In this episode, we are privileged to be in conversation with independent strategic design consultant Matthew Cockerill. 

Matthew concentrates on helping companies accurately position their future direction and focus by identifying what he terms their 'near future' opportunities.  Not crystal ball gazing into the future and predicting what lies ahead, more pinning a destination down to what is possible within a given time frame (normally 6/8 years) and then working back from point. 

Using his expertise and insight, Matthew has helped some of the world's biggest brands and some of the most ambitious startups solve complex and ambiguous design challenges. 

We follow Matthew's journey from school through his degree to foundation years at DCA Design International, Samsung Electronics (in Seoul), Seymourpowell, to his current role as an independent consultant. 

In the pod Matthew talks of the importance of working "left of brief", really identifying a problem and setting a brief that is accurate and liberating for the work that follows. This work is set within a  strong belief that many potentially successful design projects are scuppered at an early stage through a poorly identified brief. 

Matthew also talks to us about how he now uses his gained experience to lead workshops helping fellow designers to more comfortably fit into leadership roles and how he is working with MyBigCareer to inspire school-aged students to want to learn more about the world of design. 

This podcast is a little longer than normal at sixty-five minutes as it was really hard to cut the good stuff! We are delighted with the outcome and know you are going to enjoy and learn through this podcast with plenty of thought nuggets to make you want to dig deeper. You can find out more about Matthew, including his latest thought pieces and examples of his work through his website https://www.matthew-cockerill.com/

This podcast has been recorded with the help of our sponsors, The Edge Foundation https://www.edge.co.uk/ inspiring the education system to give all young people across the UK the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to flourish in their future life and work, and PTC Onshape Providing industry-standard cloud-based CAD to education  https://www.ptc.com/en/news/2020/ptc-onshape-education-enterprise-plan-available-free-of-charge

We are indebted to both The Edge and PTC Onshape for their continued support.