What a great conversation we had with Christian Crumlish, who currently serves as the Product Lead for the Office of Data and Innovation in the State of California, under Governor Gavin Newsom. Christian sat down with us to discuss his sometimes unexpected, always fascinating career evolutions. He shared a wealth of keen insights from his journey, beginning in tech publishing back, as he put it, “when the internet became a thing,” and following the many pivots that eventually led him to his innovative work in Gov Tech. In fact, our conversation was so fantastic that it covers TWO episodes—and trust us, you’re going to want to listen to both parts. In Part One, you’ll find out what “Old School Web Ethos” means and learn about Christian’s amazing career trajectory as an author (The Internet for Busy People, a big hit in the ‘90s), content strategist, information architect, pattern detector, consultant, and product lead, to name just a few of his roles. Part Two zeroes in on Christian’s current role, which he describes as “a small office in a very large government.” Overseeing product development while simultaneously looking for ways to make his work successes usable across all of the state government sites, Christian tells us about combating “Zombie Processes” and how innovating in government is a “long game” quite unlike other business tech. We also discuss the often-overlooked issue of psychological safety for teams and work environments.“One of those career things I’ve noticed is that you plant these seeds, and you don’t know what they’re for,” Christian told us. “And then years later, you realize, ‘I’m using that thing I used to do. It’s back.’ There’s a track you’re on sometimes, even when you don’t realize it.” We’re so excited to share this inspiring dialogue with you and the optimism we feel for tech improving public service. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jennifer-pierce28/support

Kai Brunner can see a solution. He can see a whole system from within it. He reminded some of us here at SXQ of Neo. We don’t know if anyone else has likened Kai to Neo (or any other Keanu Reeves character, for that matter), but this seasoned designer-adventurer is this story’s hero. In “The Matrix,” Neo masters his powers when he widens his scope to see the full matrix before him. What appeared to be random chaos is organized by his mind into clear patterns with distinct meanings. He sees the solution and finds his purpose. As an adviser to early-stage start-ups, Kai aims to bring order to creative chaos and share his vision for clear solutions. Our conversation was fascinating, and we found his thought processes and perspective to be powerful and exciting. We discuss the fun and fabulous fiction book on DevOps, The Phoenix Project, by Gene Kim, giving us a window into Kai’s thoughts on how DevOps impacts the design process. It’s a springboard into a light-hearted but deep dive into what we like to call a “designer’s designer,” and we think you’ll enjoy it. In the words of Steve Jobs, it isn’t all about how it looks. It’s how it works. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jennifer-pierce28/support

The word “interesting” comes up a lot in this transcript. I think that word pops up when two curious people end up in a conversation. There is very little I am not interested in. (I confess, this is sometimes a problem for me.)  Intimacy is not a word that often comes up when discussing technology in the classroom. For many, technology has a distancing effect, but not Jeanmarie and her colleagues, who wrote a book about using technology to teach during the pandemic.  Jeanmarie is a technological pragmatist — she is not a technophile seeking to use every gadget; she does what works and what allows her to “magnify her presence” with her students. In other words, she uses technology to center the student and doesn’t use the student as an excuse to center the technology.  One of the more fascinating concepts is how the pandemic forced a reflection on synchronous and asynchronous action — what activities are best done live, what activities are best done alone, and what activities are best done together asynchronously? The cadences of synchrony and asynchrony fascinate many of us as we step out into the future of work and the future of the classroom.  We had a conversation that could have extended into hours and did after the show concluded— tune in and listen to the half-hour we captured.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jennifer-pierce28/support

Antony Panteli is a renaissance man; as he says, he can’t be pigeonholed into one role, and that’s his strength.  Antony is an example of the kind of people we love talking to here at Singular XQ; he understands that digital transformation is not about individual specializations but holistic, systems-level thinking. Cross-functionality isn’t just an operating mode for teams; it can exist in an individual brain and comes from talking to and working with different kinds of specializations.  Old forms of organizational structure force us to become echo chambers of thought and create false blinders to limit our vision, to “stay in our swim lane,” but this can no longer be the case. SXQ’s client base continues to struggle with designers who lack an understanding of engineering, and engineers who lack empathy for designers, and business managers who can’t embrace the problem-solving approach of their partners in design and technology. It’s a perpetual problem and creates drag on organizations that are trying to become more nimble and pick up speed.  Our forthcoming e-book talks about the consilience of multiple technological advancements coming together toward a vanishing point on the horizon. Antony is someone who has that 20/20 vision and someone we rely on for a point of view that few people share.  Tune in and listen to this engaging virtual water cooler conversation and learn what’s going on in his brain.  Follow, like, share, and subscribe! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jennifer-pierce28/support

Have you ever wondered how cloud computing is making burgers better? Or how the Cloud is like an Uber? Ashutosh Dixit talks about digital transformation through Cloud technology. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jennifer-pierce28/support

In today’s markets, innovation and creativity are crucial. Yet building teams that are genuinely collaborating creatively — and consequently innovating — is a primal deficiency in organizations today. Enter Emergent Futures Lab.  In this conversation with Jason Frasca and Iain Kerr, we discuss the work  they’ve been doing for 20 years, empowering teams with the tools and processes they need to innovate. Frasca and Kerr work together at the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center at Montclair State University and are a fountain of insights into the history and neurologic underpinnings of creativity and innovation. If we want the radical transformation leaders say they want, it will take more than just thinking or speaking it into being. Listen to their ideas on where the NEW will be coming from. Thanks to the kick-ass podcast team at Singular XQ, Caden, Brogan, Iqra, and Abby Ahmad, for allowing us to use her music. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jennifer-pierce28/support

Described as a modern-day, consumer-focused Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Ari Zelmanow helps businesses uncover “clues” that enable businesses to: 🚀 Experience predictable growth  🔮 Adapt to unpredictable conditions  ⚠️ Mitigate risk to minimize losses  ⏱ Move faster than the competition  💰 Increase value for the business and customers He currently leads research for Twilio’s Core Platform. Previously built and led insights teams @Gtmhub, @Twitter, @Indeed, and @Panasonic. Before leading insights, he solved crimes as a metropolitan police detective at @SLMPD. Ari believes in truth, justice, and the American way, the Oxford comma, and NY-style pizza. Twitter → https://twitter.com/arizelmanow Website → https://arizelmanow.com Linkedin → https://www.linkedin.com/in/zelmanow/ I had a blast talking to Ari. He transformed the skills he developed as a police detective into research skills that make him an advisor and advocate for leaders who need a strong product POV. According to Ari, research only benefits an organization if it enables one of the four essentials for success: Value, Adaptability, Risk, and Speed. Researchers, he says, need to counsel business leaders, have a point of view, and contribute to decision-making. We also discuss building relationships and credibility for UX Researchers in any organization. As usual, thanks to the kick-ass podcast team at Singular XQ, Caden, Brogan, Iqra, and Abby Ahmad, for using her incredible music. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jennifer-pierce28/support

The one in which global CX consultant Anika Sharma shares her "fierce point of view" on the importance of using advances in digital technology to enable a seamless and personalized customer experience.   --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jennifer-pierce28/support

Debbie Levitt, Founder of Delta CX, talks about Customer Experience and UX and everything in between...including the proverbial (and literal) kitchen sink.   --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jennifer-pierce28/support

Jarvis Moore is a passionate UX leader at Linked In and talks here about why sneakers are a perfect metaphor for UX and the importance of diversity in UX Design. New music by artist Abby Ahmad. Edited by Brógan Molloy --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jennifer-pierce28/support