Disrupt by Design – Day 2 BBD Summit

Day two of the Better By Design CEO Summit was just as good as day one but in different ways.

David Kester from Thames & Hudson started the day talking about Design being at the intersection of Lover, Power and Respect and how these attributes need to be realised both internally and externally by a business. David used a very simple framework and outlined some amazing examples. One striking example was FreshPaper.

Dave Gliboa Co-founder and Co-CEO of Warby Parker took us through his amazing journey to date and how they are disrupting the eyewear industry and keeping a social conscience as a core part of their business. In a word, Jeremy Moon summed this up simply with ‘wow‘ – which couldn’t have been a better reflection!

Next up Sam Morgan talked about his Foundation and about making an impact. Too many charities measure the wrong things, for example measuring schools built, rather than the number of kids who are educated. Sam was as direct as ever during Q&A and will have no doubt unsettled a few participants.

Two other notable presenters were Trey Ratcliff who shared some deeply personal stories – his slide presentation was simply an array of the amazing photographs he has taken – a passion he has only developed over the last few years. Mark Pennington of markpenningtondesign talked about the development and the success of the Life Chair by Formway as an example of the innovation and success that New Zealand businesses need to aim for.

Overall the two days were best summed up for me by the following quote from the final Q&A Panel:

“In times of change, the learners will inherit the world and the learned will find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” – Eric Hoffer

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