Graham Newman bio
Graham Newman, MRes RCA, PGCHE, FRSA, is an executive innovation design consultant, founder of Design School Asia and Professor of Communication Design at Chulalongkorn University. With over 25 years of professional practice in the Asia Pacific region, his expertise spans customer and product experience, research and development, learning and development programs, digital and service design, and the creation of new business verticals.
Graham commenced his design career at Factory Records and The Haçienda nightclub in Manchester, where he integrated design, technology, and culture, culminating in the development of the world’s first interactive music CD-Rom in 1996. His perspective on innovation design is shaped by his studies in visual communication at the London College of Printing and his Masters of Research at the Royal College of Art. He has bumped into design thinking from time to time over the last decade but maintains that innovation is about non-disruptive incremental steps, then post-rationalising what it’s all about.
In 2009, Graham served as associate producer and location sound engineer for the multi-award-winning feature documentary Hope Without Future? This film garnered accolades including the Silver Ace Award at the Las Vegas Film Festival, Best Documentary at the Reelheart Film Festival, the Golden Palm Award at the Mexico International Film Festival, Best Biographical Documentary at the Mountain Film Festival, and Runner-up for Best Documentary at the New Beijing International Movie Festival.
Graham earned a PGCert in Higher Education from Falmouth University in 2019, where he honed his skills in blended and flexible learning environments. He was awarded a Fellowship of The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) in 2017.
In July Graham was awarded his Director’s Certification from the Thai Institute of Directors. The award is accredited by the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and The Securities and Exchange Commission.
About the podcast
I’m interested in how organisations are delivering economic, social and cultural value in response to the ever changing customer demand in Asia Pacific. And gain insights into transformative practices driving success in the ever-evolving landscape of innovation, design and business development impact from c-suite executives, founders and specialist practitioners.
The program’s format is a typical fireside chat interview with the guest. Opening with a briefing from me–don’t worry I’ve keep it very brief–and then we’ll go straight into the interview. I’ve done my best to keep everything under 30 minutes, I know your time is precious.
The program’s title involves applying the principles of Kaizen, a Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement, to the process of guerilla innovation. It focuses on making small, incremental improvements to products, processes, or systems to drive innovation forward rapidly. In this context, “hacking” refers to finding creative and unconventional ways to improve innovation processes, often through experimentation and iteration. Instead of waiting for major breakthroughs, teams embrace a culture of constant experimentation, feedback, and adaptation. By encouraging talent to constantly seek out and implement small improvements, organisations can foster a culture of innovation that thrives on agility and adaptability. And This approach ensures that innovation remains an ongoing and dynamic process, rather than a series of sporadic efforts.
Our intended listenership are c-suite executives of large SMEs and listed companies, specialist practitioners and leading design researchers working in graduate education. Series one consists of ten programs published on all major audio streaming platforms. Each episode has a page of notes, a link to the guest’s LinkedIn profile and a reading list here on the website. I hope you enjoy listening to the program.