A Couple of Things: A Potpourri Of My Mind
By Lade Tawak
Written and produced by Lade Tawak.
Send in questions to bit.ly/ACOTQuestions
A Couple of Things: A Potpourri Of My MindMar 08, 2024
S02E084 - On reframing your narrative (with Hillary)
In this episode, I speak with Hillary Omitogun about making decisions, choosing our path, and your power to reframe your narrative.
Happy listening
Links referenced in the episode
S02E083 - Shared language, memes, and the collective unconscious
In this episode, I share some questions and thoughts I have around shared evolutions of language, how new words are formed within smaller groups (families, friends etc), cultural understanding of memes, and the idea of the collective unconscious
Links
S02E082 - On resilience and starting over (with Dr Newton)
In this episode, I chat with my friend Dr Seun Newton about experiencing sudden changes in life, bouncing back and starting over, resilience, learning new languages. Seun has had to move countries suddenly twice--first for university and then to escape a war.
Happy listening.
Links
S02E081 - When is it foolish to keep going?
In this episode, I talk about how we attribute the reasons for success and failure and how we determine whether it was the right decision for someone to give up on something or to keep going.
Links
S02E080 - How much of life is luck?
S02E079 - Just try
Similar to just asking, I talked about just trying. Taking the step is how you know what you can and can't do
Links
S02E078 - Why do we call things what we call them?
Why do we name things how we do? Why do you call your partner what you call them? How do these things become part of our vocabulary. I talk about these things in today's episode.
Links
S02E077 - What to do when you don't know what you're good at
In my first Q&A episode, I share my thoughts on the question:
For someone who doesn't have a clear career path and doesn't really know what I'm good at, how do I navigate life after school?
Links
S02E076 - Get over yourself
Get over yourself. That's the tweet.
S02E075 - Looking at ducks
In this episode, I share some thoughts that came to mind while I watched ducks glide on the water while paddling furiously beneath.
I explore through the lens of our down moments and our success and how we can invite people to see below the surface.
Link
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S02E074 - Hanging out with friends
In this episode, I talk about how we can find mundane ways to hang out with friends. Everything doesn't have to cost of lots of money and we can just live daily lives with our friends.
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S02E073 - The butterfly effect
In this episode, I share about how our little, seemingly insignificant, acts of kindness can have far reaching effects and why we should focus on doing one thing for one person when everything else seems overwhelming. We may not all start foundations and build non profits, but we can all impact someone else
Links
S02E072 - The "edge case" is the best case
In this episode, I talk about thinking of accessibility and inclusion beyond tech tools. In how we organise events, design spaces and more.
Links
S02E071 - Pushing through discomfort
In this episode, I talk a bit about the journey so far, 71 episodes in.
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S02E070 - What does it really mean for God's goodness to be seen in you
In this episode, I share some thoughts about what it means for God's goodness to be seen in you and how God's goodness can be seen in you.
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S02E069 - On dropping out of school (with Tunta)
In this episode, I have my first guest interview. I talk with my sister about dropping out of school. The reasons behind our decisions to drop out of an undergraduate and a graduate programme respectively and what happened next.
Links
S02E068 - Consume, curate, create: how to start sharing online
How do you share online when you don't know where to start from? What do you say when you feel like you're not yet an expert?
Links
S02E067 - What is your marker of success?
How do you define success? How do you know that you're successful? Who gets to decide that for you?
Link
S02E066 - My love hate relationship with international women's day (IWD)
In this episode I talk about my love hate relationship with IWD and what I wish we'd focus more on
Links
S02E065 - How to take advice from people
With so much conflicting advice and lists of dos and don'ts, how do you decide what advice to follow. I talk about incentives and bias as well as values and how they influence the kind of advice people give and tips for how to filter advice.
Links
S02E064 - On despair, love, and purpose: Lessons from "A Man Called Otto" and "Avatar: The Last Airbender"
In this episode, I briefly share about what a movie and a TV show which are very different from each other taught me about despair and how fighting to remain hopeful is important
Links
S02E063 - To the moon: On financial incentives and magic internet monies (with Nnanna)
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S02E062 - How do we end up in our careers?
In this episode, I discuss a theory of how we choose careers and what it means for us especially in the view of the conversation on how do we get more women into tech. It's Women's month and International Women's Day (IWD) is in a few days after all
Links
S02E061 - Just ask (redux)
In this episode, I bring a new perspective to something I've talked about previously on this podcast: the power of asking.
Sometimes, you know who to ask for something: you send an email to the person in charge of curation or you DM someone about reviewing your resume. But what if what you want is broad?
Links
S02E060 - The one thing that changes everything
Have you ever thought that there was one thing that you need to do that would change everything for you? In any area of your life you can think of. Whether financially? spiritually? relationship wise? health wise? Any way at all?
Well, I think I found the answer
Links
S02E059 - What is guerrilla research and how do you do it?
In this episode, I discuss an underrated research approach: guerrilla research. It's a quick and low-cost exploratory method for showing the potential of research and how it can be valuable. I explain the benefits of guerrilla research, when to use it, when not to use it, and brief example of when I used the approach.
Links
S02E058 - What is UX research even?
After the last couple of episodes talking about UX research, I'm breaking down what UX research is and what my work looks like.
I share my definition of it, and two scenarios that illustrate how I think of it.
Links
S02E057 - How to prioritise research requests if you're a UX team of one
In a continuation to the previous episode, I talk about the prioritization side of the managing research requests equation. How do you prioritise multiple research requests as a UX research team of one.
I share some questions to ask and things to consider when deciding which research requests to focus on and in what order and what research requests you can hand over to others.
