David Kelley's Creative Essentials: Storytelling Project

One of the many joys of my time at Stanford has been developing a friendship with David Kelley, the founder of IDEO and the d.school.

For David’s 50th year at Stanford, and the d.school’s 20th anniversary, I was asked to tell the story of a small, personal project David and I created together called The Shapeless Shape. The event was part of David Kelley’s Creative Essentials, a performance at Bing Concert Hall celebrating the ideas, habits, and creative philosophies that have shaped David’s work and the many people around him.

The creative essential I represented was Bias Toward Action. I wrote and presented the story live, while a wonderful creative team designed the visuals and a live band brought the piece to life. It was part tribute, part tiny act of making, and a sweet reminder of something David has modeled for decades.