For this episode, we are joined by a very special guest, Mat Hunter, Co-CEO of Plus X. 

Matt has had a long and varied career kick-started by landing a placement at world-renowned design and innovation agency IDEO, where he went on to work for 15 years focussing mostly on creating digital products and services. 

He's also a tutor and visiting professor at the Royal College of Art (RCA) and Imperial Business School London. 

As if that wasn't enough plates for Mat to spin, he's now Co-Ceo of Plus X, an innovation hub with ambitious plans to create safe spaces for experimentation and collaboration for companies of all sizes. 

Join our Matt, as he quiz's Mat (so many Matt's!) on his origins story, what led him into a career in design, how to build the right conditions for innovation and most importantly...finds out what's in Mat's draws! Oooooh errrr. 

Don't miss it, get your ears involved. Do it, Do it NOW!

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Thanks to our sponsor:

https://plusx.space

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Links from the show:

1. IDEO
https://www.ideo.com/eu

2. Central Research Laboratory
https://centralresearchlaboratory.com/

3. Plus X
https://plusx.space/

4. Pack Articles

https://www.ridewiththepack.com/articles/

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Original music used in this podcast © Resting State by HOME:

https://home96.bandcamp.com/releases

Under the creative commons 3.0 license:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In this episode of Pack Unleashed, the founders of Pack Matt, John and Dom delve into the world of perfection OR, rather, how striving for perfection can ultimately hold you back. 

From day dot we’re programmed to strive for perfection in everything we do. 

But is perfection something we can really attain?

And how does perfection affect the way we think about our work and the products we create? 

AND...what on earth does all this have to do with John’s Nan and Duke Nukem 3D…

You’re going to have to listen to find out! 

Please Note: This episode contains many many bleeps! 🤬😂

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Thanks to our sponsor:

https://plusx.space

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Links from the show:

1. Feck Perfuction book:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Feck-Perfuction-Dangerous-Ideas-Business/dp/1452166366

2. Slo Mo - SXSW Best Documentary Winner: 

https://vimeo.com/59749737

 3. Love for Imperfect Things book:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Imperfect-Things-Yourself-Perfection/dp/0241331129

4. Wired Magazine - How Success Killed Duke Nukem:

https://www.wired.com/2009/12/fail-duke-nukem/

5. Pack Articles

https://www.ridewiththepack.com/articles/

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Original music used in this podcast © Resting State by HOME:

https://home96.bandcamp.com/releases

Under the creative commons 3.0 license:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Settling into Season 2 of our podcast, we have the great Erika Hall joining us for an awesome episode, where we talk about the importance of research and how you can benefit from including it in your product business. 

We’ll also be jumping into the Pack Delorean to take a leap back in time, to discuss how Erika got started in the design industry and what first got her interested in the subject of research. 

Erika is Co-founder and Director of Strategy at Mule, a consultancy which focuses on helping organisations make better, more evidence-based decisions.

She is also a prolific writer and the author of Just Enough Research, now in its second edition, and Conversational Design, both from A Book Apart. 

She writes about topics that challenge the conventional wisdom of the field, which encourage designers to think more deeply about the implications of their work.

Packed with practical advice + knowledge bombs aplenty…😬😮😲😀

DO NOT MISS THIS EPISODE!

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Thanks to our sponsor:

https://plusx.space/

—————

Links from the show:

1. Just Enough Research by Erika Hall (Book)

https://abookapart.com/products/just-enough-research?_pos=1&_sid=dba49314c&_ss=r

2. Conversational Design by Erika Hall (Book)

https://abookapart.com/products/conversational-design?_pos=2&_sid=dba49314c&_ss=r

 3. You’re my Favourite Client by Mike Monteiro (Book)

https://abookapart.com/products/youre-my-favorite-client?_pos=1&_sid=3c8bd7e92&_ss=r

4. Design is a Job by Mike Monteiro (Book)

https://abookapart.com/products/design-is-a-job?_pos=2&_sid=3c8bd7e92&_ss=r

5. Ruined by Design by Mike Monteiro (Book)

https://www.ruinedby.design/

6. Behave by Robert Sapolsky (Book)

https://www.bookdepository.com/Behave-Robert-M-Sapolsky/9780099575061

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Links to Erika:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikahall/

Twitter: @mulegirl

Website: https://muledesign.com/

—————————

Original music used in this podcast © Resting State by HOME:

https://home96.bandcamp.com/releases

Under the creative commons 3.0 license:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

To kick off season 2 of our podcast, we have a great guest and a white hot topic!

