Designing Schools

This past year we all experienced the rapid acceleration of change in just about every area of our lives. From remote work to the news, our intimate relationship with technology raised more questions than answers.  Today I’m delighted to be joined by Erik Brynjolfsson as he helps us contextualize the changes we are experiencing and to explore in depth how might we shape our destiny, reinventing industries and creating new opportunities that bring everyone shared prosperity. 

Erik Brynjolfsson is the Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Professor and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI) He’ also the Director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.

In this episode we discuss:

• Erik's move from MIT to Stanford
• A comparison between productivity gains in the First Machine Age compared to the Second Machine Age
• Why he's a mindful optimist when thinking about the future relationship between humans and machines
• The skills humans need to focus in on to be successful in The Second Machine Age
• Why it's not enough to invest and why we must reinvent education
• His experience teaching during Covid and ideas education can adapt
• A research study that allows companies to assess what skills machines do well vs humans and how they can best prepare their employees
• Policies that governments should consider so that everyone can share in the prosperity of the opportunities today's world offers.

Resources

• Learn more about Erik's research here.
• Read, "The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies."
• Connect with Erik on Twitter here.
• Learn more about Dr. Quidwai's research study here. 

With every social media platform now integrating stories I published a post about why leaders should leverage this medium to build deeper relationships their community. This week on the podcast I'm on the other side of the table, sharing an interview I did on this topic with Jennifer Watson, Social Media Manager at Agorapulse.

In this episode we discuss:

• The significance of the World Economic Forum highlighting "leadership and social influence" as a trending skill for 2022
• My research with design thinking and how it can be used to prepare us with the mindset and skillset to adapt and navigate change
• How leaders can build social influence to encourage creativity, recognize accomplishments, build trust and inspire a collective vision
• My experience hosting a podcast and the lessons I've learned
• The role social media will play with people and in marketing for 2021

Share your thoughts and questions with me on Instagram, and Twitter.

"The master has failed more times than the student has tried," thats the mantra today's guest abides by when leaning into new experiences to master his mindset. As you navigate the many changes 2020 has brought upon us, this week's guest, Steve Yu, CFO and Assistant Dean at the UCLA School of Law, shares stories and strategies about how to leverage a network and the role mentors can play in helping you design a life where you can identify and achieve your goals.

In This Episode We Discuss...

• Steve's experience growing up on a farm and how he balanced it with his education
• How to overcome fears and strategies he uses to master his mindset
• Leaders as mentors and why age should not be a factor
• The importance of surrounding yourself with people who can be advocates for you
• Steve's many side hustles and why he believes in a "yes and..." mentality
• Steve's journey through mindfulness and meditation practices
• The importance of self care during the pandemic

Connect With Steve

• To connect and learn more from Steve join him on LinkedIn

Connect With Sabba

• You can connect with me, Sabba on LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter @AskMsQ or visit my websiteaskmsq.com.

For the past decade Digital Futurist Brian Fanzo has been able to predict future trends with great accuracy. One of these trends is the importance of sharing your story or as Brian says, “Press the Damn Button.” And in 2018 we saw the World Economic Forum identify Leadership and Social Influence as a trending skill. 

In this Episode we Discuss:

• What he means by digital empathy and how he used it to pivot during the pandemic
• Strategies to prepare for the ambiguity of tomorrow by preparing today
• Why our challenges are people problems that we need to solve with people
• Why stories and online content should include the process not just the end results
• Why he believes we should have a WE > ME mindset
• The relationship between taking care of ourselves and giving back to other
• The future of virtual events and why we should redefine how we use the word “interactive” 

Connect with Brian

To learn more about Brian you can visit his website and I highly recommend you follow him across all platforms where he diversifies his content for Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIN and YouTube. You can learn more from Brian about how to enhance your virtual presentations here.

Connect with Sabba

You can connect with me, Sabba on LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter @AskMsQ or visit my website askmsq.com.

Too often we network by proximity. In this episode Brian Fanzo shares his mantra, "press the damn button" to network with others through the sharing of stories. This is transformational because most of us build our network over time through proximity — people from your business school, or through family and friends. Not only do online platforms expand our networking opportunities but they open up people from industries you may never come in contact with. 

Brian is a digital futurist who translates the trends of tomorrow to inspire change today. He is currently the Founder of iSocialFanz, which has helped launch digital and influencer strategies with the world’s most iconic brands like Dell, EMC, Adobe, IBM, UFC, Applebee’s, and SAP. Brian believes that we all need to pick up our phones and embrace his mantra “press the damn button” in doing so we share our stories with the world, building trust, awareness and connection with our communities.

