Design in Organisations module, run at the Institute for Design Innovation as part of MA/MSc Design Innovation and MSc Service Design Innovation programmes, is hosting an external guest speaker lineup as part of the module. It will feature industry experts in the area of design and innovation in organisations, providing students with a real world insight into the broader question that underpins this module: what are the  different ways in which design materialises and is applied in the organisations within a service economy?

For any queries, please contact the module leader and MA/MSc Design Innovation programme director, Dr. Ksenija Kuzmina on k.kuzmina@lboro.ac.uk

Please see below the lineup for the upcoming guest speakers and dates:

Prof. Eenasul Fateh

Date: 28.11.2023 – Room: LDN104

Lecture title: ‘High performance dynamics’ as a driver of advanced organisational leadership and management

Keywords: Trauma-informed, High-performance Dynamics, Psychodynamics, Leadership Organisational Design, Management, Systems, Continuing Professional Development.

Biography: Professor Eenasul Fateh is a strategy consultant, social scientist, psychologist and artist-researcher. At these  Autumn 2023 lecture-tutorials on ‘High Performance Dynamics’, Eenasul will be sharing his unique insights into the psycho-dynamics of “human performance” across different scenarios.

Professor Fateh is a senior associate and Board Member of the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations (originators of the concept of “high performing teams); a member of the Trauma Service of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust (pioneers of ‘trauma-informed’ therapeutic practice) and Board Member of its associated charity;  visiting academic at Loughborough University London, Copenhagen Business School, University of the Arts London, Royal College of Art, LSE, LBS, Cranfield, Manchester University etc. As a strategy consultant he has advised Citibank, LVMH, EDF, Schlumberger, Adidas DEFRA, Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the Mayor of London, regeneration projects in Fogo Island, Dale, Aarhus, Berlin, Deptford. As  interdisciplinary artist “aladin aladin” he has featured at the ICA, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Manifesta Biennial, MARKK/Hamburg etc. In 2002 Professor Fateh’s groundbreaking work with EDF Energy received the Financial Times/Arts+Business award for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) project of the year.

Talk synopsis:
Exploring the core psychosocial skills and strategies necessary for accelerated and sustained development of resilient and high performing organisational leadership and management.

Name: Carolina Escobar-Tello (PhD, FRSA)

Date 01.12.2023 – Room: LDN104

Lecture title: Ideas into Action: Doughnut Economics in Organisations 

Keywords: Regenerativevand Distributive Organisations; Doughnut Economies;Thriving societies; Deep Transformative Design

Biography:Carolina leads DEAL’s work on Schools & Education by co-creating with students, life-long learners, educators, curriculum designers and educational institutions an influential dynamic network of transformative educational practice that contributes to the global-wider movement of regenerative change.

Carolina is a curious transdisciplinary educator, researcher, facilitator and grass-roots designer with seasoned experience working across industrial, product, service and systems design including the global ‘North’ and ‘South’ hemispheres. Biocentric sustainability, design for happiness & wellbeing, social innovation, pluriverse and systemic thinking shape her mindset as a pro-active agent of change. She holds an MSc in Sustainable Design from Bournemouth University and PhD in Sustainable Design from Loughborough University (UK), has lectured extensively and her work has been published in journals and international peer reviewed conference proceedings. She is currently also an Academic Visiting Fellow at the School of Design and Creative Arts, Loughborough University, UK.

Talk synopsis:

Join us in learning, discussing, and putting into action new rationale and tools to transform the deep design of business, enterprises and organisations. The answer is a journey into their deep design – explored through the Purpose, Networks, Governance, Ownership, and Finance. Regenerative and distributive strategies, practices and ideas can be unlocked through such changes in their design, thereby helping to bring humanity into the Doughnut. 

Kavitha Ravikumar

Date: 05.12.2023 – Room: LDN104

Lecture title: The Sustainability Narrative & Design in Organisations  

Keywords: sustainable futures, systems thinking, organising, design decision making, sustainability as a strategy

Biography: Kavitha is a doctoral researcher at Loughborough University London, who works in Sustainability studies through a multidisciplinary approach, with a specific interest in the spaces of collective imagination. She is affiliated with both the Institute for International Management and the Institute for Design Innovation. Kavitha

has first class degrees in Economics and Anthropology, and over 20 years of professional experience across corporates, consulting, start-ups, impact investment as well as project-based involvement in the third & creative sectors.

She has held global strategy and managerial positions and worked on key product innovation and corporate expansion projects. A deep interest in systemic connections have motivated her to take on several additional voluntary and mentorship commitments, including a term as Investee Mentor at The Social Investment Business.

Talk synopsis: The talk will introduce the narratives around sustainability and organisational responses to this narrative. It will encourage the students to think about sustainability as a strategic design principle. It will introduce specific organisational contexts that are aspirational in actively trying to design-in sustainability considerations from the onset.

Recognising the importance of tensions in sustainability as aligning with designer reflexivity and positionality as important considerations in designing for sustainability will be explored. 

Aleksandra Melnikova

Date: 14.12.2023 – Room: LDN104

Lecture title: (Un) Designing Organisations

Keywords: inclusivity, service design, design research , design logic

Biography: Aleks is a co-founder of Cosmic Velocity, a product and service design agency that places inclusivity at the core of what they do. Aleks has led various design teams across top UX/product design agencies such as ORM, Foolproof, BIO, Radley Yeldar, Publicis Poke and Inviqa (ex-Webcredible), delivering successful products and services for many clients worldwide. She’s driven by passion for helping people and businesses create truly inclusive experiences.

Talk synopsis: The role of design in organisations has grown over the years, so much so we are talking about applying it to

the organisation itself: how many of organisations that exist today are intentional, and how many developed in a fairly unorganised manner? Businesses are difficult to change and challenge, often due to their systematic and interconnected nature – so where may we start, as designers?

In order for us designers to have “a seat at the table” we often help organisations re-design the table: looking at people, processes and the product itself, changing the business. In this talk, we will look at real-world examples of building design capabilities within organisations of various sizes, and will talk about the challenges and successes we had along the way in implementing design methodologies and thinking across multiple client groups.We will then try our hand at understanding the building blocks of an org design, and the potential for impact – in a game / workshop form