Embracing the Power of Curiosity, Design and Story A visual conversation with authors Warren Berger, Lisa Kay Solomon and the founders of the design firm Thirty-X in conversation with Sam Yen, Chief Design Officer of SAP, on the everyday practices we can all learn to create better futures. What does it take to create a culture of innovation? How can we scale design as a teachable and learnable practice? What can we all do to become a more curious leader, a more generative collaborator and an igniter of positive change and impact in the world? Bestselling authors Warren Berger and Lisa Kay Solomon and SAP Chief Design Officer Sam Yen will share their thoughts on the most important skills, mindset and practices we can all learn to design better futures. Designers of the new book Design A Better Business, Thirty-X, will help visualize the conversation and the learning in compelling, engaging and memorable stories. Participants will leave with a fresh approach to their roles as innovators, designers, and leaders.

About our speakers

Warren Berger believes questions are more important than answers. Warren is the creator of the website amorebeautifulquestion.com and author of the 2014 book A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas —both focusing on the power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas. An expert on design thinking and innovation, Warren has studied hundreds of the world’s leading innovators, designers, education leaders, creative thinkers, and red-hot start-ups to analyze how they ask game-changing questions, solve problems, and create new possibilities. Warren believes that questioning not only leads to innovation, it can help you be more successful in your career, and can spark change in your business and your life. Warren currently writes for Fast Company and Harvard Business Review and was a longtime contributor toWired magazine and The New York Times.

Lisa Kay Solomon believes that we are all capable of being designers. Lisa is a well-known thought leader in design innovation with a focus on building the leadership skills required to ignite change and create lasting impact. Lisa is Principal Faculty and Managing Director of Transformational Practices at Singularity University, a global community of smart, passionate, action-oriented leaders who want to use exponential technology to change the world for the better. Lisa coauthored the Wall Street Journal bestseller, Moments of Impact: How to Design Strategic Conversations that Accelerate Change. In it, she provides leaders the tools and frameworks to create strategic conversations and design team meetings that shape the future of their organizations. Her new book, Design A Better Business: New Tools, Skills and Mindset for Strategy and Innovation, is a visual collaboration with coauthors Patrick van der Pijl and Justin Lokitz and designers Erik van der Pluijm and Maarten van Lieshout. It provides a comprehensive guide to the new tools, skills and mindsets required to master ambiguity and create value from uncertainty. Learn more at designabetterbusiness.com.

Our visual storytellers

Maarten van Lieshout is Creative Designer at Thirty-X and one of the lead designers of Design A Better Business: New Tools, Skills and Mindset for Strategy and Innovation. His creative support and visual strategy helps international organizations create new business models by applying creative thinking, visual thinking and design techniques. He constantly looks at the world of international organizations from a different perspective, leading to new insights, new business opportunities and new approaches.

Erik van der Pluijm is Founder and Creative Designer at Thirty-X and one of the lead designers of Design A Better Business: New Tools, Skills and Mindset for Strategy and Innovation. Erik’s specialization bringing design to a new level by combining it with business. He has extensive experience in the High-Tech & Gaming Industry. He was the lead artist on the Sony Playstation 3 title Killzone 2 where he built a 3D art team and prototyped development and outsourcing processes for the PS3’s next-generation graphics. He guides the creative process and storytelling efforts for Thirty-X clients and takes care of the visualization of business models, visions, roadmaps and other templates.