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
"We had one researcher for every 10 designers, sometimes even one for every 15."
Marjorie Stainback Kelsey KingmanTransforming Strategic Research Capacity through Democratization
October 24, 2019
"The timing is key—you want to interrupt them when they are in that flow state."
Marc Majers Tony TurnerInterrupted UX - Add A Dose of Reality To Usability Testing
March 11, 2022
"We’re moving from theory of change to theory of service: starting with what people actually need before creating anything."
Patrick BoehlerFishing for Real Needs: Reimagining Journalism Needs with AI
June 10, 2025
"Design systems are not just components but guidelines, rules, and principles to create consistent experiences."
Abbey Smalley Sylas SouzaScaling UX Past the Size of Your Team
January 8, 2024
"Using AI tools, you can diverge widely and then converge much faster."
Joe Meersman Pooria SohiUse AI to Drive Outcomes that Go Beyond the Design Sprint
September 25, 2024
"Tools are a blessing and a curse; they’re not people and they can’t replace the relationships you need to get the work right."
Dave GrayGroup Activity: Making Sense of DesignOps
November 7, 2017
"Don’t wait for the brief. Go out there and make some waves."
Jen van der MeerService design performs value
November 19, 2025
"Context is not a container; it’s a continuous, incomplete duality with the people who inhabit it."
Mohammad Hossein JarrahiContextuality problem: Exploring the Benefits of Qualitative and Quantitative Research
January 20, 2023
"I've thrived on being wrong and making mistakes, even when I wasn't actually wrong."
Tricia WangSCALE: Discussion
June 15, 2018
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
How does job loss impact human dignity beyond financial concerns, according to organizational research?
In what clinical workflow areas is AI currently being integrated and what are the main UX challenges associated?
What are the financial barriers preventing birth centers from operating sustainably in rural areas?