Are you willing to be the designer that has influence?
We all want to be the type of designer who has influence at work. Are you willing to be the designer that has it? Let’s find out.
Our Latest Articles.
From practical team dynamics to strategic vision-setting, we share fresh insights, test new approaches, and dig into the real challenges facing design leaders today.
Featured
"How to be a better design leader" advice was making me worse at my job
I had to stop following popular design leadership advice to actually lead
The Importance of Mapping Power Dynamics
Trying to convert powerful skeptics into design believers takes a lot of emotional energy. There's a more practical, and dare I say it, more strategic way make it worth your while.
Design leaders who stand out most, grow in five key areas
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Emotional Intelligence
17 posts
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Business Acumen
15 posts
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Operational Management
14 posts
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Strategic Foresight
13 posts
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Relationship Management
9 posts
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Personal Growth
7 posts
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Make Design Desirable
4 posts
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Campus Notes
3 posts
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Product Management
2 posts
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Design Leadership
2 posts
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Technology
1 post
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Four-Fits
1 post
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AI
1 post
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Design
1 post
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Career Transition
1 post
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Customer Support
1 post
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Portfolio
1 post
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Metrics
1 post
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Audio Tips
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Communication
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Events
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books
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Latest Articles
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Four categories of business health… and why designers should care about them
To evaluate the overall health of a company, business leaders objectives, measures, and targets are set across four categories of health, with each one focusing on a different aspect of the company.
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The Good Partner Map
Understand when your sales pitch for design is working, when it's not, and what do about it.
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Letting others have your way is a communication superpower for designers
By understanding the wants and needs of those you work with, you can become influential as a designer
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Increase the odds your team can win
Great design leaders are those who intentionally create multiple paths to success.
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The Multi-Mode Advantage: Managing a Range of Partnerships through Positioning
For design leaders, reading the room is everything. While conventional wisdom suggests that positioning drives perception, the reality for design teams is often reversed: your ability to read and respond to shifting stakeholder perceptions should drive your positioning decisions.
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The Importance of Mapping Power Dynamics
Trying to convert powerful skeptics into design believers takes a lot of emotional energy. There's a more practical, and dare I say it, more strategic way make it worth your while.
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Why Designers might actually like data: A case for gaining statistical literacy (video)
Two particularly powerful tools to validate your design choices and predict your impact are correlation and linear regression analysis.
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Imago - a pragmatic way to practice active listening
Generally speaking, Empathy Maps are helpful to understand additional perspectives, but for many of us, it is difficult to be empathetic in the moment. Especially when we disagree with someone.
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PLAY: Rapidly Figure Out Design Team Priorities
A simple matrix-like tool to simultaneously focus on eliminating and reducing the activities that aren’t producing the results you need so that you can raise and create the activities that are or will.
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Strategy Maps: Connecting Design to Business Objectives
Strategy Maps are powerful tools that can help bridge this gap by visualizing the relationships between different business goals and the role of design in achieving them.
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3 Key Responsibilities When Transitioning into Design Leadership
Many designers aspire to transition from individual contributors to design leaders. This shift comes with its own set of challenges and responsibilities.
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You're now in charge. What's the plan?
Four key elements to develop a comprehensive, winning plan to lead a design team.
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Change your inner narrative with neuroscience and post-its
Use neuroscience (and post-its) to hack your brain from negative thought loops
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Design is biased. And, your execs know it.
It's critical to find data, leverage it, and examine your own bias. Doing so means you'll be a better advocate for the value of design because I could anticipate how executives might react when I presented data like this.