Kevin Bethune: Innovation lessons from a nuclear engineer turned Air Jordan designer episode artwork

EPISODE · Apr 11, 2023 · 48 MIN

Kevin Bethune: Innovation lessons from a nuclear engineer turned Air Jordan designer

from Design Better · host The Curiosity Department

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/kevin-bethune-reimagining-design Not many people can say they’ve gone from being a nuclear engineer to helping design Air Jordans at Nike. But that’s part of Kevin Bethune’s story, and today we chat with him about his journey from engineering to design. Kevin also published a best-selling book last year called Reimagining Design: Unlocking Strategic Innovation. We talk about what he hoped to learn from writing the book, and discuss a critique of design thinking, the role of rigor in creativity, and the rewards and challenges of working with multidisciplinary teams. Bio Kevin Bethune is a Design and innovation executive leader serving, scaling and leading creative teams as large as 30+ nationwide, and influencing global teams as large as 70+ in the definition of design functional excellence and innovation best practices while respecting local differences. He’s also an entrepreneur and founder of dreams • design + life, a “think tank” combining strategic design and industrial design to address human-centric and holistic opportunities to solve latent needs across industries that benefit from integrated physical, digital and service-oriented experiences. Kevin is a globally recognized speaker who’s given talks at TED, DMI, IDSA, AIGA, MIT, Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon, Notre Dame, ArtCenter, Lucerne, Nike, BCG and Google Design.  * Help us make the show even better by taking a short survey: www.dbtr.co/survey If you're interested in sponsoring the show, please contact us at: [email protected] If you'd like to submit a guest idea, please contact us at: [email protected] * This episode is brought to you by: Fable: Build inclusive products: https://makeitfable.com/designbetter/ Freehand by InVision: The intelligent whiteboard that's half the price of Miro and Mural: https://freehandapp.com/ Methodical Coffee: Roasted, blended, brewed, served and perfected by verified coffee nerds: https://methodicalcoffee.com/ (use code "designbetter" for 10% off of your order). Athletic Greens: Build a foundation for better health: http://athleticgreens.com/designbetter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/kevin-bethune-reimagining-design Not many people can say they’ve gone from being a nuclear engineer to helping design Air Jordans at Nike. But that’s part of Kevin Bethune’s story, and today we chat with him about his journey from engineering to design. Kevin also published a best-selling book last year called Reimagining Design: Unlocking Strategic Innovation. We talk about what he hoped to learn from writing the book, and discuss a critique of design thinking, the role of rigor in creativity, and the rewards and challenges of working with multidisciplinary teams. Bio Kevin Bethune is a Design and innovation executive leader serving, scaling and leading creative teams as large as 30+ nationwide, and influencing global teams as large as 70+ in the definition of design functional excellence and innovation best practices while respecting local differences. He’s also an entrepreneur and founder of dreams • design + life, a “think tank” combining strategic design and industrial design to address human-centric and holistic opportunities to solve latent needs across industries that benefit from integrated physical, digital and service-oriented experiences. Kevin is a globally recognized speaker who’s given talks at TED, DMI, IDSA, AIGA, MIT, Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon, Notre Dame, ArtCenter, Lucerne, Nike, BCG and Google Design.  * Help us make the show even better by taking a short survey: www.dbtr.co/survey If you're interested in sponsoring the show, please contact us at: [email protected] If you'd like to submit a guest idea, please contact us at: [email protected] * This episode is brought to you by: Fable: Build inclusive products: https://makeitfable.com/designbetter/ Freehand by InVision: The intelligent whiteboard that's half the price of Miro and Mural: https://freehandapp.com/ Methodical Coffee: Roasted, blended, brewed, served and perfected by verified coffee nerds: https://methodicalcoffee.com/ (use code "designbetter" for 10% off of your order). Athletic Greens: Build a foundation for better health: http://athleticgreens.com/designbetter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NOW PLAYING

Kevin Bethune: Innovation lessons from a nuclear engineer turned Air Jordan designer

0:00 48:47

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

The Accounting & Tax Help Desk For Our Sun Productions Stay on top of accounting and tax essentials with our podcast, designed for professionals, entrepreneurs and anyone looking to better understand the wold of finance. Naturally Inspired Podcast: Health. Freedom. Lifestyle. Tammy Cuthbert Garcia Naturally Inspired Podcast is a weekly podcast where we interview health practitioners, authors, filmmakers, scientists and leading experts in the fields of health and wellness. Guests are on the cutting edge and our conversations aim to inspire listeners to think critically about health choices for better life results. Learn More At https://naturallyinspiredpodcast.com/ Take the Leap Colleen Biggs When was the last time you took a leap of faith trusting that everything is going to work out? Do you crave growth, or are you merely content with the status quo? If you want more out of your life, out of your career, and out of your relationships, you are in the right place. It's time for you to step into the Spotlight to expand your influence and attract the right clients. Your Host, Colleen Biggs, will expose the actions you need to take, through the experiences and interviews of our guests, so you no longer are sitting on the sidelines, but that you are finally taking an active role in defining the design of your life rather than living it by default. We will be interviewing elite leaders that will share their greatest regrets, successes, and how they did it! Week after week you will learn all about how you too can take the leap of faith, trust in yourself and stop living a life only by default. The Syndicate Blogcast: Startups | Startup Investing | Tech News | Angel Investors | VC | Venture Capital | Private Equity | Crowdfunding | Fundraising Matt Ward - Serial Entrepreneur | Angel Investor | Startup Advisor | Amazon Ecommerce The Syndicate Blogcast show is an extension of The Syndicate podcast, featuring long form articles on the future technology, ecommerce, business and life. The mini-sodes deconstruct high level startup, business and tech issues to help investors and operators better understand and win the market. Recurring topics include: Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple, Ecommerce, Blockchains, ICOs, Cryptocurrencies, Marketing, Fundraising, Venture Capital, Startup Challenges, Business Development and more. The Blogcast comes in addition to The Syndicate - the place where investors and startups combine to create crazy businesses and even crazier returns. The Syndicate podcast is a deep dive on the angel investors and VCs behind the big name startups. We interview the best and brightest investors, syndicate leads, GPs, limited partners and startup founders to create an original, off the cuff discussion on startup investing.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Design Better?

This episode is 48 minutes long.

When was this Design Better episode published?

This episode was published on April 11, 2023.

What is this episode about?

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/kevin-bethune-reimagining-design Not many people can say they’ve gone from being a nuclear engineer to helping design Air Jordans at Nike. But that’s part of Kevin Bethune’s story, and today we chat with...

Can I download this Design Better episode?

Yes, you can download this episode by clicking the download button on the episode player, or subscribe to the podcast in your preferred podcast app for automatic downloads.
URL copied to clipboard!