Rewiring the Corporate Mind through Service Design / Perrin Rowland / Episode #184

Service Design Show

It's not a walk in the park... In fact, calling it challenging is a major understatement.

What we, as service design professionals, often need to tackle some could described as brain surgery. But I bet they didn't teach you that in service design school. They certainly didn't for me.

But why the analogy to brain surgery, you ask? According to our guest, Perrin Rowland, who serves as the Chief Experience Design Officer at one of New Zealand's largest banks, a significant part of our role involves rewiring the organizational neural pathways.

This rewiring is necessary because many established organizations lack the infrastructure needed to fully leverage the potential of design. It's simply not their modus operandi; it's not how they've reached their current status (quo).

Consequently, these organizations don't align with the core design principles, which leads to misaligned beliefs, behaviors, and practices. This misalignment often results in disappointment when design attempts to work its magic in an unprepared environment.

But here's the crux: we can, and indeed must, do better. Even if you don't encounter it daily, remember that those who benefit from our services rely on us to make them more human-centered.

So, how do we build the infrastructure necessary for organizations to prioritize their customers' needs as diligently as they do those of shareholders or regulators? With starting from scratch not being an option, we're left with the challenge of reshaping the existing foundation and pivoting from there.

Yes, it's tough work. And yes, sometimes it's okay to let off steam. It's all part of the journey. Tune in to this conversation with Perrin, and you'll get what I mean.

I must say that Perrin's energy in this conversation is absolutely contagious. If nothing else, you'll walk away with a renewed appreciation of the complexity of the role of service design and brain surgery.

Enjoy the episode, and as always, keep making a positive impact!

- Marc

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to episode 184

10:15 Who is Perrin

13:45 Lightning Round

18:45 About the topic/book

21:15 Why we need to rewire the pathways

25:30 What's missing?

29:30 How to reframe this

34:15 How to make it work

38:15 Bottom-up approach and top-down initiative

42:15 Importance of having a taxonomy

45:00 How do you go about changing the processes

47:30 Does this convince them to make the investment

52:45 The value in trust

59:15 What's next?

1:00:15 Closing thoughts

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/perrinrowland/

• https://eagleman.com/books/livewired/

--- [ 3. Selling Service Design with Confidence ] ---

For more information and instructions on how to apply, head over to ⁠⁠https://www.servicedesignshow.com/confidence/