Pause For A Moment With Taylor Williams
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Speaking at Pause Fest 2021 about creating Change Through Connection, by Design – we take a moment to pause with Taylor Williams, Experience Design and Program Lead.
What do you do and why do you do it?
Hi, I’m Taylor. I live in a world of intersectionality, composed of and driven by many different nooks of life. My work spans three areas: service and strategic design, intrapersonal growth (of myself and others) and community regeneration (social, environmental and economic).
If you guessed that systems thinking is central to this, you’re right!
After (and including) a career transition from engineering to design, I’ve continued to follow my gut. I’ve always had energy to contribute to the greater good, and my intention is to keep discovering where I can use that energy to create the most positive impact.
What excites you about Pause Fest this year?
I mean, have you seen the lineup?! Of the speakers I do know, they are brilliant and inspiring. Of the speakers I don’t know, I am excited to learn. With the disruption of 2020, the world is ripe for new ideas, and I LOVE ideation (it has always been my favourite part of the design process).
We’re entering a new era; what do we want it to look like? Do? Say? Empower? Facilitate? Connect?
I am most excited for the space that Pause Fest is creating for ideas to flourish. It’s time to throw out the rule book of “possible.”
Why is creativity in business important?
In many ways, I see creativity taking the form of a ripple effect, intrapersonally and interpersonally.
At the core of a regenerative community are free-thinking individuals who (out of their own creativity) create better, more positively impactful ways of doing things, which then ripples to groups, organisations and industries. To reinvent a business, which so many businesses are doing, that business must contain individuals who are reinventing themselves.
Fostering the spark of an idea, a curious “what if?” or other form of creative expression is a way we can begin to reinvent ourselves in this very moment.
What are you hoping audiences take away from your keynote?
My keynote is about making positive change through connection, by design. If there is one thing that I hope audiences will take away is the urge to act and the courage to do so (ok, maybe that’s two things). In reality, it’s never the perfect time. Doing something new is always hard and there’s always going to be an excuse (or ten) as to why it can wait until tomorrow. But that’s not what the world needs.
The world needs you, now.
Tell people what you’re doing, find communities you can connect with and remember the greater good.
3 books you recommend reading.
So hard to choose! I’d say:
- The Regenerative Business by Carol Sanford (interesting to pair with Brave New Work by Aaron Dignan);
- Grit by Angela Duckworth (interesting to pair with Radical Candour by Kim Scott);
- and Subliminal by Leonard Mlodinow (interesting to pair with The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge).
See what I did there?
Something you wish you knew at the start of 2020.
Invest in Zoom and have your wedding while big parties are still allowed!
Something to look out for in 2021.
More content, materials and launches from me!
If there’s something you’d like to know more about or if you’re interested in collab, give me a shout! Extending to wider communities, I look forward to a greater focus and investment in purposeful service design, social equity and environmental sustainability.