We’re joined by Laïla von Alvensleben, who heads up Culture & Collaboration at MURAL.

Laïla  has a background in UX design and has worked as an industry expert and facilitated workshops for the likes of Hyper Island and Mural. 

She’s now a remote workplace expert and contributes to a variety of programmes and businesses helping them navigate their remote challenges!

We talk about what it means to build a remote culture which is both inclusive but also gives people and teams autonomy to shine. We also touch on the one super power you need to thrive in a remote team right now.

Packed with practical advice and knowledge bombs aplenty, you do not want to miss this episode!

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Thanks to our sponsor:

https://plusx.space/

—————

Links from the show:

1. Remote work transformation is a full-time job (or, why you need a Head of Remote Work)

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/remote-work-transformation-full-time-job-why-you-need-darren-murph

2. Online warmups and energisers from Mural:

https://www.mural.co/blog/online-warm-ups-energizers

3. Mural imagine

https://www.mural.co/imagine

4. Mural back stage pass

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDZa1OFNww6MrYctf8Z1y7xPWYsfu8O6j

5. Pack Articles

https://www.ridewiththepack.com/articles/

—————

Links to Laïla & Mural:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lailavon/

Twitter: @lailavona

Website: lailavon.com

MURAL:

Twitter: @mural

Website: mural.co

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Original music used in this podcast © Resting State by HOME:

https://home96.bandcamp.com/releases

Under the creative commons 3.0 license:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

WOOOOHOOOOOO!!!

It’s finally here. We’ve managed to push the fan mail aside and have made it back into the saddle once more, for season 2 of Pack Unleashed! 

Not only are we back, we’re also in a brand new studio and have a sponsor, the ever awesome Plus X innovation hubs. 

In our first episode we recap on season 1, but more importantly we look forward to what’s in store in season 2 our mightiest season yet. Jam packed with guests and knowledge bombs aplenty! 

Buckle up buttercup…Where we’re going, we don’t need roads!

—————

Thanks to our sponsor:

https://plusx.space/

—————

Links from the show:

1. Pack Articles

https://www.ridewiththepack.com/articles/

—————————

Original music used in this podcast © Resting State by HOME:

https://home96.bandcamp.com/releases

Under the creative commons 3.0 license:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

We had big things planned for the end of Pack Unleashed Season 1, but...life happens! 😬

This week John rounds things up with a retrospective episode where he reveals why we started the podcast, what we're passionate about, a tribute to our brilliant guests and what you can expect from season 2, while Matt and Dom are in the trenches of a Design Sprint! 🏃🏿‍♂️🏃🏃‍♀️

If you want the lowdown on what the last 13 episodes have covered, this is the episode for you 🔥

It's time to kick off your shoes, relax your socks, let the final curtain draw to a close, that's the end of season 1, but in the words of a great philosopher....

"I'll be back" 🦾😎🦾

Arnold Schwarzenneger - 1984

 —————

1. Follow Pack on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/company/pack-better-together/

2. Pack articles!
https://www.ridewiththepack.com/articles/

—————————

Original music used in this podcast © Resting State by HOME:

https://home96.bandcamp.com/releases

Under the creative commons 3.0 license:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Worried your business is staggering into a post apocalyptic future like one of the Zombie hoard?

Have you tried to introduce new innovative services and solutions into your company but hit a block at every turn?

Then you need to have a listen to this weeks Pack Unleashed special guest episode with Elvin Turner. Elvin is the go-to Innovation consultant for some of the biggest companies world, and author of Be Less Zombie - How great companies create dynamic innovation, fearless leadership and passionate people. 

In this penultimate episode of season 1of the podcast, Matt and Elvin go deep on :

- How to work out if your company is part of the Zombie hoard

- How to introduce a culture (or space!) that encourages experiments

- How some of the biggest companies in the world foster scalable innovation

- Bowling with the bumpers up

And so much more!

—————

1. Link to the book on Amazon:
https://amzn.to/3cB7tPN

2. Be Less Zombie website:
www.belesszombie.com

4. Elvin's website:
www.elvinturner.com

5. Elvin on Linkedin:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elvint/

—————————

Original music used in this podcast © Resting State by HOME:

https://home96.bandcamp.com/releases

Under the creative commons 3.0 license:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In this weeks show John is joined by an extra special guest, head of communications at Eximia Graeme Cook.

Graeme is former EMEA strategic communications manager at Microsoft and has worked for both London Heathrow and BT in the past communications roles.

