A Conversation with Lacey Schütz | Beyond Walls

What does it really take to lead an institution that lives up to its own values? In this episode, we sit down with Lacey Schütz — a cultural leader with over fifteen years of experience at institutions including the Museum of the City of New York and Shaker Museum — now based in Saudi Arabia, where she's been observing a cultural ecosystem being built from the ground up.

Lacey speaks candidly about the hidden costs of scarcity culture in mission-driven organizations, why burnout is a systems failure rather than a personal one, and what humane leadership actually looks like in practice. She reflects on the tension between institutional values and institutional behavior, the quiet power of micro-interactions, and what museums need to let go of to become genuine parts of their communities.

From a little girl in the Bronx declaring her love of art to drone shows drawing millions of Saudi families into public space, Lacey reminds us that access to culture changes lives — at every scale. This is a conversation about leadership, institutional change, and what it means to do meaningful work in an uncertain world.

How do you move elephants — without breaking the system or the people inside it?

"AI didn't create accessibility risk — it poured gasoline on velocity. And velocity exposes broken systems."

That line stopped us in my tracks.

In our latest Project Inclusion conversation, we sat down with Cat Noone, CEO of Stark, to talk about what it really takes to move elephants — large organizations navigating accessibility, governance, and product velocity.

We explored:

• Why companies don't ignore accessibility because they don't care
• The "latent innovation phase" most organizations get stuck in
• Why moral arguments alone don't drive change
• How accessibility becomes a growth driver — not a compliance afterthought

What stood out most:

• Accessibility isn't a tooling problem.
• It's an infrastructure problem.
• It's a systems design problem.

And when AI accelerates velocity, weak systems break first.

If you lead product, design, engineering, or strategy — this one's worth your time.

#Accessibility #SystemsThinking #AI #Leadership #InclusiveDesign #ProductStrategy

How can a game transform life-or-death conversations in healthcare settings?

In this compelling episode, design thinker Criswell Lappin reveals how play and games can break down barriers in healthcare, particularly for underserved communities. With over 20 years of experience spanning from Apple to healthcare innovation, Lappin demonstrates that the mechanics of play aren't just for children—they're powerful tools for building trust and sparking meaningful conversations.

The St. Joseph's Health Project

Lappin's most impactful work involved addressing a critical healthcare challenge in Paterson, New Jersey. Pregnant women weren't asking clinical questions during appointments, creating gaps in care. Through research, his team discovered that women felt more comfortable when they found shared experiences with their healthcare providers.

The solution? A simple "Would You Rather?" card game that pairs clinical topics, encouraging both patients and nurses to share stories and find common ground. One powerful example: a 19-year-old patient with a history of sexual abuse initially refused a pelvic exam. After playing the game and bonding over pasta sauce preferences, she opened up and began asking about delivery options she hadn't known existed.

The Philosophy Behind Play

Lappin's approach stems from two core influences: his childhood collecting baseball cards (visual appeal backed by data) and growing up with a disabled younger brother (fostering empathy and caregiving instincts). He believes play gives people permission to approach problems differently by lowering stakes and reducing formality.

Key Design Principles

Lappin shared four essential pieces of advice he gives to students, teams, and his own children:

1. Plan on multiple futures - especially in business contexts
2. Focus on what you can control - worrying about uncontrollable variables leads nowhere
3. Aim for 1% better - small weekly improvements compound into transformation
4. Prioritize who you work with over what you do - relationships lead to interesting work

Looking Forward

The St. Joseph's project, now called "Prefieris" (Spanish for "Would You Rather"), continues to expand as the hospital collects data on its impact. Lappin emphasizes the importance of having internal champions like nurse Stephanie Matthews, noting that such allies are critical for moving innovative projects forward in traditional institutions.

This episode illuminates how thoughtful design thinking, combined with the universal language of play, can create profound human connections that ultimately save lives and improve healthcare outcomes for vulnerable communities.