Ricky Catto
/’rikē katō /
noun
a boy going through life with wide eyed wonder while looking for ways to make the world as magical for others as it is for him.
Design Thinking
It’s tempting to assume you know what the world needs and to get too attached to your first idea. It’s tempting to implement your solution without making sure it is the right one.
A good methodology to innovation leads to much more robust and sustainable change.
Culture Change
Culture happens whether you guide it or not.
Changing culture is one of the most effective ways to implement change. It is also one of the hardest. Often the hard things are the most sustainable.
I’ve shifted culture by a “seed, soil, sun” system: find talent, create good conditions and supply energy.
Training | Workshops
Half the joy of exploring new and interesting things is bringing back the skills and knowledge to share.
I love how training and teaching equips people to become more and do more.
Maker
Ideas as thoughts often don’t stand up to real world conditions. I’ve always had a “make about it” attitude to creativity. Prototyping is a vital part of proving concepts and a fast way to learn.
Being a maker is also very fulfilling. I love getting practical and physical early.
Design
Design has long tolerated my insatiable need to reimagine, test, iterate and search for unique ways to do things. I’ve worked in industrial, graphic, architectural, fashion, interior, event, jewelry and systems design consistently over the last 20 years.
Bricolage
I’ve always been known for being the one to make things work with very few resources or budget. It’s my unofficial policy to say “yes!” and then figure it out.
The last company I worked for instituted the “MacGyver Prize” to recognise how I embody this.
Project Management | Facilitation
My natural leadership and ability to quickly understand systems has helped me with managing projects from the 18 month design and manufacture of consumer goods through helping teams get unstuck over 2 months to one day design sprints to solve a single problem.
Personal Life
Everything I do flows from my need to make the world a better place, this doesn’t stop when I walk out of the office.
Other Projects
I’ve been so lucky to have worked on a ton of things that just don’t seem to make sense together.