After telling our own Graeme and John origins story via wrestling and sharks, we talk about the power of stories and how you can harness storytelling to help get buy in for your ideas. 

From neuroscience to Jaws, selling junk on eBay, right through to the neuroscience behind the way our brains LOVE stories, we give you practical and, sometimes slightly less practical, uses for stories which will help you engage people and rally around your ideas!

A fascinating episode not to be missed…

Let’s do this!

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1. 5 Business Lessons We Can Learn From JAWS
https://thedailyjaws.com/blog/2019/7/25/5-lessons-business-we-can-learn-from-jaws

2. Is the Karate Kid to Blame for the Design Sprint?
https://www.ridewiththepack.com/is-karate-kid-to-blame-for-the-design-sprint/

3. Eximia Linkedin page

https://www.linkedin.com/company/eximia-comms/

4. Graeme Cook Linkedin 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/graeme-cook-20a80153/

5. Significant Objects Study

https://significantobjects.com/

6. Jaws the Novel - Peter Benchley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaws_(novel)

7. Fear City (Netflix)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_City:_New_York_vs_The_Mafia

8. High Score (Netflix)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Score_(TV_series)

—————————

 Original music used in this podcast © Resting State by HOME:

https://home96.bandcamp.com/releases

 Under the creative commons 3.0 license:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

On this weeks show we talk about 3 of our favourite knowledge bomb articles on our shiny new blog. 

We’ll take you on a journey from The Karate Kid and Design Sprints, via Erika Hall’s approach to Just Enough Research with a slice of failed Coca Cola in the mix, before we take a wander through the angst ridden halls of Shermer High illinois during the summer of 1984, as we join The Breakfast club to talk about Cognitive Diversity. 

Phew!

Buckle up and get your reading glasses out from the back of the sofa, knowledge bombs deployed…

Let’s do this!

—————

Pack Articles:

1. Is the Karate Kid to Blame for the Design Sprint?

https://www.ridewiththepack.com/is-karate-kid-to-blame-for-the-design-sprint/

2. Just Enough Research - The Pack Way

https://www.ridewiththepack.com/just-enough-research-the-pack-way/

3. Cognitive Diversity: Don’t you forget about me

https://www.ridewiththepack.com/cognitive-diversity-dont-you-forget-about-me/

—————

Karate Kid - The Training Montage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zamE9cvC6u0

Just enough research book by Erika Hall:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Just-Enough-Research-Erika-Hall/dp/1937557103

Coca Cola’s failed product - C2:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola_C2

Simple minds - Breakfast club soundtrack:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gLVqjIvokc

Rebel Ideas book by Matthew Syed:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rebel-Ideas-Power-Diverse-Thinking/dp/1473613914

In this weeks episode, we discuss fear in all its guises, and how you can learn and even embrace it to do your best work!

😱😱😱
-------

How rational are our fears? 

What are the different types of fear we encounter?

Is something really bad going to happen or is it our mental state holding us back?

-------

• John talks about his fear of the notorious killer sharks in the Brighton sea.

• Dom talks about how he harnessed fear during his recent boxing debut.

• We find out what Taylor Swift has taught Matt about embracing fear and being true to yourself?

• How can we control the movies in our minds we play back to ourselves so we remember fear differently?

-------

All this AND a chance to win a signed photo of Matt in his short shorts. Not to be missed, probably, take it or leave it…

🩳🩳🩳

It must be Pack Unleashed! 

-------

Darkness Is Where Diamonds Form.

Jim Carrey (on fear) - Comedian

—————————

Links:

• Jia Jiang - What I learned from 100 days of rejection: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vZXgApsPCQ

• Rocky Balboa - Inspirational Speech
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk82j1jQw_8

• Jim Carrey - Darkness is where the Diamond form
https://tinyurl.com/y38fp44l

• Taylor Swift - Miss Americana
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40RsbcFRwNA

• Ryan Holiday - Ego is the Enemy: The Fight to Master Our Greatest
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01AWUTMB0/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i2

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Founders of Pack and UX and UI industry veterans, John, Matt and Dom are on a mission to help product teams design better digital products and services, fast! 

Expect insights into digital product design, innovation, design thinking, design doing and productivity, interlaced with obscure 80’s film references, sourdough-baking tips from Matt and loads more mind-blowing stuff!

—————————

 Original music used in this podcast © Resting State by HOME:

https://home96.bandcamp.com/releases

 Under the creative commons 3.0 license:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/