Celebrate design and design operations

[Thoughts]

Navigating the Challenges of Scaling Up a DesignOps Team

Navigating the Challenges of Scaling Up a DesignOps Team

In the ever-evolving world of design, the emergence of DesignOps has brought about significant improvements in team efficiency, collaboration, and overall design processes. However, scaling up a DesignOps team from a solitary practitioner to a fully functional unit can be a daunting journey for design leaders and DesignOps leaders. I want to explore the challenges that come with this endeavor […]

Unleashing Potential: How DesignOps Professionals Thrive in Transition to Chief of Staff

Unleashing Potential: How DesignOps Professionals Thrive in Transition to Chief of Staff

DesignOps Skills Transferable to Chief of Staff Role A possible career path for DesignOps practitioners who want to continue in the individual contributor path can be the Chief of Staff(CoS). And many DesignOps leads do consider themselves as the CoS for the design leader. Design Operations (DesignOps) is a discipline that focuses on managing the people, processes, and platforms/tools involved […]

Process or no process

Process or no process

Phtoto credit: @fallonmichaeltx Processes kill innovation and creativity.  Processes break down silos, reduce duplicated work and increase productivity and efficiency. Both can be true. Why? If processes are rules, they limit you; however, if processes are guidance, they enable you. In the fast-paced world of business, processes can often be viewed with skepticism. The notion of being tied down by […]

On Resilience

On Resilience

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

I want to be a manager

I want to be a manager

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.

Resilience in DesignOps

Resilience in DesignOps

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.

Developing People

Developing People

Taking the Oxford Women’s Leadership Development Program pushed me to examine how we develop people. In the past, I have been advocating how we need to utilize people’s superpower vs. trying to focus on room for improvement. But there is nuance to this general statement. For example, I was looking at a designer on a design team. What if a […]