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Designing Strategy: Leanne Sobel on Fusing Design Thinking with Strategic Practice
Manage episode 487949467 series 3657827
Design thinking isn’t just for product teams—it can reshape how we do strategy.
In this episode, Mike Jones is joined by Leanne Sobel—Director of Strategic Design at Snowmelt and author of a recent PhD on the intersection of design and strategy. Together, they explore what it means to bring design into strategic work: not just as a toolkit, but as an ethos of participation, reflection, and experimentation.
Leanne shares how traditional strategy often limits possibility through early assumptions—while design opens up space to sense, test, and adapt. From stakeholder engagement to making strategy usable in practice, this episode reframes how strategy can be done in complex environments.
🔍 In this episode:
- How design challenges traditional strategy models
- Building usable strategies—not just presentations
- Why stakeholder inclusion is a risk-reducer, not a slowdown
- The difference between design thinking and design practice
- Why reflection is a core strategic act
- Creating feedback loops to make strategy adaptive
📘 Learn more about Leanne: https://www.snowmelt.io/team-members/leanne-sobel
🎧 Full podcast + notes: https://www.lbiconsulting.com/strategymeetsreality
🎙 Listen on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube
Keywords: Strategic Design, Design Thinking, Organisational Strategy, Adaptive Strategy, Design-Led Change, Stakeholder Engagement, Strategic Practice, Leadership, Systems Thinking, Complexity
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🔗 Full episodes, show notes, and resources: https://www.lbiconsulting.com/strategymeetsreality-podcast
📺 Watch on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@StrategyMeetsReality
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Buzzsprout
💬 Connect with host Mike Jones → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-h-jones/
Chapters
1. Introduction to Strategic Design (00:00:00)
2. The Role of Design in Strategy (00:03:49)
3. Challenges in Implementing Design Thinking (00:06:22)
4. Exploring Design Thinking and Management (00:09:02)
5. The Difference Between Traditional and Design Approaches (00:11:45)
6. The Importance of Reflection in Strategy (00:14:19)
7. Engaging Stakeholders in Strategy Development (00:17:08)
8. Navigating Change and Complexity in Strategy (00:19:40)
9. The Role of Strategy Consultants (00:23:54)
10. Design Thinking in Strategy (00:27:42)
11. Rethinking Competition and Collaboration (00:30:31)
12. The Process of Strategy Development (00:34:00)
13. Integrating Design and Traditional Approaches (00:37:55)
14. Outtro (00:44:20)
13 episodes
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