“Sometimes We Have to Recognize that We Have the Ability to Create Our Own Time and Represent Just Ourselves”

The Resonance Test 79: Kevin Bethune, Author of “Reimagining Design”

The smartest designers understand the importance of diversity. It’s not about signaling openminded-ness but about achieving the deepest levels of innovation. We’re talking about truly heterogenous, multidisciplinary teams, which is a familiar concept to us. “Imagine if our future teams were just as representative as the beautiful tapestry of people making up this world,” writes Kevin G. Bethune, author of Reimagining Design: Unlocking Strategic Innovation, in his recently published volume.

But when it comes to investing in such diversity, Bethune, who is our guest on The Resonance Test, tells Producer Ken Gordon: “The business community at large has a long way to go.”

Bethune knows whereof he speaks. He’s been around all kinds corporate and design cultures. He studied engineering at Notre Dame, business at Carnegie Mellon, and design at ArtCenter; worked on nuclear generators at Westinghouse; designed shoes at Nike; lead design at BCG Digital Ventures; and most recently became the Founder and Chief Creative Officer of dreams • design + life, a think tank for design and innovation.

His book is, in fact, an interesting hybrid of professional autobiography, an argument for inclusion, a little philosophy of multidisciplinary design teams, and a career guide. And in it, and in this conversation, he uses his lived experience to showcase how an incessant willingness to learn, to stretch, are necessary for a successful career.

“Careers are made by really leaning into your curiosity,” he says.

But Bethune also says, in his book on this conversation, that this individual experience needs to be blended into a strong multidisciplinary team. “The collective we is better,” he says, because it creates “a greater sense of resilience, greater sense of flexibility, and a greater sense of future foresight than if I didn't have these experiences to offer in the team room."

In fact, Bethune talks about so much relevant things, such as the important role education played in his career, collaboration during a pandemic, and how to create a network of your own, among other salient topics.

Much wisdom here, for those who click. Join us.

Host: Alison Kotin
Engineer: Kyp Pilalas
Producer: Ken Gordon