Teams and roles part 2: What the research says
Just about all the work we do and our clients do are in cross-functional teams. I see teams struggling with roles and ownership so I’ve been searching for answers in academic research. Roles are...
Category: People
Meeting people where they are
I took some friends skiing not long ago and one of them was having trouble making turns. Years of training and experience have taught me how to quickly look at someone and immediately know what...
How to design a successful workshop
Note: This originally appeared on the 3Pillar website Workshops are a great way to get your team aligned and moving quickly. I design workshops to meet my client where they are and get them...
My first year (and change) as working mom
I expected to be sleep deprived, to sometimes have spit up on my shirt, for my house to be a mess, for pumping to be a chore and for my schedule to become even busier and unpredictable. But my...
Lessons from an accidential facilitator
I never chose to become a facilitator. Right after joining 3Pillar I had clients come in from North Carolina for the day and I decided to do a series of exercises with them that...
Why are so many people struggling with ownership and roles? Part 1
Debates about ownership seem to be all around me. I see them on our teams, client’s teams and online. Holding onto the idea that I should own the design meant disenfranchising my non-design coworkers. It...
Want to drive change internally? Here are two reasons you shouldn’t skip the interviews
I’ve spent most of my career being a troublemaker trying to push an organization into trying new things. Sometimes I’ve failed miserably and a few times I’ve succeeded. As an outside consultant I always...
My favorite posts from 2015
Happy New Year! I wish you and yours all the best. Here are a couple of my favorite posts from the last year: Getting to Meaningful Feedback How I do customer development interviews Getting...
Advice from my parents: Always Negotiate
“I was raised by a professional negotiator and I will be in trouble if we don’t negotiate this offer” is how I usually open a salary negotiation. My parents have always strongly pushed me to negotiate...
Ask simple questions to drive change
Who is our customer? What are we trying to accomplish? How did we get here? What did we learn? I like simple questions about important things. They strip away marketing speak. They force us...
