Paola Antonelli* is one of the leading dynamos in world design. In her much vaunted role as Senior Curator of the Department of Architecture & Design in the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York, as well as the founding Director of R&D there, Antonelli sets a global agenda for how we view, assess and interpret the symbiotic relationship between design and its place in our everyday lives. Antonelli is a boundary-pushing visionary and invigorating force who we are honoured to finally follow a pathway of inspiration with.

* photo of Paola by Marton Perlaki

Paola proposed the industrial designer and author Ayse Birsel as her current source of inspiration. She is the co-founder of Birsel + Seck, the award-winning design and innovation studio and oft cited as one of the leading creative thinkers in the world.

I met Ayse right at the beginning of my life in New York, 27 years ago, and I was immediately struck by her unique approach to design, her radical reappraisal of any pre-existing functional solution, and her grace, both as a friend and as a professional. At that time, our field was still focused on industrial design — meaning the design of serially manufactured products for the wide market. With a few exceptions, that was usually the domain of big design studios churning out foam models and sleek prototypes for equally big corporations, and the baseline for the design was a common denominator that too often veered towards minimum instead of the maximum.

“Equally, awe-inducing was her pivot from the design of objects to the design of lives…Ayse never ceases to amaze me.”

Armed with elegant and lucid hand drawings (her style is unmistakable), Ayse instead convinced major companies – from Knoll to Toto and Herman Miller – to adopt a more human, humane, and humorous attitude with products that were as universally appealing as they were idiosyncratic. Equally, awe-inducing was her pivot from the design of objects to the design of lives. I remember when, a few years ago, she told me that she would start writing and offering workshops on how to design your own life, having understood that existential issues are more fundamental to people than object-based ones. The rest is history: Design the Life you Love is now a franchise, and inspiration, a guide for designers and non-designers alike. Ayse never ceases to amaze me.

Ayse nominated Dorie Clark, the consultant and keynote speaker, who teaches executive education at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and Columbia Business School.

Dorie Clark, who's not the tallest person in the room nor the most extroverted will still stand out in a crowd, just like the title of one of her best selling books, Stand Out. She'll probably be wearing a beautifully tailored three-piece suit or a blazer and jeans with a sharp pair of lace-up shoes. And those alone will make her stand out at first glance but once you've met Dorie what will make her a giant among giants is her generosity of heart, paired with the genius IQ of a mind.

I met Dorie as a fellow member of Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches. She was Alisa Cohn’s friend which made her cool immediately in my eyes. I wanted to be her friend and get to know her. Knowing Dorie means knowing her generosity. She’s generous with what she knows and who she knows and the combination is potent.

Dorie’s goal is to help you get your message heard so you can do the work you were meant to do. Everything flows to and from this goal. Let me give you a simple but profound example. Dorie told me I need to add the pronunciation of my Turkish name every time I write it—Ayse (pronounced Eye-shay). After having people struggle with my name for the 30 years I have been living here, this has been a game-changer. People now say my name with confidence which removes a key barrier and makes me more accessible to them immediately.

“Knowing Dorie means knowing her generosity. She’s generous with what she knows and who she knows and the combination is potent.”

And that in a nutshell is the genius of Dorie. Seeing the big picture and giving you tangible steps so you can get your message heard. This ability to think in terms of macro and micro strategy—a Northstar that feels reachable with tactical step-by-step instructions—is one of Dorie’s super powers.

Her other superpower is being a people connector and her ability to do it with abundance and relish. Dorie’s dinners are famous among her friends in their own right but she also does this thing where she'll invite you to her own meetings, saying, “I'm meeting so and so who's cool, want to come with me?” Who does that? Dorie takes connecting people to an art form and in doing so opens doors for so many people to collaborate, become friends or support each other’s ideas and vision.

What I love most about Dorie and why she is loved and respected by so many people is her ability to share of herself with generosity. Dorie will share her own proposals, emails that she's written, how much she's made, her own resources. She's totally transparent — just subscribe to her newsletter or listen to her talks and you will know what I mean. She shows herself, including her vulnerabilities, and gives you courage to do the hard things by telling you how she failed and then she overcame those failures.

What inspires me most about Dorie is how she has designed an original life of purpose — helping others get their message heard so they can do the work they were meant to do — coupled with her ability to work extremely hard to make her purpose come true. And in doing this, helping so many other visions come true.

Dorie and her wisdom drawn by Ayse as part of her visual interview series, “Design the X You Love”

Dorie nominated Jo-Ná Williams, an attorney, founder, advisor, and instructor.

Jo-Ná is an attorney who is passionate about helping creators, artists, and entrepreneurs take control of their lives. She started out her journey as a young background singer who wasn't credited or compensated for her work, but instead of suffering in silence, she was inspired to attend law school and begin a practice to help other creative people protect their assets and build successful businesses.

Jo-Ná is a creative and caring friend, and when we're in the same city, one of our favorite activities is finding iconic desserts to eat together. We've met at dawn to stand in line for Cronuts, eaten fist-sized chocolate chip cookies, and narrowly avoided sugar shock after a decked-out milkshake.

I admire her commitment to helping others, sparking creativity, and doing it with joy and panache!

photo of Dorie by Matthew Thompson

Jo-Ná nominated Michael Roderick, the Broadway producer, connector, entrepreneur, podcaster, speaker and founder of Small Pond Enterprises.

Michael inspires me because he's caring, kind, compassionate, and an incredible connector. He has a masterful way of bringing great people together. It's always a room you want to be in if he curated the guest list.

Michael nominates Adam Grant, the psychologist and author who is currently a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania specializing in organizational psychology.

I do not know Adam personally but first came across his work when his book Give and Take came out. I had a friend who invited me to a presentation he was giving at a Barnes and Noble about the book and went out and bought it right after.

I found Give and Take to be a book that really spoke to me and loved how down to earth the writing was. It also helped me make sense of the times in my life, I had been burned out from giving to others and gave me a set of tools I could use to keep it from happening again and again.

Since that time I have followed him on LinkedIn and always find his short soundbites to be thought provoking. I am very much looking forward to reading his next book Think Again, and have also been impressed with his ability to maintain his presence as a Thought Leader while also being a professor. I have met students of his who absolutely rave about him, so that ability to keep both things going is also inspiring.

Discover more contributors to Just Six Degrees such as film-maker Apichatpong Weerasethakul, photographer Juno Calypso, choreographer Miwa Matreyek and podcaster Nicholas Van der Kolk or search according to creative area of interest - design, sculpture, film, photography.