In this episode Brian shares:

• How to break the proximity barriers to networking by sharing your work online
• Why Brian believes so deeply in his mantra “Press the Damn Button” and how you can get started
• Why the non linear life no longer exists and how to design a life around your strengths and interests
• How taking initiative can open unique opportunities despite your “qualifications”
• Why Brian is CEO of Team No Niche and why he believes finding your passion is bad advice and what to do instead

To connect and learn from Brian you can visit his website and find him on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. 

To connect with me Sabba, you can visit my website or join me on Twitter and Instagram. 

“People don’t resist change, they resist loss.” This week I invited Bree Groff, Principal at SYPartners, to talk about how to manage grief and loss when it comes to organizational change. Bree is on a mission to help companies not simply endure change, but become skilled at—and find joy in—transformation.

For more than a decade, Bree has focused on transformation, innovation, and organizational design, advising leaders at companies including Calvin Klein, Adobe, Google, Etsy, Microsoft, and Hilton. Previously, Bree was CEO of NOBL Collective, a global organizational design and change consultancy.

In this episode we discuss:

Bree’s six step framework for helping people manage grief and loss

How to think about making career choices during times of change

Why it is important to acknowledge what no longer might exist

How to design change so that is inclusive

How we can design new futures for our organizations and ourselves

To learn more from Bree you can visit her website at https://br.ee.

You can connect with me, Sabba on LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter or visit my website askmsq.com.

"Find and be found" This should be the mantra for every secondary and post secondary student in today's world. 

Each week on the show I ask our guests to share advice with new graduates who are entering a very different world of work. This week I curated the advice of past guests into one episode.

• Why the world of work is ripe for disruption and why you should be optimistic about the job market
• How to use LinkedIn to grow your network, share your work and connect with people you want to work with
• Why building your personal brand is a non-negotiable in 2020 and how you can use it to show the world what you can do with what you know
• How to use your time in school to share your work and build a robust network online
• How to use your challenges to fuel risk taking and try something new
• Why you should never be afraid to reach out to someone to ask a question or get advice when it comes to your career
• How to share and advance ideas within your organization

Private Facebook group for Students and New Graduates 

Connect with Sabba in Instagram - @AskMsQ

Connect with Sabba on Twitter - @AskMsQ

Visit my website - www.askmsq.com

We all know that collaboration is often critical to success, as Simon Sinek says “alone is hard, together is better.” But how can we be better together? It doesn’t happen by just getting together around a table or these days a zoom call, it happens when we create a culture of radical alignment. 

In this episode Bob and Alex share:

• Their 4-step conversation framework that builds trust amongst teams
• The research behind leading with empathy to have meaningful conversations that lead to action
• The importance of trust and psychological safety within an organization
• How to create a culture where diversity thrives and everyone's voices and ideas are valued.
• How to debate and share safely within organizations to generate new ideas
• The relationship between emotions and creativity
• Why we experience imposter syndrome and how to manage it
• Why children benefit from the conversation framework and how it can strengthen their social-emotional skills

You can learn more about their book and offers here. I hope you all enjoy my conversation with Bob Gower and Alex Jamieson, and as always we’d love if you tag us online and share your thoughts and takeaways. 

You can connect with me, Sabba on LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter @AskMsQ or visit my website askmsq.com.

Whether you are leading an organization or you are an individual struggling to find purpose a clear vision will help you design a strategy that leads to results. I invited Diana and Kandis from The Six to join us to talk about vision sprints, where they use design thinking to help organizations imagine what could be and then align their strategy with their vision.

• [3:26] What is a vision sprint and how it creates alignment within your organization
• [6:53] The challenges that arise when the vision is not clear and the discoveries you uncover when doing a vision sprint
• [12:46] How Covid-19 and the various inequities within our society make this a valuable time to be introspective in our personal and professional lives
• [19:00] The mindset of a designer and how it enhances your ability to frame uncomfortable conversations and lead and learn with empathy and courage
• [31:53] The challenge of making the time and space to have conversations about vision and culture and how taking the. time to pause can help strengthen your organization from within so it can withstand future challenges
• [33:50] Specific strategies, questions and resources to use when beginning the conversation as it can often feel overwhelming
• [38:53] Advice for new graduates and how to network in a virtual setting

We'd love to hear what questions you have and your comments on the conversation. I hope you found my conversation with Diana and Kandis from The Six to be valuable and that it inspires you to make the time and space to come together with your team.

You can connect with me, Sabba on LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter @AskMsQ or visit AskMsQ.com.

In Season 2 of Sprint to Success with Design Thinking we’re talking with leaders and researchers about how to bring teams together to redesign our workplaces, systems and societies. Our. guests will share how to use design thinking to have conversations that lead to action, starting with what we know are important foundations for change to thrive such as vision, culture, trust, psychological safety, advocacy, leadership and social influence and more.