‘Undisciplined by Design’ podcast dives into the power of unbridled innovation
Few things excite University of Cincinnati associate professor Aaron Bradley more than learning from innovation leaders, and he tries to instill the same passion into his Bearcat students.
While he loves bringing innovative minds into his classroom, time and geographical constraints can make it challenging to line up resources outside of the Tri-State.
That’s when an idea — an innovative one at that — formed in Bradley’s mind. If he couldn’t take all UC students to speak one-on-one with innovation titans, why not bring their voices to his students? With that simple premise, Bradley’s pioneering podcast “Undisciplined by Design” began.
Now in its second season, “Undisciplined by Design” has skyrocketed in popularity since its launch. That’s mainly due to Bradley’s brilliance, ever-curious spirit and connections to design and innovation leaders through his role at UC’s 1819 Innovation Hub.
"Undisciplined by Design" podcast logo. Photo/Maxwell Kemats
Since launching in 2021, Bradley and his guests have tackled topics ranging from democratizing design research approaches in innovation projects to practical advice for building cross-disciplinary teams with cultures of innovation. While doing so, he’s met with creative geniuses at sizable companies such as Meta, Ideo and Kimberly-Clark as well as ambitious individuals running innovation consultancies.
“We take a story-driven approach to our interviews that really sets our guests up to share innovation principles and insights that are relatable and relevant to a wide audience of listeners,” Bradley said. “A lot of our guests also share very practical, actionable ideas that listeners can apply to their own work and even personal projects.”
Bradley said the podcast’s second season holds even greater excitement and expertise.
“For season two, we’ve really dialed in on our approach to talking about innovation and setting our guests up to share innovation principles and insights that are relatable and relevant to a wide audience,” he said.
Bradley also has lined up high-profile guests who work on products for Instagram, Google and Impossible Foods, among other brands.
While Bradley enjoys learning innovative insights from his podcast’s guests, he’s a thought leader in his own right. After all, Bradley is an associate professor of innovation, design thinking and strategic foresight at UC, which U.S. News & World Report ranked as one of the country’s most innovative universities in 2022.
Bradley also leads UC’s NEXT Innovation Scholars (NIS), a highly selective, cohort-based program that “develops strong academic performers who have the curiosity, ambition and mindset to embrace ambiguity and create the future.” NIS is based at UC’s 1819 Innovation Hub, an on-campus startup incubator and a crossroads between industry and academia.
Innovation can feel messy and undisciplined at times ... but that's all by design.
Aaron Bradley Host, "Undisciplined by Design" podcast
In class, Bradley teaches UC students to be willing to push boundaries as they innovate. After all, he believes that “innovation can feel messy and undisciplined at times, especially when you put different perspectives and areas of expertise together, but that’s all by design.”
Designing innovative pathways
Bradley encourages NIS students to take advantage of the various innovative resources available at UC’s 1819 Innovation Hub. Whether that’s designing prototypes in the Ground Floor Makerspace, formalizing a startup idea at the Venture Lab or launching a podcast of their own using the 1819 Broadcast Studio, he encourages students to dream big and act with boldness.
Two of Bradley’s students, Maxwell Kemats and Yale Miller, played essential roles in producing season two of the podcast. From editing interviews and producing the show’s theme music to designing the cover artwork, UC students significantly impact “Undisciplined by Design.”
The desire to fearlessly push past boundaries also characterizes Bradley’s podcasting plans. As “Undisciplined by Design” moves from adolescence into adulthood, Bradley is thrilled to see its continued growth and has strategically crafted plans for video content and longer-form storytelling.
“The flywheel is spinning now [for the podcast] — it’s not just an idea that we’re trying to get people to buy into or understand,” Bradley said. “Now, we can point to our existing episodes and the caliber of guests we’ve had on the show and use that momentum to keep accelerating.”
Find Bradley’s podcast “Undisciplined by Design” on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Featured image at top: Bradley interviewing three guests for his podcast. Photo/Maxwell Kemats
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