A talk by Michelle Lee, Partner + Managing Director, San Francisco at IDEO
Play is often seen as separate from work and an activity that distracts us from being efficient and productive. But what if play is essential to strong leadership and doing great work?
Michelle will encourage us to explore how embracing play and friction builds resilience, creates momentum and keeps work joyful when life is full of twists and turns.
Partner + Managing Director, San Francisco at IDEO
Michelle leads an integrated research, design, and development team that brings engaging, interactive and playful experiences to market.
Her team leverages the principles of play to connect with people at a deeper emotional level that captivates, delights and empowers. Beyond toys and kids, Michelle is passionate about using play to address difficult challenges and create meaningful change across industries, including driving responsible digital design, inspiring underrepresented students to pursue careers in STEM, and helping organisations adopt circular economy practices. Before taking on leadership roles, Michelle also spent years working directly in research and design.
Before joining IDEO, Michelle fuelled her passion for play by designing toys at VTech and University Games, while lead product roles at thredUP and ShopWell ignited her spirit of entrepreneurship. She holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering and an MS in the Joint Program for Design atStanford University, where she has also taught design classes. She is a co-instructor for IDEO U’s “Creative Thinking for Complex Problem Solving” course, and also serves as a member of the Design Team for the Aspen Institute’s First Movers Fellowship. Michelle has presented widely on the topic of play, including keynotes at SXSW, Config, the Delight Conference, CES, and Circularity, and has also appeared on podcasts and been featured in press articles.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellesklee/