live with uncertainty, even dance with it. 

What inspiration we can get from rocket scientists, who keep falling, failing, and sending people to space without fatal consequences in great uncertainty? 

*The title and content of this episode are inspired by the book: Think Like a Rocket Scientist: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and Life by Ozan Varol

Download the AI Prompts:

https://become-a-design-thinker.kit.com/design-your-second-act

We are deeply grateful if you could take a moment to share your thoughts, ideas, or feedback with us. You can email us directly at:

 [email protected]

Become a Design Thinker podcast serves individuals who believe in their ability to create positive change and refuse to be put in passive or vulnerable positions when it comes to shaping their future.

Design thinking empowers you to approach problems from a fresh perspective. By adopting this designer’s mindset, you can develop innovative solutions that drive meaningful impact. Our goal is to integrate design thinking with various management concepts, making it applicable to your daily work and life.

Become the designer of your work, your family, and your life. You have the power to design a future that is better than today!!

Join the journey to become a design thinker to receive regular updates of insights by email:
https://join.bdesignthinker.com/join

Visit my website to learn more:
https://bdesignthinker.com

Join us in this special bonus episode of "Become a Design Thinker" podcast as we dive into the world of community engagement with Jake McKee. 

Learn how Jake has helped globally renowned brands like Lego and Southwest Airlines integrate customer voices into their product development. Discover the principles of community-driven product development, the importance of storytelling, and how to build meaningful connections with your audience.

 Whether you're aiming to boost customer loyalty or innovate your product by leveraging community insights, this episode provides valuable strategies to achieve your goals. Tune in now to get inspired by Jake's passion for creating impactful, human-centered brand stories!

Learn more about Jake: https://jakemckee.com

02:06 Understanding Community Engagement
04:24 Jake McKee's Journey with Lego
07:08 Challenges and Successes at Lego
19:29 Storytelling in Community Building
27:50 Southwest Airlines Community Program
30:40 Common Barriers in Listening to Customer Voice
33:04 Debunking Myths About Working with Fans
35:37 The Importance of Community-Driven Product Development
38:14 Strategies for Deep Customer Engagement
41:37 Building Effective Community Programs
47:52 The CX and AI Sessions
57:56 Tips for Building a Successful Customer Community

Download the AI Prompts:

https://become-a-design-thinker.kit.com/design-your-second-act

We are deeply grateful if you could take a moment to share your thoughts, ideas, or feedback with us. You can email us directly at:

 [email protected]

Become a Design Thinker podcast serves individuals who believe in their ability to create positive change and refuse to be put in passive or vulnerable positions when it comes to shaping their future.

Design thinking empowers you to approach problems from a fresh perspective. By adopting this designer’s mindset, you can develop innovative solutions that drive meaningful impact. Our goal is to integrate design thinking with various management concepts, making it applicable to your daily work and life.

Become the designer of your work, your family, and your life. You have the power to design a future that is better than today!!

Join the journey to become a design thinker to receive regular updates of insights by email:
https://join.bdesignthinker.com/join

Visit my website to learn more:
https://bdesignthinker.com

 When we are breaking our comfort zone - our career reinvention, identity shifts, and burnout, the loneliness of solo work, loss of focus, disorientation, and fast-changing work contexts require others’ support. 

We need communities that embrace risk-taking—especially in learning something new or exploring new terrain — because our growth, transformation, and creativity all begin at the edge of uncertainty. Without an environment that normalizes risk, we default to conformity and safety. 

A risk-embracing community makes us feel safe to try, fail, learn, and try again. 

For any action without taking a risk, we’re not growing — we’re just repeating what we used to do. 

When we are breaking our comfort zone and transiting to where we aspire to be, a risk-embracing community makes those transitions less lonely and more possible. 

In this episode, we’ll learn from the biblical character Barnabas, the early church’s great encourager. He didn’t lead with ego or control. We will explore how to shift from control to trust, from performance to participation, and from perfection to experimentation. 

Download the AI Prompts:

https://become-a-design-thinker.kit.com/design-your-second-act

We are deeply grateful if you could take a moment to share your thoughts, ideas, or feedback with us. You can email us directly at:

 [email protected]

Become a Design Thinker podcast serves individuals who believe in their ability to create positive change and refuse to be put in passive or vulnerable positions when it comes to shaping their future.

Design thinking empowers you to approach problems from a fresh perspective. By adopting this designer’s mindset, you can develop innovative solutions that drive meaningful impact. Our goal is to integrate design thinking with various management concepts, making it applicable to your daily work and life.

Become the designer of your work, your family, and your life. You have the power to design a future that is better than today!!

Join the journey to become a design thinker to receive regular updates of insights by email:
https://join.bdesignthinker.com/join

Visit my website to learn more:
https://bdesignthinker.com