Designing Better Work Together
Precession, Purpose, and the Power of Indirect Influence
In a university environment shaped by distributed teams, shifting priorities, and shared systems, collaboration can feel complex and constrained. This keynote introduces the concept of precession to illustrate how indirect influence often outweighs direct control.
Through reflection and accessible design tools, participants will learn how to clarify their signal, make their work more legible, and strengthen cross-campus partnerships. The session offers both a mindset shift and practical strategies for improving collaboration and influence without relying on formal authority.
Learning Outcomes
- Reframe leadership as influence rather than control
- Recognize the impact they already have within complex systems
- Gain simple, practical strategies for improving collaboration
- Leave with a renewed sense of agency and clarity
About the Keynote Speaker
Trudy Watt
Trudy Watt, AIA, is a designer, educator, and pragmatic optimist who helps people work better together inside complex systems. As Academic Director of the Master of Science in Design + Innovation at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, she leads interdisciplinary initiatives that bring together designers, engineers, industry leaders, and community partners to tackle real-world challenges through life-centered design.
Trudy’s work focuses on strengthening collaboration, clarifying decision-making, and building practical leadership capacity. She has taught at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, the University of Pennsylvania, Jefferson University, and Columbia GSAPP, and practiced in landscape architecture, architecture, and multidisciplinary design before co-founding the design studio Waxwood in 2015.
A graduate of the University of Illinois–Chicago and Princeton University, Trudy is adept at navigating complex institutions and believes that small, intentional shifts in communication and relationship-building can transform how teams function. Outside of work, she restores old houses and gardens enthusiastically – two practices that continually remind her that growth requires patience, care, and collaboration.
