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This Is A Prototype

This Is A Prototype

By: Doug Powell
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 We are in the midst of an unprecedented time in the history of the design profession. Businesses are investing in design at rates never before seen—building scaled design teams of hundreds and even thousands of designers, and hiring design leaders into executive roles giving them influence and access at the highest levels.

As an executive design leader myself, I’m fascinated by the experience of designers moving into these new leadership roles. For most of us this is completely uncharted territory, the jobs are often undefined and there is rarely a roadmap or playbook to help us succeed, so most of us have had to learn on the job.

In each episode of This is a Prototype, I invite two design leaders who have traveled very different life and career journeys to share their stories, compare notes, and talk about what it takes to be a leader in this new era of design.Copyright Doug Powell 2023 Art Career Success Economics Management Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • S3•E5 Phil Gilbert

    S3•E5 Phil Gilbert
    Dec 4 2025
    One of the core principles of my leadership courses and coaching engagements is that, as design leaders, we are always agents of change in complex, scaled organizations, always challenging entrenched ways of working and cultural norms, especially in legacy enterprises. But here’s the thing: transforming a company is far easier said than done.

    In his new book Irresistible Change: A Blueprint for Earning Buy-in and Breakout Success, Phil Gilbert provides an actionable playbook for leaders across disciplines to drive durable, sustainable, and scalable change by turning change itself into a product, and by managing it as you would an early stage startup.

    Phil was the General Manager of Design at IBM between 2012-2021, and the book documents the design-driven transformation he architected at that historic global technology company during those years, a transformation that included adding more than 3,000 practicing designers to the company globally, and training more than 200,000 IBMers as design thinkers.

    Last month, I sat down with Phil at the State Theatre in downtown Austin, Texas—the home base for the IBM Design program and its flagship studio—for an evening of stories from our IBM days, and insights from the new book.

    Doug Powell is an award-winning designer and executive design leader with more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of design disciplines. Learn more about Doug's practice as a consultant, educator, and coach at his website dougpowell.design.
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    1 hr
  • S3•E4 Ashleigh Axios

    S3•E4 Ashleigh Axios
    Oct 30 2025
    The practice of civic design is increasingly in the spotlight in the U.S. as dramatic cuts to federal agency staffing and funding resulted in the abrupt elimination of thousands of design jobs earlier this year.

    My guest this episode is Ashleigh Axios, one of the top leaders in the global civic design community. Ashleigh is the founder of Public Servants, a consultancy that partners with government and civic organizations across the US to design equitable, effective, and human-centered experiences. Ashleigh served as Creative Director and Digital Strategist in the Obama White House, and has held numerous leadership roles, including as president and board chair of AIGA, the professional association for design in the US.

    Recently Ashleigh authored an excellent essay titled Not Just Another Chess Set: What the U.S. Chief Design Officer Must Deliver, following the launch last August of America by Design, a new National Design Studio that will work out of the executive branch of the US government—and the announcement that AirBnB co-founder Joe Gebbia will lead this initiative as the US Chief Design Officer.

    Here is a list of resources and initiatives that we reference in our discussion:
    • DotGov Design initiative (AIGA DC)
    • DotGov Design Conference
    • Dori Tunstall: “The current regime’s America by Design announcement misses the mark” (Archpaper)
    • Jesse Gardner’s accessibility check of America by Design site (LinkedIn post)
    • Rachael Dietkus: “America by Design, Harm by Default” (LinkedIn article)
    • Fast Company: “Nixon, NASA, And How The Federal Government Got Design” (2017)
    • Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA.gov)
    • “From Airbnb to America’s ‘Chief Design Officer’” — New York Times, Aug 27, 2025 (nytimes.com)
    • e-Estonia


    Doug Powell is an award-winning designer and executive design leader with more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of design disciplines. Learn more about Doug's practice as a consultant, educator, and coach at his website dougpowell.design.
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    57 mins
  • S3•E3 Sara Cantor + George Aye

    S3•E3 Sara Cantor + George Aye
    Oct 6 2025
    On this episode, host Doug Powell is joined by Sara Cantor and George Aye, co-founders of Chicago-based Greater Good Studio, a design firm dedicated to the public sector, taking a people-centered approach to their work with non-profits, philanthropic foundations, and municipal and government agencies.

    Earlier this year, Greater Good Studio launched Angry Hour, the "happy hour for pissed off optimists," as a way to bring designers together with community members and activists around local issues and organizations. They’ve held Angry Hours in Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Austin. Now they are building on the momentum of Angry Hour by with the first ever Livid Conference, which will bring together designers who want to make a greater social impact through their work, with social sector professionals who are looking to be more creative. Livid Conference will be a hybrid in-person and online event in Chicago on November 3.

    Registration for Livid Conference is now open at lividconference.com, and listeners of TIAP can get a 40% discount on in-person and online registration by using the discount code DOUG-FRIEND.

    Doug Powell is an award-winning designer and executive design leader with more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of design disciplines. Learn more about Doug's practice as a consultant, educator, and coach at his website dougpowell.design.
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    56 mins
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