How to Use Your Dreams to Design Services / Courtney Morgan / Ep. #219

Service Design Show

You've never heard this on the Show before...

I'm referring to a design tool that most people disregard, even laugh about when they first hear about it.

They say it's childish, something you can't take seriously in a professional context.

But as you'll hear in today's conversation, this tool holds immense power.

Not only that, it helps you better align with your true self and what you truly want to contribute to the world.

And the best thing? You already have this tool in your possession. We all do.

So, what is this magical tool?

It's your dreams.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Dreams, really?!

But hear me out, it's actually not that crazy.

Why do we always talk about design thinking and design doing, and not about design dreaming?

If anything, I'd argue that the times we live in demand we dream more to envision a better future.

Our amazing guest, Courtney Morgan, helps us tap into the power of our dreams.

She shares practical examples of the power of collective dreaming.

We address the misconceptions around dreaming and discuss how to get people to tap into and share their dreams in a design process.

You'll notice that the conversation doesn't begin with dreams, but we naturally gravitate in that direction and fall down the rabbit hole.

So, if you want to go beyond the usual design tools and methods and tap into something truly transformative... make sure you don't miss this episode.

A simple practice to become more aware of your dreams is to start writing them down. This is what I've incorporated into my morning routine. Very curious to see what effects this will have in a few months.

Enjoy and keep making a positive impact.

~ Marc

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to episode 219

03:30 Defining "one percent"

05:00 Focus of the 1%

13:00 Non-profit & community

13:50 Importance of lived experiences in work

17:00 Building trust first

18:30 What happens with lack of trust

21:30 Designer vs Community member role

24:00 A "World Creator" role

26:30 5 years ago vs today

30:30 What is efficiency?

33:00 What does good look like

34:30 Patience and her son

36:30 The role of dreaming

39:00 Courtney's dream

41:00 How we can become better dreamers

43:30 Prejudice against collective dreaming

47:30 Unsurppressing dreams

54:00 Advice she wished someone told her

59:30 Question to ponder

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtney-morgan-associate-aia-noma

• ⁠https://www.thescrd.com/

--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.

⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle