Design is to solve problems for people. As a design leader, my job is to connect the dots between people, businesses, products, and technology. As a team leader, my job is to care personally, listen openly, challenge directly, and facilitate conversations.
Welcome to my place, a place for me to capture some raw thoughts. ~z
Care personally, challenge directly.
[Scott, K. M. (2017). Radical candor: How to be a kickass boss without losing your humanity (First edition.). New York: St. Martin’s Press.]
Developing products excites my brain; developing people satisfies my soul. I lead the design operations team focus on growing the design practice within an organization.
Through empathy, nurture, and encouragement, I lead teams that celebrated the growth mindset. Each team member is unique, and each team member has his or her own focus on growing as a professional. I empower my team to focus on personal growth.
Through collaboration with business partners and cross-functional delivery partners, I advocate for the business value of design. In a balanced team, designers, product managers, and engineers all have an equal seat at the table and when we work together, we deliver the strongest results.
With all the massive tech layoffs, I’ve been thinking about what ops people can help—short-term and long-term.
To people who are affected
To people who are on the job
To the business and teams, we support
Get ready to turn the corporations upside down — essential to surviving. Those corporations that embrace the corporate rebels will survive, and those who hold on to the old way of doing things won’t.
What can we learn from these progressive models? Is it possible to adopt any progressive structure within a generally traditional organization?
Can design org be so different? Furthermore, SHOULD design org be so different?
Have you thought about becoming a manager? What does it take, and how to move from your individual contributor role into a people managing role?
Being a people manager is not a goal for everyone. But for some ICs, this is an aspiration. With the right mindset and skills, you will find it interesting, challenging, and rewarding. It also comes with new responsibilities. Let’s talk about the transition from ICs to people managers.
According to Susan Kobasa, a psychologist, there are three essential points in resilience training:
Challenges,
Commitment,
Personal Control.
As ops people the topic of resilience is extremely important. Being resilient is not easy. Being resilient is rewarding.