Teaching service design for the first time
I want to start this week by saying thank you to everyone who answered my poll around keeping my writing here or separating it out. 75% of people said that they would prefer for me to keep everything here. So, that’s what I’ll continue to do for the time being.
Today’s piece is an honest reflection, for paid subscribers, on my first experience of teaching service design - in India.
I don’t think anyone or anything could have prepared me for teaching a five day intensive Service Design course in India, on a campus in the middle of nowhere, with a mix of students, industry professionals and faculty. It was my first official teaching gig and it was - everything.
To set the context, Kernow Craig and I had met 4 weeks previous, instantly hit it off and gone on to plan the course together. 48 hours before we were due to start we found out he was not going to be granted a visa for entry into India. I was already there, having spent 3 nights in Mumbai before heading to a rainy, diarrhoea inducing hill station called Lonavala.
At the last moment I was pivoted to running the course with someone new while also incorporating hybrid delivery to allow for Kernow’s participation. To say I had a wobble is an understatement. I wondered what would happen if I didn’t go. If I said I wasn’t able to do it. I could spend another week travelling around and pay back my flight fees. That thought did cross my mind but I’m so glad I didn’t act on it.