What the Socceroos taught me about Experience
When should you back experience? And when should you back potential? As leaders, It’s one of the most difficult decisions we have to make. The 2026 FIFA World Cup has given us a fascinating example. Before Australia’s opening match, coach Tony Popovic made a bold decision. He dropped captain and veteran goalkeeper Mat Ryan; one […]
What a Designer taught me about Experience
What if experience is not about what you know? Recently, I sat down with Industrial Designer Philippe Guichard for a conversation on On Experience. Given I’m a former architect, we naturally talked about design and creativity. Plus, we talked about ego, failure, culture and comic books. But the biggest insight I took away wasn’t really about design […]
What a Shark Attack taught me about Experience
How do you work out what to do when you have no experience match for the situation you’re facing? A woman was attacked by a shark at Coogee Beach this week (14 June 2026). Nearby was Charlie Vercoe, an experienced paddle boarder and surf lifesaver, who helped her to shore. This struck me as an […]
How Experience Changes Meaning with Linda Gidlund
You may know what “bring a plate” means. But do you know why? It sounds like a simple question. But in this On Experience conversation with Linda Gidlund, it becomes the starting point for a much bigger discussion about experience, culture and the hidden meanings we take for granted. Sometimes the words don’t change, but […]
Why Helping Begins With Seeing – with Linda Gidlund
Most of us think helping is about having the right answers. We admire people who always seem to know what to say, what advice to give or how to solve a problem. But after talking with Linda Gidlund, I’m no longer convinced that’s where helping begins. Why I invited Linda Gidlund Linda was one of […]
Why Gratitude Replaced Ambition with Dr Patterson Stark
There comes a point in many careers where ambition isn’t enough anymore. You’ve achieved things, built a career, learnt your craft and been rewarded along the way. But what keeps you going after that? In this conversation, Dr Patterson Stark, reflects on the life-threatening experience that changed not only how he practised medicine, but what began to […]
Why This Doctor Stopped Healing Patients Dr Patterson Stark
You’d expect fifty years of experience to make a doctor more confident in his ability to heal people. Instead, it led Dr Patterson Stark to the opposite conclusion, “I realised I couldn’t heal anybody.” Experience Doesn’t Just Add Knowledge We often think experience makes us better because we know more, but Patterson’s story suggests something […]
A Comic Book and Sustainability with Philippe Guichard
For Industrial Designer Philippe Guichard sustainability started before his career began in the unlikely place of a comic book. Since then, it is been a normal part of his design process and how he sees the world. In this excerpt from On Experience, Philippe tells the simple story of how a man and his son in […]
The Things We Learn to See with Philippe Guichard
A few weeks ago, I sat down with Industrial Designer Philippe Guichard for a conversation on experience. I thought we would be talking about design. And we did. But as often happens with these On Experience conversations, the topic gradually shifted. What started as a discussion about products, creativity and culture slowly became a conversation about perception. It […]
Failure Changed My Design Philosophy with Philippe Guichard
When Industrial Designer Philippe Guichard started his career as a designer, success was partly about proving himself. Then he lost everything. In this excerpt from On Experience, Philippe reflects on how losing his business, combined with years of meditation practice, fundamentally changed the way he approaches design, work and life. What emerged wasn’t a better design process. It […]