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
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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
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Product Management
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Design Leadership
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Technology
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Four-Fits
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AI
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Design
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Career Transition
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Customer Support
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Portfolio
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Metrics
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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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5 steps the most effective designers I know overcome self-doubt
Effective transformation from designer to design leader starts and ends with nuance. The most effective designers I know leverage nuance to overcome self-doubt in five steps.
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Selling a Design System before asking for buy-in
An “adoption first” strategy for an internal Design System at EA
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Introducing a culture of design inside existing company culture
I have never been in a position where I could declare culture change is going to happen. Here's how I've successfully introduced a culture of design anyway.
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Connect Design and Business Outcomes with Strategy Maps
Simple in structure, a Strategy Map shows the relationships between organizational objectives through underlying quality perspectives.
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Measuring Design is an act of bravery.
It's easier to debate the value of measuring design than it is to be more accountable for a decision. The most influential design leaders let the measures speak for themselves.
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How building repeatable systems helps you grow as a design leader
An interview with Christina Goldschmidt, Vice President of Product Design at Warner Music Group, on how she creates repeatable systems through brain hacking, has learned to give things away, maintains her core self, and much more.
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The essential components of Business Models and Business Strategy for design leaders
Today, “business model” and “strategy” are among the most sloppily used terms in business; Learn the basics and make it all make sense.
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6 basic business terms and concepts every designer should know
Here are six essential concepts you can add to your skillset that will help you align good design to good business
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Rapidly calculate (and recalculate) your design team priorities
Plays are the epitome of CDO School. CDO School Plays are structured steps and actions to help you make meaningful
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The CDO School Design Leadership Playbook
The CDO School Design Leadership Playbook is disruptive to conventional design leadership wisdom. At CDO School, we are focused on helping you make design a more relevant, indispensable, and valued business unit at your company.
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Four categories of product quality (and design) health
Adding quality factors products and services that help teams make decisions around quality, and tracking the effectiveness of those decisions
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5 things Design VPs are paid to do differently than a Director or Manager
The biggest development issue in design leadership today is that many Design VPs* still think and act like Managers/Directors. Here's what's expected of you.
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Value-based decision making
Distinguish between two different types of values, “actual” and “perceived”, to ensure you're communicating value in the way executives expect.
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The questions I ask during an interview to know if I want the job.
Fundamentally, I want to know if the job I’m interviewing for will be a good fit for me. Here’s a quick, 3-step process to find the signals that tell you this is the job for you.
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The ultimate list of Design and DesignOps metrics
Getting started with metrics as a designer can be difficult! Here's a list of some common metrics you and your teams can use.