On Recovering and Reinvention: Navigating Career Changes with John Maeda
With so many people facing changes in their work and careers right now, navigating the complex and turbulent waters of layoffs, org changes, and economic adjustments can be incredibly challenging.
My guest today is renowned design leader and author John Maeda - who is no stranger to career shifts and changes. In this inspiring episode, John shares his message of focusing on recovery instead of failure, the importance of intentional reinvention, and the benefits of renewal and rebuilding.
This episode is a replay from 2019, and it's just as relevant today as it was then. Since our conversation in 2019, John has gone on to take on different roles and is now the VP of Design and Artificial Intelligence at Microsoft. We mentioned his keynote at Interaction 19, which has since been recorded and is available online - we've included the link to that and other inspiring references we mention in the show description and on our website at uxcake.co.
This episode covers a lot of ground - John talked about why we should focus on recover fast vs. fail fast, why inclusive design is so important, and why we should be using Anpanman to train our AI platforms.
John Maeda is a technologist and product experience leader. Currently vp of design and artificial intelligence at Microsoft. Author of five books including a gentle intro to AI/ML "How To Speak Machine (Penguin)" and the "Laws of Simplicity (MIT Press)." Represented in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, NYC and the Cartier Foundation, Paris. First recipient of White House’s National Design Award for algorithmically-generated visualizations informed by data.
John Maeda can be found on Twitter discussing technology, business and design at @johnmaeda, one of TIME Magazine’s 140 Best Twitter Feeds.
Links from this episode
John’s Keynote on Recovery & Reinvention at Interaction19 (video replay)
John Gardner’s Essay “Self Renewal”
Get the Collected Works of classic poet Kahlil Gibran
Joy and Sorrow - poem excerpt from “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran
Books by John Maeda
In The Laws of Simplicity, John Maeda offers ten laws for balancing simplicity and complexity in business, technology, and design―guidelines for needing less and actually getting more.
How to Speak Machine: Computational Thinking for the Rest of Us
Technology is already more powerful than we can comprehend, and getting more powerful at an exponential pace. How to Speak Machine provides a coherent framework for today's product designers, business leaders, and policymakers to grasp this brave new world.
Lessons for a new generation of leaders on teamwork, meetings, conversations, free food, social media, apologizing, and other topics.
Links for John Maeda
More resources from John available on his site https://maedastudio.com