Judy Wert is the driving force and namesake behind the creative recruiting firm Wert & Co. Having successfully navigated the changing and growing space in between design and business, Judy has seen the role of creative thinking and production gain a place of preeminence amongst global corporate culture. Judy sat down with us and had a broad conversation about Design, Business, Education, and the value of studying hip-hop and weather in college.

B: Design is rooted in a culture of critique, the culture of fail quick and move on to reach more successful results.  It’s been often said that one of the stumbling points of corporate culture is that failure is the enemy of progress, not a tool of it.

JW: Well, if a company fails too many times, of course they won’t be in business… BUT embracing experimentation is key.  That’s how Post-it got created at 3M … born out of a think tank.  A lot of companies are embracing experimentation. I believe some companies call it “hack day,”… a period where time is set aside to just explore.  More and more companies are setting aside some play time — call it, an innovation nap.

B: It’s something that you recognize as important, but find trouble in incorporating it into your daily practice?

JW: There’s never seems to be enough time, but I realize that’s as much about our habits and perspectives, then an attribute of the clock. I aim to retain a playful spirit in the lightening speed of the workday demands.

B: Is there credence to the perhaps wistful notion that designers are, at their core, empathetic to their user?

JW: Designers by nature are emotional, and so we hope as a result empathetic. Not always.

Wert & Co Office

B: What industries are you seeing the greatest inroads of design within their ranks?

JW: Everywhere… Education, Business, Non- Profit, Social innovation, Venture Capital, Technology, Retail, Financial Services. It’s no longer about a beautiful vase, or a beautiful page.  It’s about system thinking and customer experiences.

B: Do these organizations necessarily recognize what they are asking for, when they come to you?

JW: Some do. Some don’t. By the time they reach out to Wert & Co, most have some notion of what they are looking for.  We participate in the conversation. We inspire the conversation. We provoke the conversation… all towards clarity of direction.

B: Is this a new role for Wert & Co, to help to write job descriptions?

JW: We do this all the time. As the roles become more complex, our involvement becomes more vital.

B: Implicit to this whole conversation is that there are a tremendous number of opportunities opening up to designers and design organizations where there hadn’t been before?

JW: Absolutely:  Dimensional opportunities.

B: So, design as a movement has crested the mountain as it were, inserted itself in daily Business vernacular?

JW: Business is a design problem… it’s pretty powerful.  I do believe that to have meaningful impact, and thrive, companies have to employ design

B: So, you’ve been witness to the ebb and flow of speculative booms and busts.  Varying degrees of enthusiasm towards what is possible.

JW: Yes, I’ve been witness to varying levels of celebration, confidence, overzealousness and humility during the boom and bust years.  I try to nurture kindness (for all of our sake), and work to keep egos in check

B: And now?

JW: I think it’s a creative time.  There is tons of creative energy out there right now … Let’s just hope we don’t forget those humble moments which keep us all down to earth.

B: Do you see another boomlet coming, especially with new tech enterprises, social innovation?

JW: Well, the world is once again full  of entrepreneurs right now, and as to be expected, some will make it, some won’t…


B: This is true for a lot of twentysomethings?

JW: I think the recession has been good in some ways, I think recessions are just moments of humble pie time: reflection, re-evaluation, self-examination.

B: Do you see some of these big cultural shifts coming to some of the larger corporations?

JW: Yes, they’re going through cultural shifts, they’re embracing design… but we’ve already touched on this…but just to say again, it’s been really interesting to recruit for these new roles…


B: Design has become so much more prolific; semantically

JW: Every major company that cares about having a conversation with their constituency, should be thinking about design.

Design and Innovation. That’s why we are here – to make an impact in peoples lives.

To read part one, click there.