Links
S02E056 - What to do when you're drowning in UX research requests
You've done a great job showing the value of research, now everyone wants a piece of the research pie. How do you handle it? In this episode, I share some tips and examples from my work on how to operationalise, systemise, and democratise research effectively.
Links
- Submit a question: https://bit.ly/ACOTQuestions
S02E055 - What if your team doesn't want you to talk to users?
A challenge that some UX researchers or people who want to do research often have is that, in the beginning, the team may be hesitant. They have concerns about someone else talking to the users especially in B2B settings. So what can you do?
In this episode, as a follow on to the last episode, I discuss some things you can do to get past this initial hesitation.
Links
S02E054 - How to get your team interested in UX research
Are you the first researcher in your organisation? or are you a Designer or a product manager interested in getting research started in your team? In this episode, I share some tips on steps you can take to start getting your team interested in doing research.
Links
S02E053 - Practical tips for your next UX research project
Level up your UX Research: Planning, Piloting & Avoiding Pitfalls
Are you struggling with UX Research? In this episode, I share some practical, hard learnt tips on things to consider and steps to take to make your research project successful. I cover the importance of planning and piloting and some recruitment and deliverable tips as well as some bonus tips for successful research sessions and projects.
Links
S02E052 - How to recruit for UX research studies
Are you struggling to find the right participants for your UX research project? In this episode, I share 5 recruitment methods you can start using today to find your audience so you can get useful and actionable insights. I share the ideal use cases for each as well as some examples of how I have used a few of them in the past.
Links
S02E051 - Why is it hard for me to obey God?
In this episode, I talk about why obedience is sometimes hard.
Obedience comes from trusting that God is good and has your best interests in mind. I also share how we can take steps to come to truly know, trust, and love God so we can obey Him.
Link
S02E050 - Will AI take our jobs?
In this episode, I discuss the common talking point that AI will only enhance, not take away from, our jobs. I share my thoughts on things we need to consider as we barrel towards an uncertain future. Links
S02E049 - Is imposter syndrome real?
In this episode, I challenge the idea that when I feel worried about not knowing something or not doing well, then I have imposter syndrome. I argue that it is possible to not know something and learn it and then be good at it.
What if we approached unknown and new experiences--whether starting a new job or taking on new responsibilities or adding on a new skill--with curiosity and the belief that we can grow and learn.
Links
S02E048 - The freedom to be wrong
The fear of being wrong can be paralysing and hold us back from learning and expressing ourselves. In this episode, I discuss why we should embrace being wrong (even publicly) and how we can look at these as areas of growth.
Link
S02E047 - What's the difference between faith and delusion
How does faith differ from delusion? In this episode, I discuss how healthy faith acknowledges reality while trusting in God's promises and the possibility of better.
Link
S02E046 - Am I oversharing? On attribution errors and relativity
One of the challenges of sharing on the internet is the idea that you could be oversharing. But who decides what oversharing is?
I start by discussing some attribution errors and wrap up with my thoughts on oversharing.
Links
S02E045 - On (not) being delulu
In this episode, I discuss whether delulu is the solulu. I think not. And I share reasons why. Including that when we live in delusion, we aren't encouraged to take action. But when we have an optimistic view, we can see the reality of things and appreciate that the future hasn't happened yet, so we can do something to make it different from the now and make it look like we envision.
Link
S02E044 - Love is more than enough?
Can love truly conquer all, or is it a utopian fantasy? In this episode, I discuss the love, what it means to love, why I think that love is more than enough, how we can get there. I also highlight some thoughts from dystopian movies like Mad Max Fury Road, and Everything Everywhere All At Once
Links
- 1 Corinthians 13, AMPC
- Escape from Wasteland, jennifer m chang
- When Cupid Is a Prying Journalist (NY Times)
S02E043 - Setting goals that stick
Struggling with goal setting? In this episode, I share 5 principles I've learnt over the past couple of years for setting achievable, yet stretching goals. I discuss, using examples from my real life, defining your "why," embracing reality, stretching your limits, celebrating milestones & focusing on the journey, not just the destination.
S02E042 - On faster horses and focus groups
Have you heard the commonly misattributed Henry Ford quote about faster horses? In this episode, I talk about why, even if the quote is true, it's bad advice. At the same time, I also talk about why you shouldn't just do what people tell you and how to listen for problems not solutions.
Links
S02E041 - Get out of your way, no gree for yourself
Feeling stuck in analysis paralysis? In this episode, I talk about some of the fears and self doubt we hide behind research and planning. Why it's important to have a bias towards action and questions we can ask ourselves to help us move forward with our goals.
S02E040 - Be comb shaped
Do you ever struggle with the idea of being a jack of all trades? This episode explores the struggle of multidisciplinary interests in a world obsessed with specialization. Dive into the "T-shaped" designer, niche vs. generalist debate, and why "jack of all trades" shouldn't be an insult!
Links
S02E039 - The joys and traps of creating in public
S02E038 - Why is everyone copying you? Why you see something everywhere once you think of doing it
Ever notice how thinking about something makes you see it everywhere? It's not magic, it's your brain's Reticular Activating System (RAS)!
In this episode, I share about the RAS, how it works, the concept of manifesting, and how you can train your brain and use RAS to your advantage.
Based on a newsletter issue I wrote
Link
S02E037 - Workshops in UX Research: Why and how
In this episode, I talk about how workshops can be used in the UX Research process and what to consider when you want to run a workshop as part of your research.
Links
S02E036 - When tech fails
What happens when tech fails? In this episode, I discuss a recent experience of tech failing. Hint hint: with the podcast itself.
S02E035 - Love me or leave me
In this episode, I talk about the importance of self hype and surrounding yourself with people who hype you (and lovingly correct and give you feedback when necessary).
Links