Nick Rakis, founder and business designer at Accelio, shares hard-earned lessons from rolling out major projects in large enterprise and working across government, industry, and R&D. From the parcel locker rollout to cross-institutional collaboration, Nick breaks down what really happens when ideas meet reality in large organisations.
0:00 - Introduction & Welcome
0:35 - What is Accelio & Business Design
1:30 - Nick's Background at Australia Post
3:00 - From Ideas to Reality: The Parcel Locker Story
5:30 - Why Stakeholder Buy-in Matters More Than Being Right
8:30 - Breaking Organizational Silos & Resistance
12:30 - Cross-Institutional Collaboration Challenges
15:30 - Finding the Right Stakeholders & Champions
19:00 - The Art of Quality Networking
22:30 - 'Never Eat Alone' & Building Connections
25:00 - Life Strategy: Clay Christensen's 'How Will You Measure Your Life'
28:30 - Goals vs Strategy: Short-term Thinking
32:00 - Applying Business Frameworks to Personal Life
35:30 - The Energy Test: Desirability in Goal Setting
38:00 - Being Ruthless About Changing Your Mind
39:30 - AI Discussion: Change vs Technology
42:30 - Using AI as a Sparring Partner, Not a Replacement
45:00 - Critical Thinking in the AI Age
48:30 - The Hypothesis-Driven Approach to AI
50:30 - Social Media Lessons Applied to AI
52:30 - Wrap Up & Where to Find Nick
Key Takeaways:
- Why stakeholder buy-in matters more than having the "right" answer
- How to navigate informal networks and organizational politics
- The art of building quality connections vs. collecting contacts
- Using business strategy frameworks for life design
- Why AI won't replace critical thinking (and how to use it better)
Topics Covered:
- Turning workshop ideas into real-world implementation
- Breaking organisational silos and resistance
- Cross-institutional collaboration strategies
- Life strategy using Clay Christensen's frameworks in How Will You Measure Your Life?
- AI as a thinking partner, not a replacement
- Quality networking and relationship building
Never Eat Alone Keith Ferrazzi - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/84699.Never_Eat_Alone
How Will You Measure Your Life? Clayton Christensen - https://hbr.org/2010/07/how-will-you-measure-your-life / https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/0062102419?ref_=mr_referred_us_au_au
About Nick: Business designer helping senior leaders accelerate change in large environments, with experience spanning government, commercial, and science/R&D sectors.
About CIN: The Creative Innovative Network brings together professionals in design, strategy, and innovation for meaningful collaboration and idea-sharing.
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