Episode notes
Jesse's surfing metaphor opens a conversation about discernment and collective action in the liminal moment. Peter and Jesse explore why not every wave is yours to catch, how to find fellow travelers across functions and beyond your organization, and why sustainable pace — not anxious intensity — is what keeps leaders navigating when uncertainty has no end date.
Podcast
Finding Our Way
Jesse James Garrett and Peter Merholz · Arts & Books · English
UX design pioneers and Adaptive Path co-founders Peter Merholz and Jesse James Garrett discuss the evolving challenges and opportunities for design leaders.
More from Finding Our Way All episodes →
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24 Jul 2026 · 43 min
75: The Steady State of Unsteadiness
Peter and Jesse compare notes from Config, Figma's AI study, Lenny's newsletter survey, and countless conversations to read the current state of design leadership. The signals: existential AI panic has cooled into exhaustion, organizational chaos and leadership churn are the new normal, and design still stumbles on business acumen. Their case for thriving—lead, don't just design, and reclaim design's unfinished mandate.
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24 May 2026 · 47 min
LIMINAL—4: You As A Service (ft. Dave Gray)
Dave Gray, author of Liminal Thinking and founder of School of the Possible, joins Peter and Jesse to examine what's actually getting in leaders' way right now: not the disruption itself, but the expertise that blinds them to it. The conversation moves from beginner's mind to the compression of corporate work, landing on a provocative question — what does your value look like when you define it yourself?
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16 May 2026 · 54 min
73: Charting an Adaptive Path toward AI Transformation
Peter and Jesse compare notes from their respective listening tours and client work on how AI is reshaping design teams. The conversation moves through the operational chaos of proliferating tools, the urgent need to articulate a value proposition, why design operations got cut right before they were needed most, and the window of expertise power that won't stay open.
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9 May 2026 · 55 min
72: The Worst Technology Rollout in History (Ft. Paul Ford)
Journalist, technologist, and Aboard co-founder Paul Ford joins Peter and Jesse with the perspective of someone running a services firm in the middle of being remade by AI. The conversation covers the collapsing cost of software, blurring roles, what machines do well and badly, what design's value proposition becomes, and Paul's practical advice for staying upright through indefinite change.
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19 Apr 2026 · 54 min
71: Finding Our Way Live! (ft John Gleason)
Design consultant John Gleason returns to explore the leadership skills design needs to claim greater strategic influence. The conversation covers vulnerability and psychological safety, translating design value into business outcomes, the boldness required to assert a larger value proposition, and how to avoid burnout while navigating organizational complexity.
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27 Mar 2026 · 57 min
69: In a World of AI, What is the Work Really About? (ft. Jorge Arango)
Information architect and consultant Jorge Arango returns five years later with a pointed question at the center of his practice: when AI can handle the surface work, what is design actually for? The conversation explores first principles, the conditions for skillful AI adoption, and why going faster without clarity just accelerates you in the wrong direction.
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14 Mar 2026 · 1 hr 8 min
68: AI and Design: Fundamentals and The Future (ft. Dan Saffer)
Show Notes About the episode: Dan Saffer—designer, author, and CMU professor—joins Peter and Jesse to take stock of design education at a moment when everything is in flux. What’s worth teaching when the tools change weekly? How do you define quality when AI can spin up a passable prototype in minutes? And what are today’s […]
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