Forks in the Road: A podcast exploring dilemmas in everyday leadership
Professor Lisa Scharoun is Head of School—School of Design at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. An award-winning teacher, researcher, and designer, Lisa specialises in Visual Communications, with a focus on design for health and wellbeing and cross-cultural design. She holds a Master of Arts in Design Studies from Central Saint Martins in London, and after working as a graphic and interior designer, she moved into academia. She earned her PhD from Griffith University, Queensland, Australia, spent eight years at the University of Canberra, where she led design programs and co-founded the Cross-cultural Design Lab, and she has also served as a visiting professor in Singapore and Norway. In her current work, Lisa has partnered with Queensland Health helping secure more than $3 million to support healthcare innovation. Today, her leadership is grounded in empowering teams, nurturing emerging talent, and advancing socially responsive, culturally informed design. This conversation dives deeply into the non-linear personal and professional path that shaped Lisa’s worldview—from creative boredom in upstate New York to navigating corporate culture clashes in London and massive educational pivots in Shanghai. Let’s dive in. Key moments in the podcast: 00:00 Curiosity and Connection 00:23 Podcast Welcome and Guest Intro 02:22 Rapid Fire Origins 02:49 Sleepy Hollow Hometown 04:35 Finding Home Worldwide 07:30 Creative Life Off Work 08:11 Stable Roots Big Leaps 11:59 Mentors Shape a Designer 17:21 London Culture Shock 21:45 From London to Shanghai 26:26 Choosing Shanghai Over Peace Corps 28:52 Landing In Shanghai Shock 32:09 Baby Steps And Finding Support 33:48 Teaching Art History Reality Check 35:24 Design For Social Impact 37:57 PhD Plans And Meeting Husband 42:19 Healthcare Design Study Tours 48:16 Scaling Global Sustainability Tours 50:57 Student Impact And Career Paths 54:41 Top Three Career Lessons 56:03 Closing Thanks And Wrap Up Here is what stays with us from this conversation: True insight is forged through the navigation of the unknown. * The Safety to Explore: Having a stable, grounded childhood and family foundation provides a psychological safety net needed to take massive risks, embrace ambiguity, and step completely out of your comfort zones. * Bridging the Cultural Divide: True leadership requires the capacity to observe, translate, and bridge the subtle, hidden nuances and “culture clashes” built into global environments, such as balancing contrasting American and British corporate workplace norms. * The Life-Changing Impact of Cross-Disciplinary Mentorship: Unlocking your potential often relies on mentors who look past their own immediate domains, highlighted by Lisa’s story of a mathematics professor who genuinely cared enough to guide her toward her true creative calling. Purpose over profit: Real systemic impact begins when we pivot away from commercial constraints toward altruistic social change. * The Idealistic Tension: Navigating the internal disconnect that happens when you reach conventional commercial success but lack a deeper sense of societal alignment. * Embracing the Unexpected Leap: Choosing the road less traveled at monumental career forks, exemplified by navigating the sudden choice between a volunteer path in the US Peace Corps in Africa or a rapid leap to teach design in Shanghai, China. * Reframing the Role of the Creative Mindset: Moving past the outdated paradigm of design as a superficial aesthetic execution tool used to “make things look pretty,” into a strategic leadership tool for social impact. When leaders bring a design mindset into complex environments, they hand frontline teams the ultimate permission and agency to innovate. * Cultivating Frontline Agency: Give everyday workers (such as healthcare and hospital staff) the design thinking tools and freedom to contribute to making improvements in the workplace. * The Creative Capital of Boredom and Storytelling: Drawing from personal roots (such as growing up in Kinderhook, New York, the historical inspiration for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) to realize that constraints, imagination, and narrative are primary drivers of innovative problem-solving. Connect with Lisa Scharoun [https://www.linkedin.com/in/professorscharoun/] This is an original podcast by Flyntrok [https://www.flyntrok.com/]. We help organisations, communities and individuals change and adapt to a new world. You will find Flyntrok on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/flyntrok-consulting/], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/flyntrok/] and X [https://x.com/flyntrok]. Listen to this podcast on Substack, Spotify or Apple. We would love it if you would leave us a comment, screenshot the episode and tag us on social, and share this episode with your community so that they can better navigate their forks in the road. Hosted by Stephen Berkeley [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenberkeley/] and Anne Boland [https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-boland-a9130312/] Produced by Rajeev Nedumaran [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajeevnz/] of Studior [https://www.studior.co.nz/]. Music by Damian Smith of Bespoke Music [https://www.linkedin.com/in/damian-smith-4568b930/]. Art work by Ben Tibbin of Mozmo Creative [https://mozmo.com.au/] and Social Media Creations by Alana Rauert [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alanarauert/] of Muse Communications [https://www.musecommunications.com.au/]. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this episode were those of the hosts and the guest, not of any entity they work for or with. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flyntrok.substack.com [https://flyntrok.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]
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