What happens when a service design professional does their job well...

Usually? Absolutely nothing.

No organizational gears grind. No customers complain. No one panics.

You did your job, so the disaster simply stayed in your head instead of becoming a reality.

That’s the curse, though. No one's going to congratulate you for a crisis they didn't have to experience.

I sat down with Jin Wan and Chad Cheverier for the this episode of Inside Service Design to talk about this "great enabler" trap.

To make things practical, Jin had a great example about redesigning an onboarding journey. His biggest win wasn't a shiny new interface. It was moving a step in the verification process to the backend so nobody had to intervene manually. It saved the company (and customers) countless hours, but the solution itself is completely unseen.

Chad mentioned a similar struggle. Looking at his quarterly review and realizing he doesn't have many "shiny" deliverables to show. His best work was aligning teams and coaching PMs to do their jobs better, which doesn't look like a "deliverable".

So, how do you stay motivated when your best work is invisible and goes unnoticed? And more importantly, how do you sell the value of that work to the people holding the budget?

We unpack all of that in this episode.

If you had to make an estimate, how much of the work you do is "invisible"? Send me a quick reply and let me know.

Be well,

~ Marc

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to February Round Up

05:00 Jin's path: From IT and HR to Marketing and CX

07:30 Chad's path: From photography to in-house design

10:45 What a CX professional does at a startup

11:45 Why you should ignore job titles

14:30 Jin’s digital onboarding in financial services

18:00 Why service design feels like internal consulting

24:35 Core competencies missing from design education

31:15 Navigating the "messy middle" of organizational change

39:00 Dealing with stakeholders who bake in solutions

45:30 The power of simplifying complex journey maps

52:00 Strategies for building internal resilience

58:45 Advice for aspiring in-house service designers

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadcheverier/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/wanjin/

--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

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

⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

--- [4. FIND THE SHOW ON ] ---

• Youtube ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-11-youtube
• Spotify ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-11-spotify
• Apple ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-11-apple
• Snipd ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-11-snipd

I'll let you in on a small secret...

Ten years ago, the Service Design Show was never even supposed to be a podcast.

And somehow here we are. We've officially hit episode 250. Its been a decade since I published that very first interview. Somewhat of a cliche but, I never expected to reach this milestone.

I still remember the early days very well when I was struggling with a "split identity". Torn between running a service design agency and following this pull toward content creation. It took me a good three years to finally take the leap, but looking back, it was the best decision I ever made.

As you'll notice, this episode is quite different. Usually, it’s my job to ask the questions, but in this one, I’m the one answering them.

I wanted to share some of the messy, behind-the-scenes lessons from the last decade. They are quite personal but who knows maybe you can use them as tools in your own practice.

We’re diving into things like my cheat code to gain clarity, the power of friction, what I’ve learned about building real connections and how "remarkable" things are often built through consistent, often unglamorous work. And yes, I even answer some hot questions from the community.

I have to say that recording this episode was both difficult and incredibly rewarding.

So, if you’ve been on this journey with me, I’d love for you to join me for this reflection. This milestone isn't just mine, it’s ours.

By the way, if you prefer our regular interview format, feel free to skip this one. I won't judge! We’ll be back to our normal schedule next week.

Thank you again for your attention, your trust, and for being part of this movement.

Be well,

~ Marc

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to EP 250

03:30 Friction of a "split identity"

05:00 How did I get into service design

06:30 Overlap between engineering and design skills

07:00 Letting go of code

08:15 Biggest lessons I learned in the last decade

08:45 Don’t wait for permission to start your project

10:15 The power of consistency over perfection

12:30 Choosing guests for the podcast

13:00 The "Curiosity Filter"

15:45 The shift from generalist to specialist topics in service design

18:30 One of the most challenging episodes

19:15 Dealing with technical failures and "lost" interviews

22:00 The future of the Service Design Show

22:45 Moving towards more community-driven content

25:15 Some Advice for someone starting their own podcast

26:00 Focusing on the "Why" before the "How"

28:30 Importance of building a platform you own

31:45 The ripple effect of 250 conversations

34:30 Thank you for being part of the journey

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcfonteijn
• https://www.servicedesignshow.com/

• 
  

--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

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

⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

[4. FIND THE SHOW ON]

• Youtube ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/250-youtube
• Spotify ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/250-spotify
• Apple ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/250-apple
• Snipd ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/250-snipd

This episode falls into a pattern that's hard to ignore...

I'm seeing a growing undercurrent of design leaders strongly advocating for a more sustainable approach toward work and life.

It is hard to separate this development from the rise of AI, which is shaping many aspects of our lives and turning what we know upside down. Sure, there's always been a push to do more, and preferably faster and cheaper, but now with AI, it feels like the volume knob has been turned to 11.

Of course, this has a significant impact on us as service design professionals. The "productivity" pressure is rising for us as well. And if we're honest, it often reaches a point where it not only takes away the fulfillment we find in our work, but also leaves us on the edge of burnout.

But we're humans, not machines. We're not merely replaceable cogs in a system. So we must find an alternative.

One of the leaders advocating for this more sustainable approach toward work is our guest, Birgit Geiberger. She argues that in order for us to thrive in this new reality, we must adopt a different leadership style. Birgit says we need to focus on leading with both head and heart in a way she calls regenerative leadership.

In this conversation, we unpack what this form of leadership entails and why it's now more important than ever. Birgit offers ideas on how you can push back and escape the unsustainable pace of work when everything and everyone around us seems to demand more, go, go, go.

We discuss what you can do on a day-to-day basis to find your grounding and stay true to who you truly are in a world where compromises are unavoidable. And finally, we investigate how you can show that doing things in a regenerative way is not just good for you, but also accelerates and increases your business impact.

A great conversation, packed with hope, inspiration, and practical advice for anyone who wants to bring back the joy in their work again.

What might be good to know is that I haven't selected my recent guests based on their interest in this theme, or instructed them in any way to discuss it. This is just something that emerges when I ask them to speak about what is dear to their hearts right now.

If you've been listening to the Show, I'm curious if you've noticed this undercurrent as well.

Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact!

~ Marc

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to Episode 249

04:15 Human-Centered Leadership Legacy

06:30 Post-Pandemic Reflections

10:00 Redefining Growth and Resources

13:00 Introduction to Regenerative Leadership

15:00 The Power of Self-Leadership

18:30 Designing for Mental Capacity

22:00 Moving Beyond Short-Term Business Thinking

24:45 Breaking Functional Silos

33:15 Leading through Global Uncertainty

40:15 Service Design as a Cultural Catalyst

47:30 Empathy as a Business Strategic Tool

54:30 Scaling Influence Through Others

1:00:30 Closing Reflections

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/birgitgeiberger

--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

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

⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

[4. FIND THE SHOW ON]

• Youtube ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/249-youtube
• Spotify ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/249-spotify
• Apple ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/249-apple
• Snipd ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/249-snipd