Asking the Right Questions: Life, Hope and Moving Forward During the Pandemic
Summary
Details to come.
Key Insights
-
•
Starting meetings or classes with a simple warm-up increases attentiveness and presence.
-
•
Remote teaching often results in students keeping cameras off, impacting engagement, but this can be navigated with inclusive strategies.
-
•
Peloton taught the speaker practical leadership lessons including compassion, collaboration, and community support.
-
•
Consistency is critical in leadership and personal growth, exemplified by the speaker's 73-week exercise streak.
-
•
Inclusive leadership requires acknowledging where people are physically and emotionally, offering alternatives accordingly.
-
•
Organizations must consistently provide education and enforce policies addressing discrimination, considering intersectional identities.
-
•
Leadership must listen actively and avoid placing the burden of diversity work solely on marginalized groups.
-
•
Recognizing external stressors such as global events is essential to empathetic leadership and inclusive workplaces.
-
•
Language matters; everyday expressions can unintentionally exclude or offend marginalized communities.
-
•
Inclusion and accessibility should be embedded into every designer's responsibilities, not isolated to specialists.
Notable Quotes
"I had you all do a warm-up before we started to help everyone be present and calm."
"Sometimes working with a bunch of boxes and letters on Zoom was the reality of remote classes."
"Be compassionate with yourself and others. Not everyone likes high fives, and that's okay."
"Collaboration is key. I'm never alone in a Peloton class, even at 4:30 in the morning."
"Consistency is key. I'm on a 73-week streak right now, and that's pretty badass."
"Identity is not monolithic; policies should address layered experiences."
"It is not the responsibility of marginalized groups to do all the educating about their experiences."
"Listen is a skill that is not emphasized enough in leadership."
"Watch your language; terms like 'that's so lame' can be exclusionary or offensive."
"Inclusion and accessibility need to be part of every designer's role, even if today it is one person's job."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Quick fixes rarely exist in these domains because beneath every problem are layers of complexity."
Barb SpantonDoing Work That Matters: A Look Beyond The Idealistic Notion of 'Doing Meaningful Work'
June 10, 2022
"Trust building and informed consent are things you can improve in research without stressing the business."
Jemma Ahmed Robert Fabricant Sean McKay Llewyn Paine Kate Towsey Noah BondTheme Panel
March 11, 2025
"The best transformation happens by asking the right questions, even when the problem feels overwhelming."
Broad Strokes: Connecting Design, Research, and AI to the World Around Us
June 7, 2023
"All fixed set patterns are incapable of adaptability and pliability. The truth lies outside of fixed patterns."
Mark BoultonOps without Designers
November 7, 2018
"Today’s problems come from yesterday’s solutions — unintended consequences emerge when systems aren’t fully understood."
Sheryl CababaExpanding your Design Lens with Systems Thinking
March 28, 2023
"An agent is anything that displays agency, the ability to take actions and choose which actions to take."
Christopher NoesselAI of the now: Designing for Agents
July 31, 2024
"When we design for the edges, we get the middle for free."
Samuel ProulxFrom Standards to Innovation: Why Inclusive Design Wins
September 10, 2025
"We tend to do anything but inquire, even though inquiry is most effective for sustainable change."
Laura WeissThere is No Playbook: Leader as Coach During Challenging Times
April 26, 2024
"Usability testing may be automated, but generative research—the deep understanding of humans—is unlikely to be replaced."
Erin MaloneUnderstanding the past to prepare for the future
July 19, 2024